power of the tongue.

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it, shall eat the fruit thereof. 

I don’t believe healthcare providers grasp the power of their words and how they can effect their person’s quality of life.

Doctors use to be trusted pillars of the community. They didn’t prescribe medications that weren’t absolutely necessary and always encouraged positive outcomes. They used medicinal herbs and home remedies that left the patient feeling in control and they worked!

Doctors have now fallen into a sheep cycle. They spend most of their time on proper documentation for insurance companies and finding a medication that a new pharmaceutical company is pushing, that may have side effects far worse than the symptom they are treating.

There’s a reason that doctors get a “God complex.” They are the person that people go to when they need a miracle, also known as relief: expecting a thorough exam, focused treatment, education and a speedy recovery. It seems that doctors now try to ‘spread the wealth’ making sure that specialists, imaging, labs and pharmacies all get a piece of the pie. Meanwhile complaints are left unresolved and people are left feeling defeated. They believe the doctor when they’re told they need unnecessary treatment. Their word becomes “law” because people would like to think their best interest is being considered. This is not the case. They are treating symptoms without looking for a source. They don’t want to simply “cure” us because there is no money there. If the source of our ailments are fixed then there is no reason to return; but as long as symptoms are ongoing, we have a reason to return regularly.

What we are told matters because what our mind believes is manifestation.

We would like to think that a provider of healthcare wouldn’t steer us wrong but I am I here to tell you, they certainly will.

An elderly gentleman I know was taking a few medications for cholesterol and blood pressure. He went to the doctor with the complaint of feeling like his food was getting stuck in his chest, heart burn and joint pain. At his first visit, they added additional blood pressure medications and a reflux medication and was given a referral for cardiology, orthopedics, gastroenterology and imaging to check for an obstruction. It was months of going to different doctors and each adding new medications at every visit and still no relief. They never once discontinued one medication. He was constantly experiencing adverse reactions that were treated with more medications. He ended up at vascular, pulmonology, neurology and regular visits to pain management during the course of his treatment. Swallow test, endoscopies and scans galore. Come to find out, his initial imaging showed a hiatal hernia that no one had mentioned it to him. He had suffered for almost 2 years before he even learned about the hernia that was causing his swallowing issue.

He had seen countless doctors, had an excessive amount of new medications and still hadn’t resolved any of his initial complaints and now he had new issues like shaking, dizziness, fatigue and chest pain! He became agitated with the side effects and keeping up with what to take and when so stopped taking all the medications they had given him. I went through each medication, finding all the contraindications and possible cause of how he was feeling. He went back to his primary care doctor well informed, being his own advocate. He requested a different cholesterol medication that helped his joint pain, 4 blood pressure medications were replaced with 1, he picked up an otc anti-acid that resolved his heart burn and changed his diet resolving the pressure after eating.

Isn’t that crazy. Not one of them was concerned with fixing the problem; they only created more. Feels like medical abuse to me.

Another example: an elderly man that was extremely active for his age,[he raked hay, fed cows, tended chickens while walking long distances and even drove] was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. Even while weak from sickness, he pulled himself into a big ol pick up truck to go the ER. While he was there, the doctors, nurses and therapist told him that he wasn’t able to go home and live alone due to weakness. He participated in therapy, walking further than required. He did exercises alone in attempt to get home quicker. He was walking to the bathroom alone without incident. They advised that he go to the nursing home for rehab because going home alone would be too dangerous for him.

While in the nursing home, he was given a wheelchair and instructed not to stand without assistance. He wasn’t allowed to get out of the bed alone or shower standing up. They instilled a fear of falling in him that he never had before. He was confident in what his abilities were and was rarely deterred by things he ought not be doing. The therapist there told assured him that when he got home there would be packages on his porch containing a walker, elevated toilet seat and cane. [which he had paid for] They said he needed a transfer bench for the tub because he wasn’t able to step inside the tub or stand for a shower as he had before. Before, he actually would sit in the tub and bathe and was able to get out without issue.

He was discharged on a Friday. There were no packages. There was no one available at the nursing home. He was given no information on delivery. Thank god we were able to scrounge up the things he needed second hand. We put rails around his bathroom and set it up as instructed. He was terrified of falling. He only said that he couldn’t do things without ever trying. After we sat the bathroom up, I told him to come in and make sure everything was accessible. When he got to the tub, he grabbed the toilet as he had before and stepped right over the side. While he’s standing there, I ask if he had forgot that he couldn’t step that high?! He laughed and turned around and sat down. HE FORGOT THAT HE COUDLN’T and JUST DID! In the days following, his brother came to pick him up and as he rushed out the house, he came down the steps without assistance and climbed right in that truck! After inside, he just knew he would fall getting out. Guess what, he didn’t.

He doesn’t cross his yard to see his chickens or cows anymore. He doesn’t try to get on the lawnmower that he used religiously before hand to get around. He stopped doing all the things he’s capable of because he was told so much that he couldn’t, it became instilled in him. He rarely leave his house except for appointments and doesn’t even attempt to drive.

I find this disheartening to live in fear because of what someone else tells you that you’re capable of. He can. Feels a lot like mental abuse to me.

Recently, a friend of ours was telling us that his mom had a cough she couldn’t shake. She is 80 years old but very active. She would go to work in her studio daily, she just purchased a new vehicle and had even had a cosmetic surgery recently. She went to the hospital because her shortness of breath had become noticeable. She was treated for pneumonia and during the testing, they found a mass on her lung. When they checked for malignancy, they found it had spread to multiple places in her body.

Within a week of being diagnosed, she was given a permanent line for chemotherapy, scheduled for radiation before discharge and given morphine to take multiple times a day. WHAT?!

I asked her son if they had discussed quality of life with her. It seemed they were throwing everything but the kitchen sink at her when she was already weak from having pneumonia. Chemo and Radiation is hard on young people! To be 80 and able prior to knowing about the cancer, she was now trying to get her things packed up and given away before her death. WHAT?! I was most taken back by the morphine. I know from working in long term care and hospice, morphine is an end of life drug. We would never go straight to morphine for pain associated with radiation; starting with over the counter medications, then mild pain medications and morphine was rarely if ever used!

She was able until she was told that she wasn’t. She wasn’t on any pain medication prior to admission, she didn’t complain of pain and lived a full life.

Heartbreaking for both her and her son. I know that all physicians do not give alternatives to chemo and radiation. They rarely look at their quality of life, they look to get as many appointments and as much medications as they can pushed into what life is left. Its fucking disgusting. When I worked with cancer patients, there was only one doctor that even mentioned quality of life to his patients. It was a service that EVERY doctor should consider. If a spice or herb can do the same thing that violent drugs do, why not?

I offered advice regarding herbal remedies, fasting and lifestyle changes that wouldn’t be so harsh on her body but she had already had her first round of radiation at that point. She’s come to terms with a speedy death, both of them fearful of how life will be between now and then.

Living in fear is a terrible way to live.

I would love to see changes in our healthcare system but it is obvious that it will only get worse. Alternative treatment should always be an option ESPECIALLY for geriatric patients.

It is our job to stand up for ourselves. We know our strength and should look to God when in doubt, he will give you the strength you lack.