You Must Ask Questions Of Doctors To Get The Best Service

My elderly parents were SO confused when they'd leave the doctor's office that my younger sister, Nancy, and I used to take turns going to each appointment with them. Now Nancy (who recently retired from teaching) goes to all appointments.

And NOW I better understand why they are so confused!

My "Head"-line Story

Here's my personal story from today (hey, it took 2 hours and 27 minutes, so I hope you have a few moments to read this… some of this really pissed me off and some of it really showed why my folks are so confused).

I've been having headaches.

The type the rock my world, require my lying down for an hour at a weekend Internet Conference, leave church for medication, make me about 10% effective, and render me dizzy and nauseous.

They go from annoying to obnoxious and debilitating.

They started in March 2009 and after one real dizzy spell that lasted much of one day, I was finally treated by my family doctor for a sinus infection and things got better.

Then in October, they came back.

I didn't hesitate this time, I went to see my doctor again.

"Are you going to prescribe those $30-a-pill pills again, or is something else just as effective," I quizzed her as I tightly held onto my wallet. (OK… so the insurance paid for much of it, but did I really need pills that cost $300 for 10?)

Here's what she thought: sinus infection again (I didn't connect this time with the one six months ago until she said that), so she'd treat it with antibiotics to get rid of the infection and an antihistamine to keep it from coming back.

Except this time it didn't work.

The pain decreased, but as soon as the antibiotic was over, the pain really hit me again: left side of the top of my head and then a squeezing from both sides and the forehead. And my forehead and cheeks are flushed and I feel (as Mom used to say), "punk."

When I reported back that this treatment didn't work and asked now for the $30-a-pill pills, I was told "NO, you need to go to a Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist."

Hey, I just wanted my quick fix – my super-pills but I immediately scheduled the appointment for the next day, which was today (as I write this).

My Doctor's Appointment Starts

After driving into 3 parking lots on three corners at 22 and Providence (three corners with medical buildings – at least I found my new doctor on the third try!), I registered with the front desk.

With all the paperwork as a new patient, I was ready to see the doctor 40 minutes after I arrived. But I waited another 20 minutes before being called in.

I explained about my headaches, said I had had one dizzy spell, and with the low-grade fever I now had, I was feeling "out of it" and sometimes had trouble focusing on my work.

The doctor examined my ears, nose, and throat (ahhhh, his specialty) and took me to another location for a hearing test.

Huh?

I SAID HE TOOK ME TO ANOTHER LOCATION FOR A HEARING TEST! (Just kidding – sorry to shout). Right: a hearing test.

The Audiologist Takes Over

Turns out my wife was right for the past couple of years: moderate hearing loss in the upper register WHERE WOMEN SPEAK. (At least now I have a medical excuse when I don't hear her when she mumbles or speaks to me from the other room – "Sorry, darling: the doctor says I can't hear very well in that range.")

The audiologist ran a few tests (put-on-the-earphones test and say "yes" every time I hear a noise AND one that gripped the right and left sides of my head to see if the vibrations in my bones were working well… they were).

Then she went for some paperwork and came back into my soundproof room to tell me about the next test I would need… but since it was a long one, it would have to be scheduled another time.

"Wait… why did I need a hearing test?"

"The doctor told me to give it to you."

"But I'm here for my headache."

"I'm not sure… something about dizzy spells?"

"Well, I had one, yes… but my problem is my headache."

"Well, we need this other test to see about your balance."

"HUH?" (OK… that was NOT my hearing: I just couldn't connect the dots as to what balance and my headaches have to do with each other.)

The audiologist proceeded to tell me about the test which would see if my eyes and ears were always working together or would I get dizzy. All kinds of wonderful details about watching darting lights, different temperatures of water flushing in and out of my ears, being in different positions to see if they affect my equilibrium, and more.

I was getting queasy just listening to the description!

"Since I was four years old I've have motion problems and can't even go as a front-seat passenger. We KNOW I have motion problems."

"OH. Well, here are the instructions; you can talk with the doctor about this next test that he wants you to have and if you decide to get it, call these numbers here," as she circled the phone numbers.

She was really very nice and did her job well… but I could tell that my asking questions put her off a bit – maybe she wasn't used to people questioning what the doctor wanted.

Hmmmm… welcome to my world!

Back To Consult With The Doctor

I'd now been in the office about 90 minutes, so it was time to meet with the doctor again to get his advice and see what steps were next.

"Come follow me. Please shut the door," he said as he rounded the desk to his side. I complied (though another doctor kept knocking and coming and going during our chat.)

"You have trouble hearing your wife at times, don't you?"

OK… so we looked at the chart for my moderate loss in the upper register. (The upper register (higher-pitched sound) is the first part to go, I had learned years ago when directing Sweeney Todd at our local theater and the man playing Sweeney couldn't hear a triangle we wrote in as a cue for when he was to join Mrs. Lovett in the closing number for Act I.)

After we chatted about my hearing for another 30 seconds I mentioned that I was NOT going to take the Balance Test the audiologist asked me about and didn't understand why it was needed.

"You've been having dizzy spells. Didn't you write that here?"

"I had ONE about 7 months ago. And when I don't feel well, like now when I have a low-grade fever, I certainly am not 100% and have trouble staying focused on my work… and a bit nauseous and unsteady. But I'm here for the headaches."

I proceeded to tell him that I've had motion problems in cars, planes, and boats since I was four (maybe earlier – I don't remember much before then) but I was here for the headache.

Did he agree with my family doctor's theory that I had an infection that had to be cleared and then we have to figure a way to keep it from coming back?

Well… sort of.

He agreed to give me a really strong antibiotic that works on the head area, but he scheduled a brain Cat Scan and sinus Cat Scan to see if it could see anything up there (gosh… hope it finds a BRAIN up there at least!).

He indicated where the sinuses are and said that a pain running along the top left side of the head the way mine is is NOT from a sinus. Hmmmmm… oh, joy; oh, rapture. Wonder what it is!

He also wants me back to get an allergy test… not one of those "shoot stuff under the skin to see what bothers you" but a simpler one… at least for now.

And then I'm to see him in a month.

Antibiotic. Cat Scan. Allergy Test. Return in a month.

Two and a half hours and I was free to drive away.

(Well, that was after his VERY nice and helpful assistant set up my appointments, made sure I had SIX pages of questionnaires to return with (one set for the allergy tests, one for the doctor, one before the Cat Scan), and knew when I CAN and CANNOT take medicine before each special test.

Questions. We Really Need To Ask Questions

When chatting with the doctor the second time I relayed to him that "we all listen to the same radio station in our brains."

Pause. Pause.

"Oh, what is that," he questioned.

WIIFM.

What's In It For Me.

WHY do I want the balance test? WHAT will it tell me? WHAT will the cure be or will it only reinforce that I have motion problems?

"Well, I see you are going to question the tests that I suggest," he said and then proceeded to tell me about the allergy test and backed off the balance test.

Question the tests?

Hell yes.

With the costs in my TIME and my DOLLARS and when things are happening to MY BODY, I'm going to question everything.

Now don't get me wrong. I really LIKED this guy. And he comes very highly recommended to me (ahhhh, testimonials really DO have great impact on people – whoops that's the marketer in me coming out).

But YES I'm going to question.

And don't you love a question like "are you under any stress" to see if that could be the reason I'm having headaches. Stress? In this economy? With everything I have going on in life? Stress? Nawwwww…

We ALL See What We Are Looking For

Doctors fall in the same trap that ALL of us fall into: we SEE what we are LOOKING for.

I have a feeling if I were in a podiatrist's office complaining about a headache (and let's face it, neither of these doctors is really trained to work on headaches), he'd tell me that my shoes were too tight, take two aspirin (or now a days it would be some expensive prescription drug that might have no better effect on me), and call him in a month.

You can't blame them, really.

If I told you to look around the room, look for all the things that are RED, then close your eyes, and now tell me all the things that are BLUE, you probably wouldn't be able to.

It doesn't mean you are stupid or unqualified… it's just what you were LOOKING for.

And doctors are much the same way (but with some really expensive specialty training).

He HEARD dizzy. He knew my primary care doctor sent me there, so it must be ear, nose, or throat related.

What he didn't focus on was my pain. My headache pain.

Doctors Have Too Many Patients To Thoroughly Understand Any

And rushing from patient to patient even when I was there, it's no wonder that he didn't stay focused on ME… heck, my regular doctor has trouble focusing on me too (she has seen me a few times, but I don't go to a doctor very often… something has to bother me a LOT before I take the time to see a doctor).

No Wonder My Elderly Parents Are Confused

I tease my parents (in their late 80s) that every week they either go to a doctor's appointment OR a memorial service… and that isn't far from what actually happens.

But when doctors only hear SOME of what you say or focus on only what THEIR specialty is and then schedule their regular battery of tests on you… no wonder you are tied up with doctors for hours and then have trouble getting to the solution.

My sister, Nancy, has her work cut out for her convincing my parents to follow their doctors' advice when it's needed OR asking enough questions to decide that another course of treatment is better.

And one of my favorite expressions applies here: How Do We Know Until We Know?

SOMETHING is going on in my head. Is it sinuses? Something else?

Time will tell… that is if I have enough hours in the day to visit all the doctors, take all the tests, and still write about it.

Here's to YOUR health!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr

PS: What do YOU think about doctors' appointments – do YOU ask questions?

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Bay County, Florida Health Department Head Launched One-Man War On Obesity

Look out: This One Pisses Me Off.

If language like that is too strong for you, don't read this post. Stay clear – I'm ready to rant.

And if this is the most open, the deepest I've expressed, the most truthful to my own feelings, so be it… because I think THIS is ridiculous.

The Associate Press ran this story and as soon as I read it in my local paper, I ripped it out and vowed to blog about it.

38-year Old Former Army Doctor Fired For Standing Up For His Beliefs

As reported, Dr. Jason Newsom made his feelings known about burgers, french fries, fried chicken, and sweet tea in his campaign to reduce the belt size of the people in the part of the country known at Redneck Riviera.

And his campaign was working… until he messed with the donuts.

The Iraq War veteran returned home to Panama City a few years ago and posted warnings on an electronic sign outside his office about some of the foods he liked the least:

• Sweet Tea = Liquid Sugar
• Hamburger = Spare Tire
• French Fries = Thunder Thighs

He also singled out KFC by name to make people think twice before eating fried chicken.

But what seems to have gotten him in trouble was his play on the "American Runs on Dunkin" slogan when he wrote: "American Dies On Dunkin."

Powerful People in Gulf Town Had Had Enough

One local donut shop owner was furious. Two local lawyers who own a new Dunkin Donuts on Panama City Beach turned against him and threatened to sue, forcing the Florida Health Department to remove the anti-fried-dough slogan and then eventually forced him to resign.

The doctor stated that he singled out doughnuts because they are everywhere in America. He'd travel and see two dozen doughnuts in boxes at meetings. He's see doughnuts for the kids in Sunday School. "It was a social expectation thing," said the 6-foot, 167-pound, lean doctor whose county had 39 percent of the adults in the overweight category and 25 percent were considered obese.

His Primary Job Was Education

Dr. Newsom was hired by the state Health Department to direct the county agency with his primary responsibility to educate the public about health issues, which most people felt involved swine flu, AIDS, and associated illnesses. But the doctor took on obesity as well and attacked jelly-filled and sugar-sprinkled lumps of fried dough.

He went as far as banning doughnuts from department meetings and announcing he would throw away the fat-filled delicacies if he found them around the break room. He also banned candy bars in the vending machines, putting in peanuts instead.

How Much Better Would Our Country's Health Be If We Watched What We Ate?

Were his tactics tough? Were his statements brash? Did he create short phrases designed to make you think before stuffing your body full of things that could hurt you?

Of course.

But let me ask this:

1. Would my mother have diabetes right now if she lost the 50 pounds that weigh her down and keep her confined to an "electric chair" where her greatest exercise is pushing a joystick to propel her to the dining room at her retirement community?
2. Would we have such a huge, vitriolic debate about health care if we each stopped to think before stuffing ourselves with sugared and friend foods?
3. Would our children be healthier without all the fattening, sugared drinks that arrive in bottles and cans that overflow our landfills?

How can a citizenry sit by and allow a good person to be fired when he's doing the job he was hired to do simply because he pissed off some wealthy business owners?

Why Do We Spend SO Much For Cure But So Little For Prevention

It's well-known to marketers that selling PREVENTION is nearly impossible… but selling CURE is easy.

• Why do people spend so much for triple-bypass surgery and wonder how they got to that point after disregarding good-eating-practices for 40 years?
• Why is my 86-year old Mom in the hospital several times a year for back pain, diabetes-related problems, and blood problems when she's too stubborn to reduce her weight to a healthier level?
• Why is our country killing itself with food while so much of the rest of the world starves?

Isn't It Time To Stand Up And Say 'I'm Mad As Hell And I'm Not Going To Take This Any Longer'?

A few years ago, our local school board was faced with a dilemma: accept a large contribution from a soda pop company in exchange for putting in their machines in the Middle School cafeteria.

Every school district in the nation needs money, and I'm all for businesses creating partnerships.

And at first I was confused by the Board's lack of desire to pursue this one, but their reasoning became clear: the health of the kids who stay OFF sugared drinks was much more important that the dollars the "deal" would have brought in.

The Board turned down the lucrative offer, and kept the drinks out of the school in favor of water, low-sugar fruit juices, and milk.

The Board members took a stand, and it's time the rest of us did too.

I'm an admitted Dunkin Donuts fan!

Is there a conflict in my being a fan of Dunkin Donuts?

Absolutely not.

In moderation what they offer is fine. Their coffee is good. Their cookies delicious. And their donuts and pastries really hit the spot.

But not to the level that many people eat them. And if I were the county health officer, I'd attack obesity with direct force.

MANY of our health problems come from eating WAY too much. I struggle with eating too much too.

But it's a MATH problem

Too much IN that doesn't get worked OFF equals too much that HANGS AROUND… for a LONG time: killing us prematurely, causing diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems – and costing us billions of dollars.

Don't Fire People Like Dr. Newsom – PRAISE Them!

It's ridiculous – hire this guy to do his job and then get the hell out of the way.

Don't let some selfish people with power force him from his message: saving lives is way more important than their personal goals.

Should he tone down the attacks on a brand name? What would you think if that were a tobacco company?

• It's legal to smoke, but it still kills people (with first and second-hand smoke).
• It's legal to eat yourself so fat you can't fit into the seat of an airplane and then you are allowed to sue the airline for not providing you a comfortable seat.
• It's legal to over eat so much that you suffer a heart attack, get rushed to the hospital, and take up precious resources that when someone else comes to the emergency room, you are taking up the space that they need.

Isn't it time we took control?

Tell me what YOU think about this whole topic… your comment will appear below when you leave me a comment.

Phewww… glad I got that off my chest!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr

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Gallup Pole Lists Top Ten Things That Scare People

Interesting to note that DEATH didn't even make the Top Ten List of things that scare people, according to the Gallup Pole as reported in 2009.

And reviewing this list, I really wondered WHY some of these things are on the list. Do people REALLY let their minds just get the better of their emotions and so they are paralyzed with fear?

For whatever the reason, here are the Top Ten:

Fear Number 10 – Water – ok, maybe death really IS on this list, but it's masked by things people fear will kill them.

Fear Number 9 – Storms – lightning, wind, flooding

Fear Number 8 – Public Transportation – Plains, trains, buses. It can't be the pick pockets, so it again must be the fear of dying on one of these, though most of these are safer (statistically) than taking a shower in your own bathroom.

Fear Number 7 – Crowds. Well, maybe the pick pockets are part of THIS fear, but more so it's the fear of the unknown where people lose control. Pushing, trampling, the mob mentality (where the crowd just goes along for the sake of going along).

Fear Number 6 – Tunnels and bridges. Well, with the infrastructure crumbling around us, I understand this one. But I've never had my heart pick up even ONE beat per minute when going over the bridge or through a tunnel. Again, this must deal with loss of control, an unreasoned fear that something can go wrong (like water crushing the tunnel or a bridge falling down). Gee… didn't we get rid of monsters in our beds years ago?

Fear Number 5 – Spiders. Alfred Hitchcock would be so pleased! I'm always the one to kill them in my house when one of the girls gets anxious when there is a spider around.

Fear Number 4 – Heights. OK… so the bridge folks get two birds with one stone for this one. I do admit that going up to the 10 meter diving board as a kid seemed really scary and my stomach and heart leap just thinking about it. And it's not even so much because consciously I fear I will fall… by body just wants to react to this one.

Fear Number 3 – Confined spaces. Elevators don't bother me. And I've never feared being closed into a coffin. Sometimes the thought of one of those old MRI or CAT Scan machines creeps me a bit. No rational reason – I certainly don't think it will crush me, but my heart races just a bit.

Fear Number 2 – Snakes. OK so THIS one is REAL! Too many movies, too much venom dripping from their fangs, too many stories of Harrison Ford filming Raiders of the Lost Arc. They just creep me out.

Fear Number 1 – And I totally do NOT get this one (especially since my family has been in the same local theater for FIVE generations: Public Speaking. Does this come from kindergarten when you got up to speak and someone laughed at you? Do you REALLY think you will forget everything and bullies will come to scream at you? PUBLIC SPEAKING as the number one fear? More than SNAKES or FALLING, of LIGHTNING? I don't get it.

Hope you enjoyed this list. I'm sure it got you thinking.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy
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If Something Isn't Going Well, Go Get It Checked, Men (Women too!)

Here's a short video I created during the hours I spent today getting a stress test and an echo cardiogram. I had had a tightening in my chest, rapid (erratic) heart beats, beats that would skip, and one long dizzy spell one day.

When I added all of them up, I decided I should go see my doctor and ask to be sent to a cardiologist.

It has been said that the Number 1 symptom of heart problems (truly, not making this up) is: DEATH. So if you find something isn't going well for you, go get it checked.

OK… I know many of us guys don't jump to the doc every time something is wrong… hey, I represent that! But with the head and the heart, I figure we shouldn't fool around. So I went… and everything seems to be fine. Hope you enjoy this short video.

Doesn't your family deserve to know you are OK? Mine sure does!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad, succeeding in this economy
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