God is not a Doctor and Doctors are not Gods!
Doctors, the Oracles of our health, speak the truth, the whole truth, the only truth, at least that was what I had assumed for a long time. A true believer, I thought that medicine was an exact science, and its apostles infallible. How naïve was I? Doctors are merely human beings with a little more knowledge than the rest of us, and their opinions as to our well being and our needs can be as varied as the members of their profession.
Believing this then, why was I so shocked to learn that a close friend of mine was recently diagnosed with breast cancer? Why, because she, like I had diligently followed her doctor’s preventive instructions; i.e. maintain a healthy life-style, do regular self – examinations and have an annual mammogram. So, how could it be that just this year she was informed that she had a malignant tumor that had been growing inside her for 6- 10 years? 6 – 10 years, you would think that that was impossible! But no, there were facts that we were totally oblivious of, one of which was extremely pertinent to her. The fact that mammograms are not always able to detect tumors in dense breast tissue, and that in such cases an additional MRI or ultrasound is advisable. As it was, her tumor was discovered this year when her mammogram showed some “complications”, at which point the need for further examinations were ordered – and not with a sense of urgency I might add, because if the tumor had been there for 6 – 10 years what difference would a couple of weeks make? Hello, what about to the life of the patient, during those long days waiting, not knowing whether she or not she had cancer? Finally she was diagnosed, operated on and is now undergoing chemo. Thankfully they believe that they were able to get it all, and with regular monitoring she will be fine.
None of us are immune, not even men. However, given that “Breast Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women today (after lung cancer)” and that “According to the American Cancer Society, about 1.3 million women will be diagnosed with breast cancer annually worldwide about 465,000 will die from the disease” (excerpt taken from www.imaginis.com) it is of the utmost importance that we learn all the facts.
Now more than ever I am aware that although seeing my doctor, along with self-examination and annual mammograms are essential, that is not enough. Doctors are not Gods and should not be assigned the whole responsibility of our health, it is also up to us to take matters into our own hands, so we know whereof they speak. After all, it can be a matter of life and death – ours, not theirs.
Add comment November 1st, 2008