's motd Wednesay June 11, 2008

[Guest guest]

THE BENCH

Wednesday, 11 June 2008

I told you that I had a complete physical last week and I passed it with flying colors. Now let me tell you about the second doctor I just visited, for my eye exam. I've been going to the same eye doctor for 25 years now and I just love him.It was my annual eye exam and the only thing I don't like about them is when they dilate my eyes. You know how it is, after they dilate them, your eyes become very sensitive to light and I just hate that feeling. But thankfully, my eye doc gave my eyes a clean bill of health! So I put my Rayban sunglasses on and headed downstairs to wait for my ride home.

There was a little bench under a tree where I needed to wait so I took advantage of it and sat down. I was also giving my eyes a chance to begin getting back to normal. My doctor's office is on a busy street here in Los Angeles so there were lots of people walking by. "Wait a minute, you're ," a few people shouted to me! (Hey, they even knew who I was behind my Raybans! LOL.)But one lady in particular wanted to say more than just "Hi." When she spotted me, she stopped, came over to me and asked, "Do you mind if I join you on the bench for a minute, ? I really need your help."

And of course I invited her to have a seat. She shared with me that she had many medical problems and that she was the single parent of a nine year-old daughter. This lady who was in her 40's was close to 300 pounds. Every part of her body was swollen. As we sat there, I held her hand as we talked. Through tears, she told me that she was on disability. She felt so miserable and depressed about her life. I looked into her eyes and asked, "How much medication are you on?"From her purse, she pulled out a list. "I happen to have this list with me because I just left my doctor's office upstairs."I couldn't believe how long her medications list was. There were already 18 medications on it and, my goodness, her doctor has just added one more...making it 19!

"It looks to me like you are overmedicated," I told her, "and all of this medicine is killing you!"I was truly shocked to see her medications list but I really shouldn't have been because I know that a lot of people, besides her, are overmedicated.The best advice I could give her was that she find herself a new doctor, bring her list along for the exam and let the new doctor see all of medications she was taking. All of those pills, all of those side-effects. I wondered, is the human body really meant to take that many pills a day?After the advice I gave her, I had to ask one final question. I asked, if she lost weight, how much of that medication might she be able to eliminate? She looked at me and replied, "Just about all of them, ."

I told her, "You have a daughter who needs you and you're still a young woman. It really is time for you to start taking better care of yourself."I do hope this lady will go to another doctor and get a second opinion. And if you're seeing a doctor who prescribes a whole bunch of pills for you, then I hope that you will take the time to get a second opinion, too. Remember, pills may have many side-effects but healthy foods don't, not bad ones, anyway!

I wonder, how much of your medication would be eliminated if you reached your own weight-loss goal?Love,