I have had my fair share of medications over the years, most of which have just caused worse problems with their side effects than the issue I was taking them for. There’s a word for that, and I of course cannot think of it right now. I think it starts with the letter i. I mention this because I just came across a book and here’s the brief review: “Bad Pharma exposes the systemic flaws in the pharmaceutical industry, revealing how drug testing is often flawed, research is hidden, doctor education is influenced by pharma, and regulators approve ineffective drugs while concealing side effects. He argues that this complex problem, often hidden from public view, demands greater transparency and regulation to protect patients.”

And an article I found:

https://www.oncnursingnews.com/view/the-treatment-should-not-be-worse-than-the-disease

I may have mentioned that I have a recent genetic mutation that causes my blood to make too many platelets, blood cancer. The oral chemo was devastating, and even though I stopped it on my doctor’s advice months ago, I still have not completely recovered from it. I had a colonoscopy (NEVER doing that again. The stuff you have to drink is the most repulsive thing I have ever been made aware of. OMG.) while I was in the hospital in February.

Anyway, I do not have colon cancer, but I have a weird polyp that is benign, and was ten years ago when I had the last colonoscopy. Back then, they wanted to do some sort of surgery that removes half your innards (hemicolectomy) as a precautionary measure because’ I wouldn’t want to be 80 and have a large cancerous mass in me’, said the surgeon. Well I refused, and now I am 80 and the polyp is still there in the same condition it was ten years ago. I would have been living with the consequences of the surgery for the past ten years for absolutely no reason except surgeons want to cut you. (Sorry, surgeons, but I have had some not great experiences with a few of you.) Never just blindly do what doctors, especially surgeons, want you to subject yourself to. Get several other opinions if possible. I just went with my gut back then. It seems to me that they want to make you miserable now in order to prevent the, in my case less than 5% chance of being miserable sometime in the future. The surgeon I saw this time completely agreed with the ‘do nothing because there is no real problem here’ take I have on it. I like him. Between some not great doctors and the many medications they want you to take, I am sort of over American medicine. I am lucky now that every one of my doctors is really great, caring, pays attention to what I have to say, and discusses things with me, not just tells me what to do. They are out there, you just have to keep trying til you find them, although with health insurance as it is in the country, you are lucky to have a doctor at all, I think. So that’s my rant for today. Recovery is so very slow, and I expected to be much better by now, but I guess losing a lot of blood, especially when you are 80 years old, is really hard on the bod. I am getting better, but it is slow, slow, slow. Anyway.