Doctor, Doctor

From July 2008 to the first week of Feb 2009, my Husband had gone to see the doctor (GP) in Singapore many many times, complaining about stomach discomfort. Each time he had gone, he had been told "It's only constipation, here, take these pills (laxatives, I assume) and you will be fine". In the first week of Feb alone, he had seen the doctor TWICE and had been told the same thing both times - despite the fact that he had been COMPLETELY (and I do mean COMPLETELY) bunged up since Jan 31st 2009. Then, on Feb 5th we had driven from SG to KL and on the Fri (6th Feb) I had forced him to come with me to my doctor at Mont'Kiara (also a GP). And it was only then that everything fell into place - specialist, scan, operation, cancer findings, etc. We were told by the surgeon, 2 weeks later, that if we had not gone to see our GP, and if he had subsequently not had the operation when he did, he would have been dead within a week, as his colon was on the point of bursting.

So, because of our GP here in KL, Ken and I had an extra year together that we would otherwise not have had. And I have absolutely zero faith left now in doctors in SG. If they had done their job properly and gotten Ken to do a colonoscopy when he first started complaining about constipation, the cancer would have been found much earlier, and he could still be alive now. I asked our GP about it - and she was puzzled too as to why the docs in SG had not done this because, she said, "It is common sense for a doctor. Any patient, over the age of 60, coming to you with complaints of constipation, the FIRST thing you check for is colon cancer!!".

It only after all that Ken and I had gone through last year that I could really appreciate the rationale behind the concept of LIFE LONG LEARNING. Doctors are our first port of call - and it is so critical for these doctors, who are our first port of call, the GPs, to constantly keep learning. I acknowledge that it is not an easy task, but, let's face it - you chose to be a doctor. Isn't it your responsibility then to be the best doctor you can be? Doesn't that mean keeping abreast of new discoveries, new medical findings? Doesn't it also mean that you keep reminding yourself of current medical knowledge as well? My brother and his wife, and my brother-in-law are great examples of this - if you go to them with a question, you can be pretty darned sure you don't go away with a 'stock' answer! When Ken had the bed sore, the doctors at the hospital all played it down, it was my brother-in-law who warned us how bad it could be - and in the end he was proved right. Towards the end, when Ken's stomach had pretty much stopped all peristaltic movement, it wasn't the gastro doc who came up with the meds that re-started the peristalsis, it was my brother!! And both my brother and brother-in-law are not "specialists". They are just very very highly experienced physicians/GPs who never stop learning.

I asked my brother once why he had not specialised in a particular area of medicine, and he said it is because, when you specialise, your area of specialty is very "narrow", whereas he looked at himself as a "front-line" doctor who HAD to know quite a lot about EVERYTHING. In fact, if you think about it, without the GPs, the physicians, the entire health care system would collapse. Both my brother and my brother-in-law are perfect examples of the kind of doctor we, the 'normal' people, NEED to have around us. It is a pity that so many doctors do not take the same "Life long learning" concept to heart.

My niece (my brothers eldest daughter) is doing medicine now. If she is half as good as her parents, she will be doing very well indeed!

Till next time.