Thursday, June 07, 2007

Medical Frustrations

As Dick and I age, health issues become more prevalent and more a center of our thoughts and actions than they used to be in our younger years. Our bodies are aging and we have to deal with the problems that aging brings. It is a natural process of life, and the attitude with which we face getting older is all important.

Dick has had Type II Diabetes now for over 10 years. Just in the last year or so, the toll the disease has had on his body is coming to the forefront, and we are now in the process of locating specalists to help care of these serious issues.

We are finding the process of medical care in these modern times to be most frustrating. The health insurance agencies have placed such restrictions and regulations on their requirements and have made demands on doctors that make their profession much harder for them to take the proper steps necessary to take care of their patients. They have to follow such strict guidelines on prescriptions, proper testing, length of stay in hospitals, followup, etc. that they often cannot follow through on their own skills and instincts about a patient's need. The medical profession has divided itself up into a system of specialists for every small part of the body and there seems to be no one that oversees the workings of the body as a whole. No one knows what the other is doing and won't go against another doctor's orders even if they did know what was going on.

Therefore, we as patients hop from one specialist doctors' office to another and seemingly get no where even with the added time, effort and money spent. Doctors are busier than they have ever been, their offices are jammed packed with patients, and follow-up appointments are given months in advance out of necessity.

Who knows what the answer is to alleviate all these frustrations for doctors and/or patients. I imagine the problems will continue to escalate and get worse as the population increases and demands are greater. As Christians, we do have the awesome privilege of taking our concerns to Almighty God, asking for His direction and guidance and trusting Him to guide us in His love. He is our hope and our security and we know that ultimately our bodies are God's temple and we are to honor God with our bodies (I Cor. 6:19-20). If we take proper care of God's temple (our bodies) as best we know how, live holy and blameless before the Lord, eat healthy and exercise, we can hope for a long, fulfilling life. But these old earthly bodies are only temporary and will deterioriate despite our best efforts. Someday we look forward to our new resurrected bodies where "there will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Rev. 21:4b)

In the meantime, pray with us that God will guide Dick and me to the right doctor in the right timing to take care of our medical needs soon.

Thank you for sharing our concerns with us.
Sandy

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