This is about my 4.5 months in UCLA hospital and rehabs they sent me to and then back in the hospital, th they did not discharge me for 4.5 months as they allegedly could not find my issue....it was a knee infection and they did not do an MRI for 2.5 months and that's when they "found it"..... I just sent this to my daughter: Jen, you know how much I distrust docs and hospitals, I woke up thinking the hosital and rehabs kept me with them for 4.5 mos with the knee as they got money from medicare and medical all those months. To not find that infection pretty quickly is now hard to believe....they avoided an MRI for 2.5 months, and when they finally did it, they found the knee infection. mom Now I'm thinking more distrust on the doc/hospital for this long issue.....it took 2.5 months of more rehab stays as I had 2.5 months of IV antiobiotics... The hospital and rehabs Made a Lot of Money on me.
Like most of us, my health worsens as I age. I have T-2 diabetes, and what the gastroenterologist calls IBS-D. In my opinion, Drs usually are quite good at curing medical issues that they can SEE. BUT if they can't actually see the problem, they are quite poor at helping. Take IBS for example. IBS-D is merely a made up name meaning, "Heck, I don't have a clue as to what is causing your problem." In my case I went to a supposedly top flight gastro Dr. He did TWO colonoscopies, a camera into the throat, and he had me swallow a x-tra lg "horse pill" that took photos of my entire G.I. system. Also numerous lab tests. Many months and umpteen tests later, results NEGATIVE. Oh, he threw many different meds at it ,but none worked. In all that time, he never mentioned diet. Perhaps they don't teach anything about diet in medical school ? Diabetes T-2 When I was diagnosed with diabetes, a nurse gave me a very short lecture on what I was supposed to avoid if possible. At no point did anyone EVER sit me down and explain exactly what could happen if I let my blood glucose get out of control. Again, a diet issue. At no point did anyone, Dr or nurse expain to me that potatoes and white rice BOTH have a high glycemic index. Now, something has happened to my legs. I can walk around the apt without any problem, BUT if I try to walk a city block, the pain starts to build. At a block and 1/2 the pain gets so bad that I MUST stop, sit down and give my legs a rest for 10-15 minutes. During the walking, I must get off my feet numerous times. With every passing week, the pain gets worse. I'm afraid that soon I'll not be able to walk at all. I feel that IF the doctor had taken the time to explain the extreme dangers of diabetes to me I might have changed my diet much more drastically and I'd not be facing this issue now.
Did you do any research to see what would happen if you didn't keep your glucose under control? In the end, we are responsible for our own decisions. Any research would have told you that potatoes and rice are a no-no for diabetics. Ditto white bread and sugar.
All I knew was to stop eating sugars, foods with high fructose, and pasta. I relied on what the Dr and nurse told me. At the time I was 1st diagnosed with T-2, I didn't have a computer.
In my opinion, Dr. Jason Fung is one of the best doctors for good information about controlling diabetes with your diet. He is on youtube, and has a lot of excellent videos, if you are interested in eating a healthier diet, @Richard Whiting . Here is one video about diabetes, and you can subscribe to his channel if you like this one.
How long ago was that? Was there a library nearby that you could have gone to to look in a book to learn about diabetes?
While I agree that we are all responsible for doing our own homework on existing or impending medical problems, I can also appreciate the OP, and have mentioned something similar before. There is also a likelihood that not everyone is intellectually, emotionally, or otherwise capable of finding helpful information on their own. I have no doubt whatsoever that there is a relationship between our environment, the stuff we put into our bodies, and cancer, diabetes, and most other diseases. Yet, I asked my GP and other physicians specializing in cancer about what I might be able to do to reduce my chances of a recurrence of cancer or new cancer and received no answers. In fact, the doctor I was seeing during and after my cancer treatments said that there wasn't really anything I could do; it was either going to happen or not. When a doctor finds that your blood pressure is high, often on the basis of one blood pressure reading, they will prescribe a drug but they won't discuss diet or other changes you might make in your lifestyle. When a blood test suggests that your cholesterol is high, they will try to talk you into taking a statin drug but they won't discuss diet, exercise, or so on. Of course, if you have found a particularly good doctor or have developed a relationship with your doctor such that he or she views you as a human being, and not merely one of several patients, you might get some of that advice, but it's best not to depend on it. I don't know if the reason is that they've never learned this stuff or that they can't spend the amount of time with you that it might take, because time is money, and there are other patients in the waiting room. It might also be that experience has taught most doctors that most patients will fail at diets, or that they won't get serious about a diet until it's too late. For most of us, it's best to see a doctor for the stuff you can't do for yourself, but you should also learn to navigate the sea of disinformation in order to find things that might actually be helpful. That can be tough, and it requires a dose of skepticism. To start with, if I come across a website that's selling food supplements, I might view the information available on that site with the perspective that I am dealing with a salesperson who is not necessarily a helpful purveyor of health information. The information might still be good, but a flag is up on that one. I was tempted to suggest books in lieu of the Internet, but people invent a whole lot of crap in order to sell books, too. When it comes to diabetes, and probably most of the serious illnesses that we face as we grow older, a moderate diet that leaves out some of the stuff that we know is bad for us, and puts in the stuff that we know is good for us, is a good place to start. That's not necessarily easy to do, though. Too often, the unfortunate truth is that if it's something that you really, really like, it's probably not good for you.
Very well said. I just never REALLY understood the ins and outs of diabetes. I THOUGHT that all I needed to do was cut out sugars. WRONG ! As it turned out, there are a host of "normal" foods that cause blood glucose to soar high.
I learned early on that if we depend on doctors for diabetes advice, we'll be in big trouble. At my diagnosis 14 years ago, I knew nothing about diabetes. My sister took me to the ER with a blood sugar over 500. After they gave me a shot of insulin, they brought me dinner: Turkey, mashed potatoes, chocolate pudding & a box of sweetened fruit drink. I started eating & my sister walked in the room & started yelling at employees, "What the hell are you doing.....do you idiots know why he's here?" Later, at my first doctor visit, the doctor said I was dehydrated & told me to drink 6 glasses of Gatorade every day. I bought the Gatorade on the way home, but decided not to drink it after reading the label: 36 gms of sugar. I spent an hour or two each day at a book store, reading about diabetes & how to manage it & ignored any doctors' advice.
At the time I was diagnosed with diabetes T-2, I was also dealing with 2 prior heart attacks AND IBS-D which was causing sudden, violent diarrhea. Obviously, I had my hands full attempting to figure out what I could eat. The heart Dr told me to cut way, way back on fatty meats, especially chicken skin, bacon, sausages etc. The PCP and nurse told me to eliminate, as much as possible, any foods with gluten, no breads, no pasta, and darn few potatoes, no fruit juices, no Starbucks drinks, no sugary anything. The gastro Dr, told me to stop consuming any dairy, except lactose free milk. About the only thing I can completely, safely consume is WATER. Yeah, yeah, a few BOILED/STEAMED veggies are ok and also baked chicken breast IF the skin has been 1st removed. I still do eat SOME extra lean ham. I do eat home-made chili con carne, and refried beans. Also, 1/2 banana, an apple a day, an occasional orange As a retired chef and lover of food, my life is a nightmare. Any wonder why I have had such a hard time figuring out what to safely eat/drink ?
We are lucky. All of our doctors are somewhere between good and excellent, our GP and my wife’s medical oncologist being at the top of the list. My GP has always been very responsive to any complaint, readily recommending tests or other specialists. OP, for gut issues, check out loperamide. It is an exceedingly benign drug from everything that is known right now and I’ve found it very helpful at times. You can get it over the counter.
I just wonder sometime why it is that just about 15-20 years ago we almost never heard of diabetes ? Think carefully about it, it was not in the forefront of every-other TV commercial like it is today. And when we did hear something about it .... it was rare. Now it is just about all we hear ... IMO very suspicious ? Is it the magic pill-seller ? I'm 74, when i was a young man, a teenager .... Never heard of it, never heard of anyone dealing with it. Yes I am skepitical by nature .... But the medical industry today [and yes it is an industry] has me doubting much / most of what they say.