BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

By Dr. Mark E. Meaney Patient rights are under siege, as evidenced in a recent survey conducted by the National Institute for Patient Rights (NIPR). NIPR staff compiled the results based on responses from 100 randomly selected, former hospital patients who took part in the study. The results of the survey show that, despite billions spent on advances in medical technology, patients daily experience an erosion of their rights “at the hospital bedside.” Ironically, it may be a consequence of the success of science in medicine. Among those responding to essay questions, the following was a typical scenario. A hospital admits a loved one with “complications” (a medical euphemism for “we really don’t know all that’s going on here, but there are several organs involved”). While the loved one rests in bed, a line of doctors and nurses seems to form at the door. One after another, doctors enter the room, make a few comments, then turn around and exit. Primary care physicians refer patien...

I have some of the same things this woman does. And because I have been diagnosed as physically disabled 18 years (NOT MY "CHOICE"!!! either) some people comment on how well I "adapted" and "cope" because I'm giving them the impression "it's no big deal"... Well IT IS A BIG DEAL... it cut my living a decent productive life off at the knees... in my 30s !!! From the great site: BUT YOU DON'T LOOK SICK! __________________ Lately I’ve been getting the impression from some of my friends that maybe my growing list of chronic illnesses is no big deal. No one is actually coming out and saying these words, but that is definitely the feeling I’m getting. This point could be debatable. Maybe they think that. Maybe I’m projecting. But this is how they are making me feel, so right now this is my reality. And it’s fine really. I know that no matter how much education I do or how much awareness I try to bring, I am neve...

by Toni Bernhard, J.D. The Stigma of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I've been sick since 2001 when I failed to recover from what appeared to be an acute viral infection. It has left me mostly house-bound, often bed-bound. In effect, I've had the flu without the fever for almost ten years: the aches and pains, the dazed sick feeling, the low grade headache, the severe fatigue. It cost me my career as a law professor; it cost me the ability to be active in the lives of my children and grandchildren. Because I meet the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) case definition, I've been given the diagnosis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Although there have been some promising developments (a possible connection to a retrovirus; the presence of unique proteins in the spinal fluid of CFS patients), as of this writing, there's no proven cause and no cure. This is not surprising, given that so little money is allocated for research into this debilitating illness. Why? One reason i...

Pain IS a four letter word. I have been struggling with chronic and escalating pain for the last 14+ years. Pain that cut my career short, made me dependent on others (which I hate), caused me to make poor decisions and stopped me from interacting with life the way I'd like. Dworkin came to a conclusion about pain long before medical science proved her right. Something I know too well - chronic emotional, mental and verbal abuse leads to conditions which cause pain. Non-stop, unrelenting fatigue. A personal trauma 5 years ago gave me a near heart attack and landed me in the hospital more times than I could count. The reminder of it is with me every day, every month when I take my medications for PTSD. My abuser from that incident goes on without any remorse towards me, reassuring me that I am nothing and blaming me for telling the truth. My own late mother called me "useless" once I was sick and said things to me about my pain and disability too painful for...

by Kent Holtorf, MD -- ImmuneSupport.com I found this out 15 years ago when trying to get a diagnosis other than " its all in your head " for the reason I was: paralyzed at the time on the left side, unable to eat, in excruciating pain that defied words, unable to walk more than 2 feet without falling over, and running a fever that would not go away. When a doctor who knew what she was talking about looked at the already done CAT scan and blood work? My diagnosis jumped out at her. She was appalled that it was missed but not surprised. Other doctors? Dismissed it as nothing simply because they didn't understand it or were uninformed. Because they were uninformed? stupid? unwilling to deal with a chronically ill patient? pressured by the insurance companies to get rid of chronically ill patients? or all of the prior?   A question that is often raised by patients is “Why doesn’t my doctor know all of this?” The reason is that the overwhelming majority (all b...

First it was Dr. Laura, then Dr. Blowhard Phil, then media whore Dr. Ablow... now it's Dr. Drew... Yes - he ticks me off too. Sex Addiction rehab? You can't REHAB a Narcissist or Sociopath... because you can't rehabilitate something that was NEVER HABILITATED in the first place!! He's a moron... Dr. Drew enrages me. The way his whole empire is built on callous exploitation of the pain, suffering, and need of others makes me very suspicious of his motives and goals in treating people. But even more than that, his eagerness to observe people through tabloid reporting and unsubstantiated rumors and then make unfounded assumptions about whether they’re experiencing substance addiction or abuse issues and/or mental health issues is, frankly, repugnant. ... I saw this reported by the Onion AV Club and they respond so nicely I’m just going to quote them: Dr. Drew Pinksy, of Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew, Sex Rehab With Dr. Drew, and Dr. Drew’s Ol’ Fashioned Healing Vapo...

I love this!! I myself have argued with doctors and gotten up and walked out of offices without paying... and guess what? It's my body and I have ALWAYS been right! You go, Jessica! TEEN OUTSMARTS DOCTORS By Emily Feldman When doctors didn't give a Washington state high school student the answers she wanted, she took matters into her own hands. Eighteen-year-old Jessica Terry, brought slides of her own intestinal tissue into her AP science class and correctly diagnosed herself with Crohn's disease. "It's weird I had to solve my own medical problem," Terry told CNN affiliate KOMO. " There were just no answers anywhere... I was always sick." For years she went from doctor to doctor complaining of vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss and stomach pains. They said she had irritable bowel syndrome. They said she had colitis. They said the slides of her intestinal tissue were fine, but she knew that wasn't right. "Not knowing much about a disease you...

When Kay Day began to take her 12-year-old daughter Rebecca to doctors in South Carolina for a mystery illness, both mother and daughter became very frustrated. Different doctors offered a variety of diagnoses for the girl's recurrent abdominal pain. Some doctors suggested radical treatment options. At least one doctor believed her daughter suffered from depression and needed anti-depressants. Her pain was all "in her head." The family was about to make an unexpected move to Jacksonville, Fla., and even some family members wondered if the middle-school student wasn't just upset about the move. The result of what became a year of turmoil is Day's first nonfiction book, “Killing Earl.” After six months of unsuccessful treatment, Rebecca was on home-bound instruction from her school and had lost 15 pounds. The family couldn't complete their move to Florida until Rebecca was well. Complicating matters was the fact that Rebecca named her pain “Earl.” Fortunately, D...