For those of us mired in the hospital system, this isn't comforting at all, but it dovetails with my own suspicions:
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
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Agree on all counts.
ReplyDeleteWith certain limited exceptions, most of the meds prescribed by modern medicine are outdated toxic compounds given only to control symptoms and often lead to long-term complications, when taken year after year without proper review or titration. My late mother was prescribed corticosteroids for her rheumatoid arthritis, which later caused osteoporosis, lower leg edema, serious infection and her eventual death from sepsis. So, yes, modern medicine did control the original pain from the arthritis for a good decade and a half, but at what cost? And a variety of doctors kept issuing prescriptions months after month, and year after year, for higher and higher steroid doses.
Being admitted is equally disastrous. My mom was admitted to a certain famous medical center in Seoul for almost a month, with no improvement in her condition and only a 10 million won medical bill to show for it. The doctors seemed uninterested and uninspired in their treatment. After a month of being bedridden in hospital, she was never able to walk unassisted again, and it was all downhill from there. Sarcopenia, cachexia (wasting), and bed sores in short order.
So what are we to do? As the good doctor in the video notes, stay healthy and out of hospitals. Do you own research. Read the lengthy and incredibly dull research on new treatments/medicines to see which ones will keep you from ending up six feet under.
And, last but not least, on the existential side of things, accept that medicine is imperfect because humans are imperfect. We are rotting, defecating lumps of flesh genetically destined to die at 40 who somehow manage to eke out another couple of years or decades because of modern sanitation and occasional emergency care (which is incredibly good on both counts). We must acknowledge that most people (read doctors, nurses are generally angelic) in the field of medicine are only there because they are book smart and good at acing multiple choice tests, not because they care particularly about humanity or making the world a better place. Yes, some are wonderful, caring, brilliant healers, but the majority are probably more interested in their next golf game than their next patient round. (c.f. the recent intern/resident strike right here in Korea). And, in the final analysis, even if every doctor was a perfect incarnation of a 21st century Mother Teresa, they would still be no more able to stop the rising tide of mortality than their namesake sister. Drugs can only do so much and surgical procedures often end in failure. We're destined to die and there's not a damn thing we can do to rage against the dying of the light.
So, when it comes to doctors and hospitals, it's definitely a case of can't live with them, but (fingers crossed, on very rare occasions) can't (quite literally) live without them either.
I've long had trust issues with Korean healthcare, but I've had issues with US healthcare, too, especially when my mom was afflicted with brain cancer. There were lapses in her care that we caught only through vigilance and the understanding that we needed to be her patient-advocates.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think the docs were right, this time, to point out that what I had was primarily a heart issue despite my lung complaints, and they mostly took care of that. At the same time, they insisted that the incident that got me admitted a second time had nothing to do with COVID, and I'm not so sure they're right. The timing seems awfully suspicious, and COVID has been associated with lingering sequelae. So I'm thankful for the care I received that got me back on my feet, but I'm dubious about the pile of pills I have to take (I'd rather not talk about them right now) and the exogenous insulin.
Upshot: medical treatment is indeed a mixed bag, life is indeed unpredictable, and taking care of yourself is your best option. It's just harder for some of us than for others.
It also seems to be a matter of luck. And good genes. My father lived to 83, despite decades of smoking and drinking. It's my goal to match his longevity, but I have my doubts.
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