My Sister the "Doctor"

My sister isn't really a medical professional, but she plays one in our family.  Her dual degrees in Advertising and History do not qualify her to dispense medical advice.  Nonetheless, she does so with a confidence and panache rarely observed in real doctors with whom I interact.  I am proud to say that she is self-taught - a voracious reader and collector of medical books, and an audience member at local community medical seminars.

Scoff if you will, but in our family we are believers.  She’s very often our first port of call for medical questions or concerns.  We can sometimes save ourselves the time, trouble and possible expense of seeing a doctor.  This is because she is usually right, at least as accurate and sometimes more accurate than the actual medical professionals.  I can say this without fear of it going to her head because she is already convinced that she is always right.  If anything, she might be questioning my use of the modifier “usually” right now.

The really nice thing about my sister and her medical acumen is that when you are facing a medical condition or situation, you have a tireless advocate working on your case with you.  She is with you every step of the way- always available and asking for updates. She is diligent in her research, determined to get to the root of the problem and find a diagnosis and/or treatment.  Her intellectual curiosity never flags, and she never, ever gives up.

Take the case of My Mysterious Recurring Foot Infection, which lasted the better part of three months.  Even when the doctors, including a podiatrist, had thrown in the towel, basically saying that they simply had no idea what was causing it or why it kept coming back, my sister never gave up the quest.   She continued to suggest possibilities to explore that might help to diagnose or treat the problem, or at least prevent another reoccurrence.

This led to one of those infamous conversations I sometimes have with doctors.

“My sister thinks I might be allergic to the anti-inch ingredients in the topical products, because my foot gets worse whenever I use them,” I explained.

There was a pause as the doctor looked at me blankly for a minute. “I see. Is your sister a medical professional?”

“Well, no, but she knows a lot about medicine. She reads medical books and attends lectures.”

The doctor considered this for a minute, clearly skeptical but willing to entertain any viable theory at this point.  He wrote me a prescription for a “pure” topical ointment that I now keep on hand at all times, and which I use at even the slightest hint of a problem to successfully keep my foot healthy and infection-free. This is all thanks to my sister.

As you can imagine, she has been following my recent Adventures with Arthritis with great interest. I shared with her that I was pleased with my progress since I began physical therapy four weeks ago.  Now when the physical therapists work on the Knot that runs down the one side of my back it is only very painful.  It used to be excruciatingly and unbearably painful.  I am optimistic that after two more weeks in therapy, that it might be just somewhat painful. 

My sister suggested that I help the process along by getting a long handled massager so I could massage the knot myself at home.  I had never thought of that.  So I stopped at Rite-Aid on my way home, and there it was- a long-handled, heated, vibrating massager, just waiting for me to give it a home.  And what a fine new family member the massager has become –working its magic on the Knot in a matter of minutes.  It’s a miracle, really.  I think this massager and I have a long future together.

Honestly, it is too bad that more people can’t benefit from my sister’s gift.  She really should have her own show.  We could call it Symptom Tracker – kind of a cross between Mystery Diagnosis and History Detectives. People could send in their symptoms, my sister could work on finding a diagnosis and treatment backed up by a team of actual medical professionals.  I would be the producer.