Choosing A Doctor 11-1198

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="005d8c03.jpg"> <div> <B><U><IMG SRC="077b5a40.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="164" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>The small is powerful.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>H</B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Home"><U><B>ome</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="An Interview With Lydia "><U><B>An Interview with Lydia</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Appointments"><U><B>Appointments </B></U></A><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Instructions"><U><B>Instructions</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Homeopathy for Children"><U><B>Homeopathy for Children</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Complimentary Medicine"><U><B>Complimentary Medicine</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bach Flower Remedies"><U><B>Bach Flower Remedies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Four Periods a Year? 012005"><U><B>Latest Newsletter</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Past Newsletters"><U><B>Past Newsletters</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Tree"><U><B>The Tree</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B><U>Choosing a Doctor</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>(Reprint of 11/98 Newsletter)</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dear friends,</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>It's been an extrao</B><B>rdi</B><B>narily busy month for me with the addition of many new clients and a record number of acute calls. Two things are happening. First, new clients and old are looking seriously at raising their level of health before the onset of winter. Second, the fall weather is already causing a tremendous increase in illnesses. If you have not had a follow-up for a while, give me a call to schedule one. It's worth the time, effort, and money to boost your immune system as much as possible before the cold weather really sets in.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Already, I've had to send some of the people I work with for medical care. When that happens, I often get follow-up calls about how the doctor appointment went. The number one complaint I get from my clients is about the overall demeanor and communication skills of their doctor. As I have questioned people more, I began to see an interesting pattern.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>It's true that some of the stories I hear are of a doctor being rigid, dismissive, or downright demeaning. More often though, I get the complaint that the doctor has not talked to someone the way I do. That's an interesting issue, and one that's worth looking at.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Most commonly, the people I work with stay with me for a long time and use homeopathy as one of their primary forms of health care. My office is in my home, people often call me outside of business hours, and we carry on pretty frank and familiar conversations. I have a good memory for detail and I often can refer to incidents and illnesses that happened years before. Laughter plays a big part in many of the calls, and I often talk about personal things when they are appropriate. So many of my clients have long since crossed the line between business associate and old friend.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>If you've been working with me for some time, you've probably become used to the way I work. The problem lies in expecting traditional doctors to be as informal as I am. I think that many of you are comparing apples to oranges when you make an assessment of traditional doctors. You may be doing your doctor an injustice if you feel that he is not warm because he is more classically professional in his demeanor than I am. Legal issues, time constraints, and the size of the practice of most doctors do not make it possible for them to remember details of cases over a span of years or talk about things that do not specifically pertain to the problem at hand.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>If you've gone into a doctor's office and come away feeling that you did not make a real connection, maybe it's time to reconsider what you are going to a doctor for. It would be excellent if your doctor was someone you felt very comfortable with, but realistically a relationship like that could take a very long times to establish.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>If your doctor is not dismissive or demeaning and gives you a skillful diagnosis, proper medication, and has a reasonable way of following up on your case, that may be enough. If you're using homeopathy fairly consistently, your visits to doctors should be infrequent enough to allow you to have a good working relationship with someone you do not feel particularly close to. Imagine yourself having many hundreds of clients and only limited time to spend with each one. It would be difficult to form the type of relationships with people that we once imagined that doctors and patients had.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>I would rather have you book on with a doctor who is a skilled diagnostician and prescriber than one who is less skilled with a wonderful personality. As we have found with my father's experience with cancer, even some of the stiffest doctors have warmed up over time. So if you're in the zone where you don't feel cozy but do feel properly cared for, maybe you have a better doctor than you think. Don't judge his or her usefulness to you by the type of work that we do together. You may be discarding a good resource in your team of health care providers.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Good health,</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <div> <B>Lydia </B></div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:LydiaHHall@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:LydiaHHall@aol.com"><U><B>LydiaHHall@aol.com</B></U></A></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Assembling A Medical Team 091998"><U><B>Back to Top</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Choosing a Doctor PF"><U><B>Printer Friendly Version</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Assembling A Medical Team 091998"><U><B>Next Newsletter</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>