Lisa
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You know what Lynda, doctors are people JUST LIKE US!! Only they got a whole heck of a bigger burden than we carry, even with our illness!!! If they sneeze, everything they do is questioned and judged and they have to keep a certain posture in order to "make everybody happy" and oh thatīs so unfair!!! They arenīt allowed to be human or have off days or go through divorce and loss and their world crumbling down about their ears! We, on the other hand, are so focused on our suffering that we donīt notice even the slightest problems with our doctors. Who cares for the doctor when heīs sick or hurting? I've been teaching some doctors English lately and one of my doctors is known for being really tough, like a man. She's a surgeon and so she's got to be cold and calculating and must keep her feelings and thoughts clamped down tight in order to do what she does. In my classes we tend to talk about things having to do with everyday life and so she's opened up a bit with me. She's been my doctor for the past 6 years. In all these years of close contact I hadn't the slightest clue that she was absolutely devastated to find that one of her parents has Altzheimers and that she's slowly watching this loved one disappear and die and it's tearing her apart!!! You would NEVER know this!!!
So very often we hold such high expectations for our doctors and forget that they are just as human as we are with just as many needs and difficulties. One of my doctors apologized to me a few months ago when he sat back down after welcoming me into his office. He winced as he sat down and I said, WHAT IS WRONG? He was embarrassed that he had let the look of pain on his face slip out from behind the mask of well-being. He'd had hemerrhoid surgery and was still recovering from it, poor man!!!
Our doctors have bad days, they have problems, they are as human and faulty as we are! They also have their areas of interest and specialty and since they are required to be quase perfect and quase gods in their jobs, many would prefer not to work with a patient who goes outside of his comfort zone, not in this day and age of vending machine lawsuits where they come in packaged deals almost! This is why you will get resistance from some doctors, they don't want to get into a bad situation if they don't know the disease.
Yet, Dr. Smith seems genuinely interested from my conversations with him. I don't believe I've misjudged him, however, I don't know him personally and don't know how much he understands about masto, but what I do know is that his youth is a plus feature for he's INTERESTED and this can make ALL the difference for patients like us. I'm so proud of you for having the COURAGE to try yet one more doctor! It takes a great deal of courage and it is my sincere hope and prayer that Dr. Smith will be all that you are praying for in a neurologist!!!
Let me know how it goes!! You are in my prayers!
Hugs!
Lisa
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