A New Doc?

10/18/13 6AM
"You wouldn't believe the crap they teach in the medical schools today".   Quoting his Primary Care Doc, a friend who recently had a successful hip replacement, suggests I see this Doc.  I think I'll do that. I'm going to need a Primary Care Doc to access the health care system.  One of my irritations with the system is how you have to go through a Doc to get a test done.  My Naturopath wants me to have my PSA test redone 30 days after starting my "Juicing Diet". That day is a week from today.  She thinks the PSA high reading may be due to my rare disease, PRP, and as it clears maybe the PSA reading with come down.

So I think I'll do this. See if I can sign up with this Doc.  Would be nice to have a Doc I can trust and I certainly can't trust my new Johns Hopkins Primary Care Doc who was touting the Methotrexate drug. Instead of telling me how dangerous it is, she was telling me how safe it supposedly is (it is anything but!).  Starts to get my blood boiling when I think about this.  Should I file a complaint
about this?  Does Johns Hopkins have a system for patients to complain about bad patient care?  Don't want to waste a lot of time or stir up negative emotions in me, but maybe I ought to. There should be a place where patients can vote against Docs to counterbalance the power of Big Pharma.  What do you think?

As for the "crap they teach today", I'm amazed how ignorant Docs are of basic health matters.  I think it starts with medical school where they go through an exhaustive training which deprives them of sleep and makes them operate in a poor mental state to practice making serious judgments when they are in no condition to make sound ones.  When you talk to a lot of Docs about healthy living, diet, exercise etc. their eyes glaze over.  And if you look at a lot of them you know they don't live healthy lives.  Guess they learn that in med school.

But, don't get me wrong here.  Modern medicine and Docs do perform "miracles" on a daily basis.  Like my friend who had the hip replacement.  A few weeks later and he can walk without his cane. Couldn't do that before.  Another friend had both knees replaced after collapsing at the symphony. Now she's fine. I find this awesome to contemplate.

Well I haven't heard from the Chairman of Johns Hopkins Department of Dermatology. No answer yet to my letter. Of course, I didn't expect an answer this quick, but what surprised me was how uniform the responses I got from you all, saying you don't expect much here.  Are we too cynical?  Or are they really this driven by the need for grant money etc. from Big Pharma.  The hospital itself is a huge complex where nothing seems lacking in terms of money. Lots of staff and facilities.  Must be a challenge to keep that going.  Maybe too much to expect them to have patient care come first?  Am I just too naive or idealistic thinking that should be their primary mission?

I continue to do well.  One concern is my feet. I'm keeping them going with Vaseline.  Otherwise the bottoms are like cardboard and I fear they will crack. The color is better, less red.  But the leather cardboard surface doesn't seem to be softening.  The feet were the last to be affected as the rash moved down my body.  So I guess its OK for the cure to take here last also.  But, still, I'd like more improvement.  Maybe I'll drink more water. And more frequent applications of Vaseline.

A note of thanks to all you who are reading this Blog.  I think it is no small part of my cure to know family, friends and readers on four continents have come along to share this journey with me and find it both interesting and entertaining.  That is immensely gratifying to me.  So thanks for reading!