SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE CHRONIC ILLNESS....
I grew up in a house dominated by medicine. My father went to medical school when I was five years old... so as I was entering first grade, he was entering his first year of medical school. Prior to that he was a research chemist for Kodak, he had a Phd in chemistry, as did his own father. I remember him
riding his bike to school, he smoked a pipe and wore a black beret as he pedaled his bike down to Georgetown. He was the oldest member of his class at the age of 34. I remember his study
at home...he had a skull on his desk and a bag of bones to his left...he was studying anatomy.
Most of our dinner table conversations focused around school, then his internship as a family doctor, and his residency. And then through his many years of private practice, and the increasing business challenges his faced as the years went by...with so many regulations it became harder and harder for him to practice medicine as he wanted to, and to make a living as a family doctor...it was rough going for a doctor who truly enjoyed his patients, cared about them deeply, and even made house calls.
What I remember most is him talking about various illnesses, how he diagnosed, and treated them.
He liked a good mystery, and a challenging diagnosis. So literally every night, we learned something
knew about medicine. But he was also a scientist...a chemist...and a huge believer in better living through chemistry... and vitamins, too...he took handfuls and handfuls of vitamins, as did we.
I'm writing this because I think I have a perspective on health and illness that most people don't.
I also have a background as an ICU nurse...and I loved my work...it was the most deeply rewarding
thing I had ever done. But I very quickly learned the limits of medicine. I have to say I was disappointed by them.
Traditionally, before we had a lot of technology and pharmaceuticals, medicine looked at the whole person...his personality, his environment, his diet, his life situation..and while we still do that to some extent...it's become inefficient...think about how doctors are paid now...our doctors are almost forced to look at the patient as a machine...the machine is broken, give it drugs, it will repair itself...but most often the drugs maintain the machine, they don't heal it. And that's just it...doctors don't heal anymore...they treat...this medicine for that malady...and sometimes it works and it's great when it does!
But what I'm getting at is that medicine is no good for chronic illness. I remember my dad shaking his
head, and commenting how unnatural it is to be chronically ill...with anything, really...the first thing
that comes to my mind is hypertension...probably one of the most common of the chronic illnesses that doctors see...and there doesn't seem to be much of a cure...some people can control their hypertension with diet and lifestyle changes, but most take medicine for the rest of their lives. And to me, that's not healthy...
Another very common illness is hypothyroid...a huge percentage of the population is diagnosed with hyperthyroid.. AND what is most interesting to me, is that almost every single nurse I have ever worked with has a thyroid issue...I think that is HUGELY interesting....
But this is what drives my interest in health and wellness...how it' s so much more than physical..
it's mental/emotional/spiritual...man is not a machine...but as we become more technologically advanced, and with the push to keep medical costs down...this is becoming overlooked...in fact,
all of our institutions are overlooking our humanity... and guess what.. as this trend continues, our
mental/emotional/spiritual health, manifested in our physical bodies and well being, will decline..
and I feel we will become caricatures of humanity...and we already are...but I digress...
So here it is...true health is wholeness, chronic illness is a sign we aren't whole, and healing leads us back to who we truly are.. and I think their are very few people who truly understand this and who
are willing to take the journey.. and for those that ARE willing to take the journey, there don't seem to be a lot of guides...
riding his bike to school, he smoked a pipe and wore a black beret as he pedaled his bike down to Georgetown. He was the oldest member of his class at the age of 34. I remember his study
at home...he had a skull on his desk and a bag of bones to his left...he was studying anatomy.
Most of our dinner table conversations focused around school, then his internship as a family doctor, and his residency. And then through his many years of private practice, and the increasing business challenges his faced as the years went by...with so many regulations it became harder and harder for him to practice medicine as he wanted to, and to make a living as a family doctor...it was rough going for a doctor who truly enjoyed his patients, cared about them deeply, and even made house calls.
What I remember most is him talking about various illnesses, how he diagnosed, and treated them.
He liked a good mystery, and a challenging diagnosis. So literally every night, we learned something
knew about medicine. But he was also a scientist...a chemist...and a huge believer in better living through chemistry... and vitamins, too...he took handfuls and handfuls of vitamins, as did we.
I'm writing this because I think I have a perspective on health and illness that most people don't.
I also have a background as an ICU nurse...and I loved my work...it was the most deeply rewarding
thing I had ever done. But I very quickly learned the limits of medicine. I have to say I was disappointed by them.
Traditionally, before we had a lot of technology and pharmaceuticals, medicine looked at the whole person...his personality, his environment, his diet, his life situation..and while we still do that to some extent...it's become inefficient...think about how doctors are paid now...our doctors are almost forced to look at the patient as a machine...the machine is broken, give it drugs, it will repair itself...but most often the drugs maintain the machine, they don't heal it. And that's just it...doctors don't heal anymore...they treat...this medicine for that malady...and sometimes it works and it's great when it does!
But what I'm getting at is that medicine is no good for chronic illness. I remember my dad shaking his
head, and commenting how unnatural it is to be chronically ill...with anything, really...the first thing
that comes to my mind is hypertension...probably one of the most common of the chronic illnesses that doctors see...and there doesn't seem to be much of a cure...some people can control their hypertension with diet and lifestyle changes, but most take medicine for the rest of their lives. And to me, that's not healthy...
Another very common illness is hypothyroid...a huge percentage of the population is diagnosed with hyperthyroid.. AND what is most interesting to me, is that almost every single nurse I have ever worked with has a thyroid issue...I think that is HUGELY interesting....
But this is what drives my interest in health and wellness...how it' s so much more than physical..
it's mental/emotional/spiritual...man is not a machine...but as we become more technologically advanced, and with the push to keep medical costs down...this is becoming overlooked...in fact,
all of our institutions are overlooking our humanity... and guess what.. as this trend continues, our
mental/emotional/spiritual health, manifested in our physical bodies and well being, will decline..
and I feel we will become caricatures of humanity...and we already are...but I digress...
So here it is...true health is wholeness, chronic illness is a sign we aren't whole, and healing leads us back to who we truly are.. and I think their are very few people who truly understand this and who
are willing to take the journey.. and for those that ARE willing to take the journey, there don't seem to be a lot of guides...
i love this: "all of our institutions are overlooking our humanity... and guess what.. as this trend continues, our
ReplyDeletemental/emotional/spiritual health, manifested in our physical bodies and well being, will decline..
and I feel we will become caricatures of humanity...and we already are...but I digress."
i dont think you digressed. i think you nailed it!
love this, too: So here it is...true health is wholeness, chronic illness is a sign we aren't whole, and healing leads us back to who we truly are.. and I think their are very few people who truly understand this and who
are willing to take the journey..
I also meant to say that it is interesting to know you and your dad both have medical backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteDo you think there is so much incidence of hypothyroid with nurses due to stress?
I just emailed you then saw you have new blog posts! I'm excited to read more about your journey!
Wow, thanks for your comments... I'm so excited that you get it ...where we are with this whole humanity thing...in my mind things aren't looking too good for us we've surrendered our autonomy to our institutions...we've let them tell us who we are, rather than the other way around...I almost feel as though there are a couple of generations roaming around who don't have a good understanding of basic human nature...the good and the bad...makes you wonder, right?
ReplyDeletelots of people in my family and extened family are doctors and nurses...don't know why.
ReplyDeleteThe emotional pattern behind hypothyroid is powerlessness ( or so they say...from what I've read anyways)...and hypothyroidism is rampant...but yes, I think nursing is a high stress profession and I think stress knocks out your thyroid...just a guess from what I know!
It's so true, we are "over marketed" to constantly, as my Dad says. We are all being convinced all day that we need to meet these outside standards or we are not acceptable. And now with technology being so pervasive in everything we do it's completely changed how we relate to people.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that the first 20 years of my life were relatively technology free so that I have memories of what that is like.
But I do think about other eras in history and how people were also expected then to do things in a very rigid way that complied with religion or local customs. I wonder if they had these kinds of health issues then that come from being disconnected from themselves. Or maybe it wasn't as much of an issue then because life had less demands in general. We are more free and encouraged than ever to be ourselves but so busy and distracted and manipulated and over stimulated by media and options.
It's so true, we are "over marketed" to constantly, as my Dad says. We are all being convinced all day that we need to meet these outside standards or we are not acceptable. And now with technology being so pervasive in everything we do it's completely changed how we relate to people.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that the first 20 years of my life were relatively technology free so that I have memories of what that is like.
But I do think about other eras in history and how people were also expected then to do things in a very rigid way that complied with religion or local customs. I wonder if they had these kinds of health issues then that come from being disconnected from themselves. Or maybe it wasn't as much of an issue then because life had less demands in general. We are more free and encouraged than ever to be ourselves but so busy and distracted and manipulated and over stimulated by media and options.