In my own experience of being diagnosed with 'life long' illness, once I had found a way through and out the other side, the diagnosis was then removed as a 'mistake'. Thus, they invalidated my experience, my self-care and my journey. It seemed to me that once I was no longer a viable customer for their drug pushing that they were no longer interested. Being able to pass on my route to wellness to other patients did not seem to be anything that they were interested in.
Yes, sadly this is common - if you do make yourself better, they will say the initial diagnosis must have been wrong, and like you say invalidating you.
You are so accurate in your assessment of how doctors give diagnoses. Two decades ago, a doctor diagnosed my hearing loss with the comment "there's nothing that can be done for it". I was in despair, but fortunately the next day was seeing my cousin the audiologist, who said, "you can hear with hearing aids" - which the doctor had not even mentioned as an option to help me hear. The doctor only cared about what he could or could not do, not what would help me.
I am caught in this at the moment with a diagnosis of melanoma. The doctors are convinced that my body cannot have stopped the metastasis all by itself, so continue with their hunt to find new tumours they are convinced must be there but do not show up in the tests. They are finding what they are calling "shadows" on scans that should be showing as definitive tumours if that is what they are, so then they want more scans, more biopsies, and more "just in case" operations. I am telling them that my body might well have stopped the melanoma from spreading with the assistance of various supplements I was already taking for other things (principally berberine). They look at me kindly and patronizingly and tell me that is unlikely. I am not sure how I will handle telling them I am taking one of the cancer protocols doing the rounds on Substack, and I am not sure how I will handle telling them that I will have no more tests or operations until the next scan shows something other than "shadows". Their mindset has me tied into violent medical intervention for the rest of my life, however short that might be. They cannot grasp that a human body, given half a chance, can heal itself, and they cannot grasp that a short life lived well might be better than a longer life lived in horrific medically induced pain and stress.
Last time I saw them I asked for a referral to a counselor to help me think it all through, and they refused. That's right. They refused to refer me to a counselor, after a diagnosis of metastasized melanoma. Hmmm. Punishment for refusing to do what they are telling me to do?
I have realised through this process that diagnosis is nothing like as accurate as they pretend it is. There is a huge amount of guesswork. We have always known that their treatments are way off, but I had not realised until now, how far off their diagnosis is. They are sure, in my case, that cancer must be there, so they are hunting for it. And they plan to do so much harm to my body in the process that eventually it will give them what they want - if I let them.
I am very sorry you are being put in to this hellish situation. I have also experienced explicit punishment by the medical system for not being a good boy.
My hospitalization experience on a gertriac ward opened my eyes to how anti-human and anti-life and anti-death [in terms of giving people really bad deaths, as I think you have written about before] the system is.
I agree, Kathleen. The problem with "good" practitioners is that they're still peddling the death-cult. My husband is a board-certified music therapist who worked nearly 20 years at a forensic psych facility run by the State. He loved working with the patients who respected him, but management was increasingly tyrannical. It became utterly abysmal, as in "check your ethics at the front door," and we got him out in December 2020. I mean, if you are "written up" for simply asking questions about an unethical system, it's time to get out. You can't change the system!
I have a close friend who was diagnosed with terminal lymph cancer decades ago. She refused chemo and was told by the docs that she was mad and would only last 6 months, if that. She went the alternative diet route and beat the cancer back. The docs were uninterested in how she'd achieved this. It came back twice and she used different techniques to beat it back on each occasion and is now super-healthy in her sixties. For sure, by no means everyone has the same experience with alternative treatments. But I think it illustrates that conditions can be beaten on occasion with sheer will power and spirit.
You make such important points in this article, Gary. It is so important to have compassionate hope and possibility included during delivery of diagnoses. Those who include such features are one's true allies, I feel. The recipients of such news are so vulnerable,
Let's all agree to never listen to anyone's absolutes. Most people are wrong on a regular basis. Only the person with healing to do can know what is possible. Trust your intuition.
I am really enjoying your work. I look forward to reading more in the future. Thanks! We have had many Parkinson's diagnoses in my family as well, so I am also very interested in your personal journey there. My dad was diagnosed in his 40s. (he
s 73 now? or 74? I think he's 73) My grandma had it, my Uncle had it. None of these people did what you are doing, however. They all believed what they were told and did what they were told to do. My Dad had deep brain stimulations and he has the packs in his chest (battery packs) It's been frustrating for me to watch, as you can see that is not my M.O. (believing allopathic doctors hook, line and sinker) What you mentioned about making sure you don't have drug interaction overload really hit home. His list of meds is a mile long and one of them costs as much as a used car (a few years ago). But you can't tell other people things. And what you need to heal from something has to come from within. I see you doing that. I have always imagined what it could have been like for him if he had decided to seek other kinds of advice and care. I am glad you are doing that. That makes me happy. I shall return to read more. Take good care of yourself (a redundant comment, at this point! :) PEACE!
'Diagnosis trauma' indeed. I work PT at a housing facility for older, low-income folks, and hear all the time about their doctor appointments. I try not to add to their angst by commenting on the anti-human treatment they receive. When I gently suggest that maybe they need not be too quick to accept the diagnoses, they usually look at me fully confused. Because, of course, their doctor would know.
The take over and corruption of our 'health' care system is on full display and yet many still have no idea.
Thank you for this Gary. For doing something positive out of difficulty. Best.
Not all diseases are curable in this lifetime. My son's congenital defects are a testament to this but I want and need a diagnosis. To me, it's an important step towards finding a cure. I have always thought of diagnosis as a positive thing. Maybe because I am able to cure most everything so long as I know what it is. Adaptogens only go so far
In my own experience of being diagnosed with 'life long' illness, once I had found a way through and out the other side, the diagnosis was then removed as a 'mistake'. Thus, they invalidated my experience, my self-care and my journey. It seemed to me that once I was no longer a viable customer for their drug pushing that they were no longer interested. Being able to pass on my route to wellness to other patients did not seem to be anything that they were interested in.
Yes, sadly this is common - if you do make yourself better, they will say the initial diagnosis must have been wrong, and like you say invalidating you.
You are so accurate in your assessment of how doctors give diagnoses. Two decades ago, a doctor diagnosed my hearing loss with the comment "there's nothing that can be done for it". I was in despair, but fortunately the next day was seeing my cousin the audiologist, who said, "you can hear with hearing aids" - which the doctor had not even mentioned as an option to help me hear. The doctor only cared about what he could or could not do, not what would help me.
That stuck with me, too!
"The doctor only cared about what he could or could not do, not what would help me."
I've noticed this trend in doctors as well. It's a shame.
I am caught in this at the moment with a diagnosis of melanoma. The doctors are convinced that my body cannot have stopped the metastasis all by itself, so continue with their hunt to find new tumours they are convinced must be there but do not show up in the tests. They are finding what they are calling "shadows" on scans that should be showing as definitive tumours if that is what they are, so then they want more scans, more biopsies, and more "just in case" operations. I am telling them that my body might well have stopped the melanoma from spreading with the assistance of various supplements I was already taking for other things (principally berberine). They look at me kindly and patronizingly and tell me that is unlikely. I am not sure how I will handle telling them I am taking one of the cancer protocols doing the rounds on Substack, and I am not sure how I will handle telling them that I will have no more tests or operations until the next scan shows something other than "shadows". Their mindset has me tied into violent medical intervention for the rest of my life, however short that might be. They cannot grasp that a human body, given half a chance, can heal itself, and they cannot grasp that a short life lived well might be better than a longer life lived in horrific medically induced pain and stress.
Last time I saw them I asked for a referral to a counselor to help me think it all through, and they refused. That's right. They refused to refer me to a counselor, after a diagnosis of metastasized melanoma. Hmmm. Punishment for refusing to do what they are telling me to do?
I have realised through this process that diagnosis is nothing like as accurate as they pretend it is. There is a huge amount of guesswork. We have always known that their treatments are way off, but I had not realised until now, how far off their diagnosis is. They are sure, in my case, that cancer must be there, so they are hunting for it. And they plan to do so much harm to my body in the process that eventually it will give them what they want - if I let them.
I am very sorry you are being put in to this hellish situation. I have also experienced explicit punishment by the medical system for not being a good boy.
Gary, I am shedding tears after reading about the neurologist kicking you out of their office. The med-tech-cartel system is hell.
My heart goes out to you, and to everyone who has been kicked to the curb by this demonic system.💖
My hospitalization experience on a gertriac ward opened my eyes to how anti-human and anti-life and anti-death [in terms of giving people really bad deaths, as I think you have written about before] the system is.
It's fully anti-human at this point - as a system - even though I'm sure some 'good' practitioners are part of it.
I agree, Kathleen. The problem with "good" practitioners is that they're still peddling the death-cult. My husband is a board-certified music therapist who worked nearly 20 years at a forensic psych facility run by the State. He loved working with the patients who respected him, but management was increasingly tyrannical. It became utterly abysmal, as in "check your ethics at the front door," and we got him out in December 2020. I mean, if you are "written up" for simply asking questions about an unethical system, it's time to get out. You can't change the system!
Good for you guys - getting out. And I imagine challenges came with that.
You're right - we need a new 'system' of human friendly practitioners.
Thanks and best to you.
Challenges, indeed. Now we are both self-employed and that's a start!
All the best to you, as well!
I have a close friend who was diagnosed with terminal lymph cancer decades ago. She refused chemo and was told by the docs that she was mad and would only last 6 months, if that. She went the alternative diet route and beat the cancer back. The docs were uninterested in how she'd achieved this. It came back twice and she used different techniques to beat it back on each occasion and is now super-healthy in her sixties. For sure, by no means everyone has the same experience with alternative treatments. But I think it illustrates that conditions can be beaten on occasion with sheer will power and spirit.
Yes, I hear lots of stories from the folks who manage to make themselves better that the doctors are totally uninterested in what they did.
You make such important points in this article, Gary. It is so important to have compassionate hope and possibility included during delivery of diagnoses. Those who include such features are one's true allies, I feel. The recipients of such news are so vulnerable,
Let's all agree to never listen to anyone's absolutes. Most people are wrong on a regular basis. Only the person with healing to do can know what is possible. Trust your intuition.
A good philosophy!
I am really enjoying your work. I look forward to reading more in the future. Thanks! We have had many Parkinson's diagnoses in my family as well, so I am also very interested in your personal journey there. My dad was diagnosed in his 40s. (he
s 73 now? or 74? I think he's 73) My grandma had it, my Uncle had it. None of these people did what you are doing, however. They all believed what they were told and did what they were told to do. My Dad had deep brain stimulations and he has the packs in his chest (battery packs) It's been frustrating for me to watch, as you can see that is not my M.O. (believing allopathic doctors hook, line and sinker) What you mentioned about making sure you don't have drug interaction overload really hit home. His list of meds is a mile long and one of them costs as much as a used car (a few years ago). But you can't tell other people things. And what you need to heal from something has to come from within. I see you doing that. I have always imagined what it could have been like for him if he had decided to seek other kinds of advice and care. I am glad you are doing that. That makes me happy. I shall return to read more. Take good care of yourself (a redundant comment, at this point! :) PEACE!
Thankyou for the kind words. Yes, I have found you can't help people who don't want to be helped, and healing has to come from within.
Words and how they're delivered have power. At least there's an awareness of this now.
Thank you
'Diagnosis trauma' indeed. I work PT at a housing facility for older, low-income folks, and hear all the time about their doctor appointments. I try not to add to their angst by commenting on the anti-human treatment they receive. When I gently suggest that maybe they need not be too quick to accept the diagnoses, they usually look at me fully confused. Because, of course, their doctor would know.
The take over and corruption of our 'health' care system is on full display and yet many still have no idea.
Thank you for this Gary. For doing something positive out of difficulty. Best.
🙏
Not all diseases are curable in this lifetime. My son's congenital defects are a testament to this but I want and need a diagnosis. To me, it's an important step towards finding a cure. I have always thought of diagnosis as a positive thing. Maybe because I am able to cure most everything so long as I know what it is. Adaptogens only go so far
Peace
Love this Gary!