This doctor has a couple of great stories about the “medical industrial complex” and why health care reform is hard-- http://tinyurl.com/THCB-lobster-and-lap-choley
After the lobster-salad analogy, he talks about high-tech driving up medical spending, not always for the better. I could relate to his example: gallbladder surgery. Full disclosure–I have gallstones (maybe TMI).
The pain felt like a sword sticking through me right under the rib cage. My doctor said, “Classic gallstone attack, we’ll get CT scan to be sure.” The scan showed a gallbladder that looked like a bag of marbles. The doctor advised removal of the gallbladder: “With laparoscopic surgery, you hardly even have a scar.”
“Doesn’t the gallbladder have a job to do?” I asked. The doctor agreed it did. “Is it necessary to take it out?” She said no, it wasn’t, but I should avoid fats and eating too close to bed time to avert future attacks.
I also went to a licensed naturopathic doctor and he gave me the same dietary advice, plus a pain remedy: peppermint oil pills.
Apparently, peppermint oil soothes spasms, like when a gallstone blocks the bile duct. The pills were about $17 in the grocery store’s health food section. At my next attack: 2 peppermint oil pills, and 10 minutes later – horrendous pain is gone! After 7 years, I’m only on the second bottle of pills. I raved about the peppermint oil -- it helped my friend’s cramps and my brother-in-law’s lower back pain, too.
Guess I could have had the operation, but just I wanted to stop the pain and keep all my working parts. Did you know that gallbladder removal is one of the most common surgeries in the U.S. and the #1 reason is pain. Wonder how many of those people would choose peppermint oil over surgery?
I asked some questions, checked the Internet, got another opinion and found a treatment that worked for me. More disclosure – yes, I had health insurance at the time; no, I did not work for an insurance company then.
It wasn’t about the money, but now I see how each decision impacts the money. We can all ask "Why?" and "How much?", without an act of Congress. You never know what could happen.
Susan with Regence
