Over the years our family has had the privilege of meeting, talking with, learning from, and being treated by some of the most amazing doctors, nurses, and technicians from an assortment of medical modalities. These and thousands others are open-minded people, willing to talk about a variety of treatment protocols, eager to learn, and are respectful of peers in other types of medicine that may not be sanctioned by their own system or protocol. On behalf of patients everywhere, we are grateful for the hard work you do, your willingness to learn new things, the time you spend teaching us, and ultimately helping us heal. I speak from experience in that our family will never be able to repay these doctors, nurses, and technicians. I personally believe they are unspoken heroes. If this is you, I thank you wholeheartedly, but this article is not for you.
On the flip side, we have had several encounters with doctors in either traditional medicine or alternative medicine who were upset that we would even consider using a medical modality “from the other side” that doesn’t fit into their box of perfect healing treatments or ways to do things. The purpose of this blog is to share some reality-checks and thoughts on the entire medical mess we as patients are desperately trying to navigate. We do this in the hope that doctors from all sides see the dilemma, put their in-fighting aside, and stay true to what Hippocrates started centuries ago.
“The Chronicles of Medicine.” This was originally the first section of our family’s book on how we healed from chronic disease. My intent was to shine a light on “medicine” as we know it, the history behind it, who was involved, what happened, when, why, and how. I will not go into the specifics in this short blog, however it is well worth your time to research this topic and the crazy rollercoaster paradigm and reality shift that has happened even in just the last century, especially in the U.S. I believe that because of what happened, unfortunately there are doctors from both sides with jaded perspectives. I am pleading with any doctor or medical professional reading this blog to consider what I’m about to say and choose your future approach wisely because you are working with people who literally trust you with their lives.
Western / Conventional / Allopathic Medicine Professionals—this is for all the MDs, DOs, nurses, specialty docs, technicians, and anyone else that considers themself an allopathic doctor or healer. Do you know that your medical protocol often treats symptoms versus digging in hard to find the ultimate root cause of disease? Do you know what Abraham Flexner called non-allopathic medical professionals when he put out the Flexner report in the early 1900s? Do you know what this report did to a significant amount of medical universities at the time? Do you know that there are professionals in your realm of healing that still today call doctors who are not in your realm of healing “quacks”, “charlatans”, “witch doctors”, etc. to their patients? Do you know that this group of doctors being relentlessly shamed has actual success healing people? Do you know some of them and the techniques they use have been censored to the point of being almost impossible for patients to find. Do you know some of them have been exiled from the U.S.? Most of them don’t care what is being said about them (they only care about their patients’ opinions). They don’t care what happens to them even if it means having their clinic forcefully shut down (they simply relocate and often end up successfully treating patients outside of the U.S.). Health insurance often will not support their treatments (they do everything they can to help their patients anyway… and patients are often willing to pay 100% out of pocket for their services). This group of doctors turns a blind eye to the petty name-calling and relentless scrutiny from mainstream medicine. They are solely focused on healing their patients—often with treatments that have been proven successful for centuries. This alone should encourage you to look into what they are doing and how are they treating patients. What do they know that wasn’t covered in your sanctioned training? They often utilize what God placed on this earth to help their patients heal, and it doesn’t come from a chemistry formula. Their success records are not perfect, but if we’re being honest neither are yours.
“Alternative” Medicine Professionals—this is for all the functional, homeopathic, chiropractic, naturopaths, TCM, Ayurvedic, and everyone else who is practicing medicine and healing people outside of the allopathic realm of medicine. Do you know that even though you focus on the whole person (and the root cause of disease), that sometimes a temporary prescription can help a patient suffer less in the short-term (or reduce the risk of long-term issues) while the long-term goal is being pursued? Do you know many allopathic medicine professionals are helping thousands of patients identify what is wrong so that alternative methods can be used (and doctors on both sides are working together)? Do you know there are professionals in your realm of healing who relentlessly bash allopathic / integrative medicine as a whole? Do you know there are patients who are interested in alternative medicine, but are too scared to check it out (often because some of you come across angry and/or unprofessional), yet their allopathic doctor is proactively helping them get off medications at their request? Do you know there are doctors in the allopathic world who bravely go against protocol and recommend alternative medicine treatments in an effort to help their patients heal if they feel that is the best path forward? Do you know there are MD’s, DO’s, and RNs who won’t prescribe prescription drugs as one of their first treatment options and are willing to talk about the patient as a whole? Do you know there are allopathic medical professionals who are learning about nutrition, detoxing, and non-prescription options on their own time in an effort to grow? Do you know that some allopathic doctors are learning from you and respect you? Their success records are not perfect, but if we’re being honest neither are yours.
I believe the divide between these two major medical modalities was purposely created. As more doctors fight, slander, and refuse to listen to the other side, more and more patients will ultimately lose in the crossfire from almost every possible perspective. I believe anyone who falls into the trap of undermining, belittling, and encouraging in-fighting in the world of medicine (regardless of which side you are on) is ultimately the problem. Wake up! This is not about you, your ego, or even the history of what happened on either side.
Millions of patients need help! Do you honestly think there are enough healers in your “modality” to handle this massive mess alone? The statistics on disease are skyrocketing. The statistics on obesity are skyrocketing. The statistics on young deaths and early cancers are skyrocketing. I am begging you to pause. Take a step back and open your heart. Remember why you got into medicine. We all need to move forward together—the stakes are too high and patients are the ones losing.
WHAT IF you all set your differences aside, learned what the other side is doing successfully, and came together in the spirit of what you originally went into medicine for? What would happen to healing as we know it? Could you be part of the next medical revolution that actually benefits humanity and changes the course of history forever? I may be dreaming, but this is my hope and prayer. Our world needs healers desperately. Yes, there are some very messed up systems in place (this is frankly almost every industry until innovation and brave people work it out). That’s not the focus here. Bad systems don’t win if the majority refuses to take the bait, steps up to be the better person, and crosses the invisible line to work together. This is your time to shine, and you have an army of patients behind you cheering you on.
Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash