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Medical Treatments As Seen in Changing Times for Patient and Practitioner
- Michael J. Young M.D
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Welcome to “Healing From Within” with your host Sheryl Glick RMT author of the newest book in a trilogy A New Life Awaits: Spirit Guided Insights to Support Global Awakening which shares stories of healing, miracles, and messages from Universal Source that shows us our challenges are not economic political societal but a disconnect from our true being or inner wisdom. Sheryl as an intuitive Reiki energy practitioner is delighted today to have Dr. Michael J. Young author of The Illness of Medicine Experiences of Clinical Practice share the significant obstacles patients endure as well as the exasperation many of the truly dedicated medical professionals feel.
Michael as listeners of Healing From within have discovered over the years my esteemed guests and I share many stories miracles and truths about the nature of both physical and spiritual life and how merging both as well as merging allopathic and alternative healing methods offer people to discover more about life happiness and living with hope beyond any of the physical challenges. Life is a journey of self -discovery and refining many of our misguided or misinterpreted perhaps beliefs and thinking as we find new perspectives and heal all trauma. Beyond pain suffering and limitations is the path to freedom from fear and the journey and discoveries are never ending.
In today’s episode of Healing From Within Dr. Michael Young will discuss the controlling efforts of the insurance industry and the clout pharmaceutical companies have over us which has become overwhelming. Dr. Young remembers a time in his 30 year medical practice when these industries worked for us and the physicians. We will explore how to navigate through our healthcare system beyond the mechanism of profit that it has become.
When Dr. Young is asked to think back to his childhood and remember a person place event that may have shown him or others the lifestyle work or interests he might have an as adult he remembers going to his pediatricians office and loving the smells and feeling deeply fond of the doctor who always told him the truth such as the injection would hurt but it was necessary to keep him healthy and safe. Paul Young actually wanted to be that kind of doctor- one who would help their patients manage their health issues honestly and with support from the practitioners and the system. That was the way it was but technology the insurance pharmaceutical companies hospitals and government and the need for greater profits have limited the personal aspect to healthcare at this juncture in time.
Michael Young M.D. tells us about the hopes and intentions you had as a young doctor, about his training and interests and how the system was then and what is going on now. In other words he tells us what goes on behind the scenes in the medical health delivery system in the USA. Dr. Young tells us of deciding to be a urologist as he felt they are confronted with few emergencies have a myriad of procedures and technological tools at their disposal and enjoy a broad mix of office and hospital exposure. It is also one of the fields popular with medical students interested in a surgical career.
Dr. Young also tells us the hardest experience a young physician has to deal with and one never forgotten is the first patient’s death for which he or she feels accountable. Mine was a man in his mid-sixties recovering from open heart surgery for a redo or the second time around. He was also a brittle diabetic, obese and had COPD or pulmonary disease. Dr. Young kept checking on him all day but while his pulse oximeter indicated he was maintaining a reasonable level of blood oxygenation but what was not obvious was his effort and amount of energy being expended by him to maintain that steady oxygenation. As the day progressed his saturation levels were slowly diminishing. He expressed he was fine, until he really wasn’t, and by 11 pm in the evening he was really working hard to get oxygen in and out. He was losing the battle to breath. There was a code blue called. He was connected to the ventilator and while his body has sustained the arrest, his brain had not. Eventually months after, it was known the patient would not recover and that cognitive function was not evident. The family elected to disconnect him from life support. He died and Dr. Young was saddened by this event and angry that the system had put him in this position—alone on a weekend, just over a year after graduating medical school, without any support or supervision.
We can discuss how Medical Care is perceived on both sides by the patient and practitioner. In the past children were prepared to respect going to see their pediatrician. The doctor spent time helping the parent and child to relax before getting to the examination or any test necessary at that visit. Actually, it was seen as a visit or something more intimate and doctors were important to the health of the entire family. Fast -forward decades later now doctors enter the office an hour before patients are scheduled to boot up their computer and review the onslaught of new tasks—reviewing lab results, pathology reports and x-ray reports, and good results are often reported quickly and a bad result might wait till after the weekend . The art of medicine began with the basics: knowing how and when to inform a patient of his or her medical information. Also, now we have endless pages of information we must solicit from patients related to everything from their current medical complaint to their lifestyle and even psychological statues. Much of this is mandated by insurance providers. What the doctor wants to know from the patient is where things hurt and when.
But in this modern technological era we have become prisoners to our own attempts to improve understanding. No longer does a patient come to the office hand in his or her insurance information sign in and wait. Then their blood pressure is taken and usually it’s a little high and we wonder why They might be told the referral is missing or outdated and the patient is worried about their condition and has to complete and encyclopedia in a tablet he could barely read. Thankfully nearly every referral initiated by a primary care physician is granted by the insurer or HMO but remember to bring that referral or there will be delays or problems in receiving the test or treatment needed.
Often patients have no control over their own healthcare choices and doctors have lost the ability to be self-directed in-patient care as well. During the Covid epidemic or plague as Sheryl likes to call it many doctors were told not to us Hydrochloroquine a drug which has been in use to treat malaria and rheumatoid arthritis for years. The CDC and other agencies while they had no treatments to offer limited offering what later on was known to be very helpful in lowering the deaths from Covid in many patients. Some doctors were able to prescribe it but others were not allowed. Many other inconsistencies in treating Covid victims were also contributive to the many deaths and people infected. In reviewing the whole process we will find out that political influences and financial concerns also were part of the decision making processes.
Going on with problems in the new systems employed we begin with a new patient comes into the exam room after dealing with the front desk and giving any information or medical insurance cards and is then seen by a medical assistant who will take vital signs, temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate, and record weight and height, and update the computer record of the patients profile, pertaining to changes in medications and other personal information. By this time often the patient is exhausted from the intake process that he is like a lamb or so wired up and angry at the process that apologies and reassurances are necessary. Now the doctor says, Now what are you here for today? And now it begins.
Sheryl says that recently she saw a new pulmonologist for a continuing problem with phlegm or clearing of the throat which had gotten worse after having Covid April 2020. For the past 25 years Sheryl had trouble with allergies and at times bronchitis and had at that time seen a pulmonologist who told her that her cough was innocuous and not a real problem…but since having covid and some breathing problems that persisted, Sheryl was checking everything out. The assistant who took her blood pressure asked her if she could take her shirt off. A red flag went up and Sheryl responded that of course she could, but why would she to take blood pressure and told the aid her request was unreasonable and she didn’t know how to communicate with a patient. She apologized. Then the woman roughly pulled up her sleeve and told Sheryl her blood pressure was 176 over 90 That was very unlikely, but Sheryl was agitated by the aids behavior. The aid left the room and Sheryl started to feel the air in the room very toxic and uncomfortable. Sheryl is an empath and picks up emotions pain and negativity.
Sheryl had never had an experience like this before and was confident enough to stand up to the erratic behavior of the aid but was still made uncomfortable by the experience. When the doctor came in the energy shifted for the better and the experience with the doctor was quite remarkable. Sheryl asked the doctor if anyone had been in the room who was very ill or had an emotional problem as the energy in the room had been very heavy and physically uncomfortable for Sheryl. The doctor responded, “She alright.” I have myself been in offices where there are people who are very negative and upset the functioning of the office, but often the doctors are unaware, as they are too busy or are not as sensitive as Sheryl to weed out people who don’t belong there.
There are significant obstacles patients endure and the exasperation of the healthcare system is systemic.
Dr. Young writes, “Teaching someone who wants to be a surgeon to sew is not difficult. Likewise teaching a young surgeon to cut here and repair something else there is tedious but achievable. Teaching that same young person, the judgment to know whether to operate is difficult.
Learning to understand one’s limitations as a surgeon, as a physician with the responsibility to consider all options in caring for one’s patient---including the option not to intervene—is, I believe, the hallmark of a surgical education. Certainly, a physician may physically treat his last patient similarly to his very first. Same procedure for the same problem. But the process of understanding the situation, the nuances that may differ consequentially between treating the first and last patient, defines the experience of practicing medicine that cannot be taught It cannot be read in a book or gleaned from articles in a journal. The experience of understanding medicine must be lived through while making a considerable effort to learn and retain each event and outcome that transpired.
Then there is knowing how much time depended upon the doctors individual assessment of the patient.
There are two extreme types of reactions always a bit curious and troubling to deal with. On the one hand there were patients who assumed no responsibility for treatment and would delegate this entirely to the doctor. Whatever you say Doc. This was never good and rarely led to the desired outcome without significant bumps along the way. When problems resulted, the patient would immediately claim that nobody told him anything.
The other difficult patient type was the overly suspicious individual. He wanted records of everything. He brought in realms of printed material from the internet and he always had a family member somewhere on the planet who was an expert in the field. These patients were difficult because everything for them was a challenge as was dealing with problems. Making decisions was a challenge as was dealing with problems. Progress was slow and tedious as this type of patient had literally to much information to process and rarely delegated decision making to anyone Deciding what to eat for dinner was probably an arduous task for this personality type.
Sheryl tells the listening audience that it is important they become proactive in their own treatment plans and can say no or get a second opinion if uncomfortable or unsure of what is being suggested to them.
Sheryl tells of going to a dermatologist for a small bump in her thigh that had been there for some time. Her sister was being treated for pancreatic cancer so she thought she should check it out Her original dermatologist doctor asked if it hurt and if it did not he would leave it alone. Sheryl should have listened to him for when she said it hurt alittle when she moved it around he sent her to the surgeon in the office to remove it. It was extremely painful and Sheryl was traveling far away in a week and would not have done this procedure then if she knew it could be a problem.
When she returned to have the stitches out weeks later, the doctor and another doctor who had entered the room for support it seemed told her she would need two more surgical procedures in that leg. The scar was healing strangely and Sheryl asked, “Is it cancer?” “No,” the doctor responded and Sheryl said, “So Why would you want to do more surgery and the doctor responded Because we’re doctors and that’s what we do.” Well what might it be? Well it might be a fungus? How would you treat it if were a fungus? The doctor responded with, “I would treat it with antibiotics.” So you would do two more minor surgeries looking for something, but you don’t know why? Sheryl said, “No.” left that office and never returned. She had the results sent to her primary care doctor and years later had no reaction from that spot. This story shows you how as a patient you must take charge of your own care if something doesn’t feel right. But as an intuitive energy practitioner and empath, Sheryl followed a spiritual sense for her own treatment needs.
What might be ways to perhaps reform the system and return to a more personalized individualized way to deal with patients? It might work if all the main players in the health field insurance companies’ pharmaceutical government agencies physicians and patients were able to be more humane and less focused on the bottom line the money or profit mode. As it is now hospitals are closing and many doctors have been forced to join hospital systems or multi-practice organizations.
Dr. Young writes,” It is said that he who owns the gold makes the golden rules: In the case of medical care in the United States, it is the insurance companies that own the gold. Looking at the skyline they seem to have the highest and largest buildings. Obtaining insurance approval for a surgical procedure can be difficult for the insurers will not only assess the need for the procedure, but will also determine the appropriate number of days the patient will be allowed to stay in the hospital, have rehabilitation services, etc.
The fact is the assessor deciding the appropriateness of the procedures is highly unlikely to be someone capable of doing the procedure, meaning the insurance approval expert is generally not a practicing physician in the area in which we are trying to get approval. Often, I have found that the medical directors of insurance companies are semi-retired or part time physicians, perhaps of limited clinical experience. Certainly, most don’t have the equal training and expertise in each and every medical scenario on which they are rendering judgment. Yet they are the ones determining if a patient can undergo a particular treatment or procedure.
Often patient demand for procedures or medications which can drive significant revenue encourages overuse of certain treatments. It is no surprise that a number of non-urology trained physicians began prescribing medicine for erectile dysfunction, some with rather limited experience of their side effects. A general rule in surgery is that if you can’t manage the complication, then you shouldn’t be performing the procedure.
Similarly, from Dr. Young’s point of view if a physician doesn’t understand or know how to manage the complication of a drug, then he or she should not prescribe it. Dr. Young tells of going into the rehabilitation floor of a particular hospital which made him aware of problems at the hospital he was becoming frustrated with. Many of the patients were past the acute phases of their illnesses undergoing occupational speech or physical therapy to regain independence but were at different stages. As a result of these differences life on the floor was disjointed. This set up definitely needs some rethinking and changes.
There is also a growing disconnect between physicians and the majority of floor nurses and it is not because of a lack of dedication or interest in health care but the hospital system has gotten in the way of caring for patients. Floor nurses now spend more time on computer terminals documenting what has transpired in their patient encounters than actually developing an understanding of patient’s diseases and processes. Simply put, less time is being spent with the actual patient.
However, nurse practitioners NP are an invaluable asset to doctors for managing their practice. These are nurses with advanced training and they can truly facilitate patient care. Dr. Young says he has rarely met NP’s that weren’t competent and dedicated The can perform many of our fundamental floor procedures and often communicate effectively with patients regarding health conditions and treatment plans. Perhaps more important they are able to interact very efficiently with floor nurses. We need to see more well trained Nurse Practitioners and hosipital should provide incentives for their advancing their skills with further education.
Technology is affecting the changing nature of medicine. Dr. Young tells us he knows it sounds cliché when the older generation reflects on the current state of affairs and feels that the olden days were better. I think in the case of medicine it is true. Yes there have been significant improvements through our technology. We have better instrumentation, improved diagnostic capabilities, a more refined understanding of physiology, and greater ability to intervene with disease processes. But I feel the situation is somewhat analogous to the current state of interpersonal communication. Today we have fax machines text messaging e-mails voicemail but we don’t communicate any better In fact because of these options we talk less to each other and important information and context can be lost or misinterpreted via text messages.
Our technology has also forged new roads of confusion and concern among patients. There once was a time when a patient could talk to the doctor after hours for concerns about a new or ongoing treatment. Now answering machine pick up the call and many elderly patients simply cannot adapt to the communication changes and also many calls are lost or improperly routed. Among other technological wonders in the world of medicine are the now mandated portal systems by which patients can access their medical records on line 24/7. The patient may decide to read their recent lab reports not necessarily understanding them but they do have this option.
However I think the most significant change in patient access to health care information has involved the internet in general which is filled with innumerable sites related to health care, the lot of them offering bounteous medical verbiage for the interpretation or misinterpretation of all who click in…Often the patient might decide which approach to choose regardless if it is appropriate or possible in terms of their condition or needs. I support self-education and encourage patients to learn about their conditions. But a little bit of knowledge without a complete grasp of the context and processes involved can lead to misunderstandings that are potentially dangerous. Example: A man with prostate cancer who needed surgery chose herbal treatment instead and three years later returned and the cancer had metastasized and moved into his bones and lymph nodes.
Sheryl suggests that some people would choose alternative treatments before surgery if it possibly was early in the diagnosis and could help in addition to western medicine and might want the most gentle approach before surgery which we all know can have many complications. Using judgment is necessary by both doctor and patient to achieve the best results.
We thank Dr.Michael J. Young author of The Illness of Medicine for sharing a most expansive detailed look as the life of a surgeon and the changing issues facing the medical profession, insurance companies, pharmaceutical, government interests, and last of all, which should always be first, the patient.
In summarizing today’s episode of “Healing From Within” we have seen how Dr. Michel Young whose father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all physicians has brought details and examples of changing doctors’ practices hospital and medical institutions so we can see the necessity for the balancing of technology, corporations, insurance and pharmaceutical companies, with the personal involvement of medical professionals and their patients and remember to merge the best of progress with the gentleness of past times so medicine doesn’t decline into an impersonal exchange between the parties where respect, honor, and faith, for the needs of all participants are no longer honored. True healing is not merely moving beyond symptoms through medicine surgery or therapy. It is the ability of the patient and physician to form a human bond for healing mind body.
We are now aware that corporations control the financing of much of the healthcare delivery system and that is becoming a greater problem. You have only to watch episodes of The Resident on national television to see the implications of the many problems facing dedicated doctors nurses and patients trying desperately to navigate the laws of the corporation hospital insurance companies trying to provide a level of care that is acceptable and profitable. The Physician is no longer in charge of his or her patient’s health care delivery. He or she is told how many patients must be seen and in what time frame and what interventions are allowed. Consequently, the doctor’s office is no longer a health care sanctuary a place to go for comfort and healing. It has become a monitored managed pathway for billing. Like our Law Enforcement agents, the system is taking away their personal power to respond to difficult confrontational events with their hands tied behind them, Often the offenders or criminal are treated as victims and the police as the problem. These changes in society mainly political and economic are not for the benefit of the parties involved and I think we must all stand up for what is rightful action for best results looking not to judge or blame, but to learn as humans we can only do our best for each other and we must encourage through legislation and the courts to uphold the rights of all people in all situations, so we can do better than just surviving in a world that is losing it’s love of individual excellence. To have and give the best care, restoring the best in the practice of self-care and care for others, reminds us we are human and unique. In our differences we must find ways to restore our faith in humanity and find healing beyond systems but through love.
Dr. Michael Young and I would have you remember not to be overwhelmed by the changes happening now as there is indeed, spiritually speaking, a personal plan for each of us and a collective plan to advance the soul to greater levels of higher consciousness. Through facing the challenges, we learn gratitude, acceptance, intention, and non-judgment, and find peace beyond any challenge we are given. Change is necessary and often leads to improving our sense of knowing who we are and what values are really important in a human life cycle.
I am your host Sheryl Glick author of A New Life Awaits and invite you to visit my website www.sherylglick.com to read about and listen to leaders in the metaphysical scientific spiritual medcal legal education and music and arts fields who share their discoveries and interest in knowing humanity evolution and the search for higher consciousness in more exact ways. Shows may also be heard on www.webtalkradio.net and www.dreamvisons7radio.com
