Finding myself having the conversation with several people this week about the Lyme debate and the controversy between doctors, I wondered whether or not anyone has thought about the fact that as a society we just don’t know how to communicate with one another any longer.  I mean, a patient is supposed to be the one who “hires” a doctor, not the other way around.  It seems that in the search for treatments for wellness, the patient treads onward from doctor to doctor looking for someone who will listen to their list of ailments in hopes that the doctor is actually listening and will be able to communicate back that they are concerned and will do everything they can to get to the bottom of the “cause”.    In more than one instance I can think of, between friends or others I’ve spoken to about Lyme, the story is always the same.  The doctor listens, gives feedback, lacks compassion, and ends up laying out the reasons why the ailments are not Lyme yet something else that needs more testing.  It’s an endless cycle.

Why?  I just don’t get it.  I mean, why can’t our medical community communicate with one another, discuss the issues their patients are having and work together for the common good of man to find a solution.   What happened that doctors now feel they have the upper hand and the patient is no longer the employer?  Maybe the question should be asked, since when did we as a society give up our own rights to our health and allow the medical community to be in the drivers seat?  I think that the doctors should be more like the GPS that guides and directs yet has no authority on which way we actually decide to turn.  They should work more to gain our trust in them and work harder to convince us we should continue paying them for their services.  Not the other way around.

Guess it’s just another random thought as my week winds down and I reflect upon recent conversations and the efforts we are all making to win this battle with the spirochete.

Amazing that in the 1960’s Paul Simon wrote the lyrics for Sound of Silence, a song about the disconnect in communication with people.  How people just don’t communicate freely due to the oppression of not hearing one another.    As he sings this song in 2009, I wonder what he was thinking as he looked out into the audience considering that those thousands of people were going to likely leave Madison Square Garden, sit around a table with 5 other people in silence while they texted others about the concert.

I pray for communication… amongst families, children, peers, friends and doctors.  I pray that our medical community will begin listening to their patients and really hear what their ailments are, and that they will care for them as their own loved ones.  Breaking down walls of silence and communication oppression.

Can I just add a funny:   When I was in college, one of our family friends had invited my mom and dad, myself and boyfriend at the time, to see “Neil Diamond”.  Now, this was something my parents had done before and I was always green with envy as I just loved Neil Diamond.  I was so excited to be included this time, I enthusiastically yelled “YES”… We are going!  Well, as the evening approached and excitement was heightened, my mom’s friend was discussing the impending evening to see “Paul Simon”.  Stop!  Wait!  WHO?  Oh no…. Oh yes!  Well, it was not the concert I had hoped for yet the memories of that evening have remained.  I think it was about 4 years later I finally got to see Neil Diamond… Yes the same friend obtained the tickets, this time however, I confirmed the name before agreeing!  🙂