This is my approach to medical tests

[Jo]

I'm old as dirt, and don't do tests. This is well worth the read:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2 ... -good.html

[Star Light]

Thank you for posting this Jo, agree this is well worth the read.

Before my Father died, there were many procedures/tests the many Doctors were recommending. I used the terms I don't think so, you've got to be kidding & no.

[Glacier]

I've been saying this for years. Two older men I know had their prostrates checked 10 years ago. One listened to the doctor which destroyed his sex life. Eventually he died anyway. The second man ignored the advice, and is still alive and well today.

I'd put some routine dental checkups on the list too. Not that they are harmful, but taking my family every 6 months since the age of 3 is a waste of money in my opinion.

[shoo]

It's gotten out of hand,the amount of testing we are encouraged to undergo. It's all about making work for people at the expense of one's health. We had the pink bus roll into town this week to promote mammograms. There are a lot of jobs that go along with the bus and with other campaigns.
A mammogram,not for me. I do monthly BSE's and once when I felt a lump,I got an ultrasound done,doc said it's safer and an easier read.
No colonoscopys,PSA for hubby,etc.
How wrong I was to think we were alone in refusing medical testing on our healthy bodies. I am now seeing that others feel the same way

[Star Light]

Well said Glacier re: dental visits, now that our children are adults, we now have a great dental plan, go figure.

My Father was diagnosed with prostrate cancer, turned out it was the treatment that killed off such a large part of his heart. Still amazes me how he was kept alive with such a small portion of his heart working. From the time of targeted radiation therapy to the time he died, 6 months.

Shoo you have a larger percentage of people who would side with you.

[caffeine]

Malcom Gladwell made a similar observation, and spoke to screening mammographies. i.e. - they do pick up cancer, but the most aggressive and dangerous types of cancer are harder to detect earlier with this test. I believe the essay he wrote was something along the lines of "When a Picture is Not Worth a Thousand Words."

The trouble is, that all of these tests do pick and save some lives. The counter argument would be that if "it saves one life, it is well worth it."

Personally, I don't like to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and make a general sweeping statement that I wouldn't do tests. But it is good to keep this in mind and be aware of what the tests can actually do, which can be anywhere from providing life-saving information, to creating needless worry to "nothing."

[Jo]

It is encouraging to see like-minded people in a world gone crazy with medical testing.

My doctor can't stand me. 8-)

[V-Rated]

Doctors can be like the internet, just because it is read or said, doesn't make it right or true.

I actually see a nurse practioner, and she is very thorough. However if she is reaching for that prescription pad, I remind her that I am not a believer of presciption products for everything, and that we need to explore alternatives first. She is quite receptive to it, finally. I just feel I been in my body all my life, they just see me for 10 minutes. We need to work together, not just arranging a series of textbook test and meds.

[sobrohusfat]

I signed what?
By Jim Mullen

When Dr. Sam said, "You've got the prostate of a 16-year-old," it was hard to keep from beaming. This must be how a woman feels when a complete stranger tells her she has a beautiful baby.

Well, maybe not quite. Still, it was hard not to feel proud of my big, fat, beautiful prostate. It was like winning the Oscar. "I'd like to thank everyone who made this possible -- Mom and Dad for their genes, Sue for making me take all those antioxidants, and especially all the little supplements ..."

"Yes, it's like the prostate of a big, fat, out-of-shape 16-year-old -- don't you think so, class?" I heard murmurs of approval, some polite applause. I'm not beaming anymore. Not beaming at all. Here I am, as exposed as a person can possibly be, and there's an audience? What was going on?

I said, "I didn't know this was a teaching hospital."

"It's not," said Dr. Sam. "It's my son's seventh-grade class from St. Ceclia's. Say 'hello' to Mr. Mullen, kids."

"Hello, Mr. Mullen," they said in unison.

"You're their Show and Tell this week," he said as he snapped off his rubber gloves.

"Excuse me, but isn't there a privacy issue here?" I asked Dr. Sam.

"Certainly there is a privacy issue. It would be very inappropriate for you to know the names of the children. We have to respect their privacy at all costs."

"I was really thinking about my privacy."

"But you signed the blue form. You should really read these things before you go around signing them. You didn't sign the green one, did you? Because that means you've volunteered to donate a kidney to Justin Bieber."

"Tell me you're joking."

"Of course, I'm joking. Everyone knows he'll need a new liver long before he needs a new kidney. And stop worrying about the kids. They were watching an exciting video of a colonoscopy. I just told them it was yours; it got their attention. Trust me, once you've seen one colon, you've seen them all. It's not like they saw you naked or anything. I don't want to scare them away. But I also don't want these kids to go through life thinking that there's something embarrassing about getting a physical exam. I don't want them to wait 17 years between checkups the way you did. People have got to learn that a physical exam is as natural as breastfeeding a baby on a bus."

"What bus have you been riding?"

"Don't be silly, I drive a Jaguar. It was just a figure of speech. You can put your clothes back on now."

Why bother, I thought. He's seen places on my body that I haven't. Maybe more people would get physicals if the doctors had to take off their clothes every time they asked you to take off yours. My nude comfort level is very low. I don't even wear shorts in the summer.

Doctors wonder why people wait so long to get their problems fixed. I'll tell them why: I spend half my time at the doctor's office saying, "You want to do what to my what?!?!" and "You don't reuse these cups, do you?"

But when you think about it, the doctors are going to examine you once you get sick, and it's going to be just as embarrassing then as it is when you're healthy. So you may as well suck up your self-respect and go.

[Lady tehMa]

I'm a test-taker. But, I have fibromyalgia (a compromised immune system), a thyroid imbalance (they have to keep my supplements correct), asthma (allergy season is painful) and a family history of cancer, including breast cancer (cancer doesn't so much run through my family as gallop). So I do the mammograms and the blood-work. I only do take two prescription medications (3 if you count my inhaler).

If it weren't for the tests, I wouldn't know what was wrong with me. I spent a year of diagnoses wondering if I was dying, with the way my body was breaking down on me. Now I have things in check, pain is kept to a manageable level. The tests let me know if things are headed outside the accepted parameters - if so things get adjusted. I'm not cured, but I can function. It works for me.