Comments on: L.O.L.

By: Yvaine

Yvaine — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 13:53:33 +0000

I came across your blog sometime ago and was really excited because you’re a doctor and I was hoping to gain some form of insight into the lifestyle. I finish highschool this year and I’ve been planning to do medicine for a while now. I’m really glad I read this because I think I need to be reminded of the realities of the job so, thank you for writing this so well.

By: Vonnie

Vonnie — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:46:27 +0000

Geordi was my boyfriend, second only to Data. The eye gear gets me *right there*

By: scott

scott — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:38:40 +0000

Leesa, I’ve seen a few but a big problem is that the people who really believe in natural remedies often don’t mention them when something goes wrong. As if “it couldn’t possibly be because of my LiverGard(TM).” I did a research report on CAM (complementary alternative medicines) years back, and while some legitimate CAM are truly effective, they also have true side effects just like anything else. ANYTHING that supposedly helps the liver tends to do the opposite from what I’ve seen. The liver doesn’t need any more shit to make it run better, it needs less of it. Then there are these Bowel Cleansers which “detox” their bowels and give them these long stringy bowel movements full of “toxins.” What these Bowel Cleansers actually do is create these abnormal BM’s making the buyer think they were in the bowel the whole time. I don’t have a problem with alternative medicines, I just have a problem with lies-in-advertising and hiding side effects since “diet supplements” don’t require either. Scary indeed.

By: Leesa

Leesa — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:27:08 +0000

R.I.P. LOL

Off topic but I was wondeing if doctors see slot of patients come in who
try natural remedies only to be hospitalized for it. Lately I gave seen so many detox kits, and herbal remedies. Especially this liver flushers. Kinds scary. All this just sold at the stores.

By: scott

scott — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:33:15 +0000

Rachel, I want to hear the gyn story too.

Rick, sorry to hear about your frustrations with health care. One of the reasons I didn’t go into primary care (office practice) is because of frustration on both sides with a lot of chronic outpatient problems. Migraine treatment is limited to a handful of migraine-specific and non-migraine-specific meds, and scans to make sure something more life-threatening (like an aneurysm) isn’t the problem. If Erika hasn’t seen a neurologist, she should, but again, the treatments are limited and she’s probably been through many of them.

I capitalize CODE out of habit from my old journal (back with geocities in 1997). It doesn’t stand for anything, just the usual Code Blue. I put it in caps because it is the most crucial, penultimate moment in the hospital – someone will be either in the ICU or dead at the end of any CODE. At least I don’t type everything in red text though (like I did back then).

Vonnie, I see those tricorders as devices that can do mini CT/MRIs and get lab tests without actual blood. Treatment is still limited by the knowledge at the time, and by the looks of Geordi’s eyewear, it’s not much better by then.