SCARRED

By A Respected Institution

"As doctors, we swear to do no harm. But on the job we soon absorb another unspoken rule: to overlook the mistakes of our colleagues. The problem is vast. U.S. surgeons operate on the wrong body part as often as 40 times a week. Roughly a quarter of all hospitalized patients will be harmed by a medical error of some kind. If medical errors were a disease, they would be the sixth leading cause of death in America—just behind accidents and ahead of Alzheimer's. The human toll aside, medical errors cost the U.S. health-care system tens of billions a year. Some 20% to 30% of all medications, tests and procedures are unnecessary, according to research done by medical specialists, surveying their own fields. What other industry misses the mark this often?"

By MARTY MAKARY

I am sure many of us have a story about the medical treatment we have received and hopefully most of it is good. My story is not. I guess it was around 2004-5 I started having blisters mysteriously pop up on my skin. It started slow on only one arm, so I went to my primary who sent me to a dermatologist. He diagnosed my condition as eczema and began treating me for that. Gradually my condition worsened and it severely impacted every facet of my life.

When it started, I was in the best shape of my life. Weight training, bike riding and other forms of exercise were a staple of each day. I was competing and winning bodybuilding competitions and actually won one that I did not train. Skin dark and smooth, muscles sinewy and large, I was on top of the world in terms of my fitness. Suddenly I was blindsided by a skin condition that was driving me crazy. I itched constantly and when I sweated the itching was uncontrollable. Sunlight and heat were unbearable and for an active outdoors person, this was not only frustrating but a huge interruption in my life.

In addition to itching constantly, my skin leaked a clear liquid constantly particularly from my arms. As a professional who was one of the leaders in my organization, I was constantly in the public eye and the leaking, scarring, and itching were embarrassing. Arising each morning and having to dust the dead skin out of the bed or having to change the sheets due to bleeding and leaking was unpleasant. The worst part was anticipating bathing and wetting my skin intentionally. Each morning I had to convince myself that it would not be too bad.

Eventually, I had to curtail many of my favorite activities, including but not limited to weight training, biking, long walks, and making love. The medications the doctor prescribed for me caused me to lose calcium which resulted in me losing 3 teeth and many non event injuries. I began to withdraw from everything because the discomfort was too much for me to bear. Eventually I stopped the weight training because I could no longer trust my body. I stayed indoors hiding from the sun, heat and especially humidity which made my skin feel like it was being boiled. I also avoided social events and the embarrassment caused by the stares and questions.

My life was changing dramatically and I still had no answers. The dermatologist insisted that it was eczema and even a biopsy did not change his diagnosis. Miserable and ready to give up, I finally saw a physician who told me that I in fact did not have eczema and properly diagnosed my condition. He provided treatment that controls the condition and I am now able to function with minimal discomfort. The prognosis is good as he believes one day I will be free of the condition altogether. I am currently being weaned off of the medication. 

I am so grateful to be active again. I was lucky but unfortunately not everyone is. I was fortunate and now I can enjoy the sunshine, exercise and a warm bath without the fear I once associated with all of these things. The downside is, the blisters have left scars on my body from head to toe. There is scarring on my back, legs, arms, head, and torso… yet, I was seeing a specialist.

While we often look to our doctor visits as the number one source for maintaining our health, the reality is doctors are humans. They do make mistakes and they have many, many patients. We as individuals must take responsibility for our own health first. If there is a way for you to stay healthy and be well my advice is to do it. You can see from the opening quote that once you become ill and submit yourself for treatment you are at risk.

As you can see from the excerpt above written by a physician and backed up by extensive research, the medical profession is fraught with errors that in my case only caused scarring and thankfully not death. Why would anyone choose to put their wellness solely in the hands of someone else and an institution that is the sixth leading cause of death in our nation? Yes give that some thought while you work out if you need some additional motivation.

Unfortunately, being fit, healthy and strong was not a factor for me otherwise I may have been fine. I have an auto-immune disease. My immune system is so strong it is always on the prowl and when there is no virus or a bacterium to fight it turns on me.

However much of the health issues, diabetes, cardiac conditions, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, bone loss, arthritis,  Parkinson's, Alzheimer's that plague our society may be avoided or their impact reduced with a good fitness and nutrition regime. You are the boss and wellness is something you can achieve and maintain.

Go back and reread the post titled, "How to Stop Hospitals from Killing Us?", when you require some motivation to Get Up and Get Moving. Print it and put it on your refrigerator. Give it some thought when you reach for that sugary snack or that plate of fried food.

I was able to get my health back but it is unlikely the scars will ever go away and I consider myself blessed that I did not have to pay the ultimate price of Death. Will you and your loved ones be as lucky? I am not sure but why take the chance.

Get Up Get Moving, and GET WELL. Do not gamble with your health you may not be that lucky. There is no treatment for death and even if you live, don't you want to Live Well? I bet you do but it is not going to just happen, you need to take charge.

"CHIT CHAT WON'T BURN FAT"