The DU Lounge
In reply to the discussion: There's a sudden, unexplained upsurge in the number of anti-vaxxers coming in to the clinic. [View all]Siwsan
(26,261 posts)I've had a serious problem trusting doctors, ever since I was lied to about why I was being admitted to the hospital when I was 19. The doctor said it was to check for a possible fungus infection in my lung. Then I saw my paperwork which stated they were actually suspecting it was cancer. Needless to say, I was doped up for the rest of my visit. And, it was neither.
As a result of that, and several other experiences, I have a significant case of 'white coat' hypertension. My BP is within normal range until I get near a doctor. While I was in the service, I was put on medication that caused me to completely lose my appetite and a significant amount of weight, and the medication did nothing to change the pattern of my readings. By the time I left the Navy, I was pinning my uniform waist band to keep things from falling off.
When he was 70, my dad was diagnosed with and treated for MS, when he actually had a brain tumor. The MS treatment hastened his death.
My grandmother's doctor put her on HRT when she was in her 70's, to prevent her forming a 'widow's hump'. She died of uterine cancer.
My when my aunt had cancer, her boss, who was a man of great influence, and her doctor decided she didn't need to know - not sure what they told her, but when she developed cancer again, (uterine cancer, after being prescribed HRT) her sister said 'if you beat it once, you can beat it again. she was shocked, since she had been told the first surgery was for a benign tumor. The uterine cancer killed her. Needless to say that now, the women in my family do not take HRT.
Another aunt was so overmedicated that she went into a state of pharmaceutically induced delirium. The problem was with too much blood pressure medication. While in the hospital, they were giving her potassium supplements. When they discharged her from the hospital, they assured us they had decreased her medications. When the actual paperwork came through, it indicated that they had INCREASED it!! My Aunt was 98 years old, and about 9 months into recovering from a broken hip. We made the decision it was time to just keep her comfortable. Less than 48 hours after they deemed her healthy enough to be discharged from the hospital, she was dead.
So, sometimes that distrust is based on something more significant than 'Woo'.