Let’s review these two points:
One, you may have already been to doctors who have told you that
they can’t find anything wrong with you, and can’t think
of anything that might help you.
And two, if you’ve read Dr. Wilson’s book on Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome, you know for a fact that you might benefit from
treatment for Wilson’s.
How does your mind come to terms with these two points? You
probably have come to the realization that doctors don’t know
everything, and that some doctors haven’t yet heard about Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome among other things. You might have wondered why
all doctors don’t yet know about Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome
seeing as it is so plain, simple, and profoundly significant. As
it turns out, some of the easiest and most powerful techniques in
life aren’t common knowledge, and seem like the best
kept secrets in the world. In fact, it's sad to say but some
of the most exciting developments never will be common knowledge.
The good news is that the word is spreading fast about Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome as evidenced by the fact that you are reading this
guide. How did you hear about it? Did you see it on TV? Hear
a show on the Radio? Read an article in the Newspaper, or a Magazine?
Read it in a Newsletter? See it on the Internet? Hear a talk
at a Medical Convention? Hear it from a friend or relative who’s
been reincarnated? From your doctor? There are lots of ways the
news is spreading. People all over the world are hearing about it.
How is your doctor going to hear about it? Perhaps one of
the ways we just mentioned, or perhaps from you. Another way he
might hear about it is the old-fashioned way. Over a period of years,
it may filter down to him through our medical system and then again,
it may not.
There are at least four reasons Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome
does not lend itself to being filtered through our medical system
any faster than many other developments.
First, it is more than just a step in a new direction, it is a
well-developed field in itself. Only a small fraction of the details
of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome can be covered in a 3 page article
in a medical journal. Dr. Wilson’s book on Wilson’s Thyroid
Syndrome is over 300 pages, and it takes over 200 pages in the new
Doctor’s Manual to adequately cover the treatment protocol.
Second, it represents a fairly significant paradigm shift, which
means that a lot of things would change, and lots of change doesn’t
happen quickly.
Third, our medical system has become very test and technology oriented,
and the technology necessary to be able to see what’s happening
in each cell of the body at the same time is at least 2 decades
away. This means that no tests will be developed in the next 20
years that are any more useful in the treatment of Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome than what we already have. In fact, it’s not
likely that there will ever be a test developed that will
be any more useful in the treatment of Wilson’s than the body
temperature and clinical findings are right now. This is because
the body temperature is already a perfect measure of what’s
most important, which is... the body temperature! For some in our
medical system, an ordinary thermometer might be too simple.
Fourth, money moves things along in medicine just as it does in
any other industry. Money is generated in medicine in a variety
of ways. Sometimes it’s through expensive tests, and sometimes
it’s through the selling of medicine. A thermometer is not
expensive, and almost everyone already has one so a thermometer
company is not really going to benefit much from Wilson’s Thyroid
Syndrome. And thyroid medicine has been on the market for years
and is not patentable, so a drug company has little incentive to
spend a lot of money educating doctors and funding projects on Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome.
Whether you go to a doctor we referred, or to some other doctor
it’s important for you to know the 3 most important things
Dr. Wilson feels a doctor needs to be good at treating Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome. Let’s cover them now. By the way, we’ll
be using male pronouns like “he” and “his” to
refer to doctors only because it will be easier than using “he
or she”, and “his or her” every time.
First, you want a doctor who cares about, listens to, and is interested
in helping his patients.
Second, he should have good clinical skills.
Third, he should well understand the treatment protocol for Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome.
Let’s look at each of these items a little more closely.
1. You want a doctor who cares about, listens to, and is interested
in helping his patients. How well a doctor and patient communicate
and get along is always important, but it’s especially important
in the treatment of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome. Your doctor
must find out from you how you are feeling, and it’s important
that you carefully follow his instructions about the treatment protocol.
2. He should have good clinical skills. What does it mean to say
a doctor has good clinical skills? Basically, there are two approaches
doctors can take towards patients. One is to place more emphasis
on what tests say about a patient, and the other is to place more
emphasis on what one finds out from talking with, and examining
the patient. What a doctor finds out about a patient by listening
to and examining the patient are called clinical findings. Doctors
use clinical skills to obtain clinical findings, and the more doctors
practice their clinical skills the better they become. It’s
often better to treat patients clinically, or based on clinical
findings, than it is to treat them according to tests because tests
aren’t always conclusive. This is reflected in an old saying
in medicine that says “treat the patient not the blood tests.”
This is an important saying because of how doctors can get preoccupied
with tests and technology. While it’s true that sometimes tests
are really useful, like when an x-ray determines when a bone’s
broken, our technology has not progressed to the point of being
able to tell us everything we’d like to know in every circumstance.
For example, there is no blood test or scan that can determine whether
or not a person has a headache, but because it doesn’t show
up on any of our tests and scans does that mean there’s no
such thing as a headache? Of course not! And that’s why headache
patients are best managed clinically (or based on clinical findings).
So you see, some conditions are better managed according to tests,
and some are better managed clinically. The conditions that are
still better managed clinically are those that don’t yet have
conclusive tests. Thyroid blood tests are not conclusive, so clinical
judgment remains the strongest tool in managing Wilson’s Thyroid
Syndrome. A thyroid expert quoted in a medical journal called Postgraduate
Medicine said this: “Thyroid function tests have
certain limitations that must be recognized before they can be used
effectively. Most important is the physician’s awareness that
the tests do not replace good clinical judgment and should not be
used alone to confirm a diagnostic impression or to dictate therapy.”
Thyroid experts keep telling doctors that thyroid blood tests aren’t
conclusive, but unfortunately a lot of doctors still don’t
realize it and they act like the tests are conclusive when they
aren’t. Part of the reason for this is that the more doctors
come to rely on tests, they tend to become more dependent on them.
The more they rely on tests, the less they tend to use their clinical
skills. The less they use their clinical skills, the rustier they
get and the less confidence the doctors have in them. Some doctors
get so caught up with tests that they use their clinical judgment
less and less until all they have left are tests, even though the
tests might not be very useful or conclusive. When doctors are relying
only upon tests, they also tend to overstate how conclusive those
tests are.
This ends up making it pretty easy to tell whether a doctor is
likely to have good clinical skills. If a doctor seems to have the
attitude that tests are always conclusive in every
circumstance, then he is less likely to have good clinical skills.
If a doctor seems to be well aware that tests and technology have
their limitations and that it’s still important to consider
and evaluate each patient on an individual case basis, he’s
more likely to have good clinical skills. It all depends on a doctor’s
fundamental point of view, and what he believes. He either tends
to believe that our technology is all-powerful and all-knowing,
or he realizes that it isn’t. With these insights it will be
easy for you to assess your doctor’s level of awareness in
less than five minutes of talking with him.
Does he greet you as an individual?
Does he look at you when you’re talking to him?
Does he pay attention to what you say, and how you answer his questions?
Is he interested in you as a person?
Does he ask you questions to try and get a better understanding
of your problem?
Does he bother making sure if you understand and agree to his proposed
plan?
If he doesn’t do these things then he’s not as likely
to have good clinical skills.
3. Now let’s move on and look a little more closely at what
Dr. Wilson feels is the third most important thing a doctor needs
to be good at treating Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome. That is,
he should well understand the treatment protocol for Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome. What it takes for a doctor to thoroughly understand
the treatment protocol for Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome is a little
surprising. Normally, to become very proficient at a medical treatment
a doctor needs to have a great deal of experience in perhaps thousands
of patients. For example, it is very likely that Dr. Wilson has
more experience with, and can better predict how a patient will
respond clinically to T3 therapy in a given situation than anyone
else in the world. There is something however, about Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome that makes it very different than other medical
treatments. It is extremely predictable and reproducible.
Doctors dream about treatments that are predictable and reproducible.
Being predictable and reproducible makes a treatment more clear-cut,
which is always a welcome pleasure. This uncanny attribute of Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome has made it possible for Dr. Wilson to accomplish
a remarkable feat. He has been able to capture the essence of his
vast experience in such a way as to make it easily transferrable
to other doctors! This makes it possible for essentially any doctor
to literally become an expert in the area of Wilson’s Thyroid
Syndrome overnight! This wouldn’t usually be possible, but
it is with Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome -- because it is so predictable
and reproducible.
Dr. Wilson has spent a full year carefully revising the Doctor’s
Manual in such a way as to take full advantage of this unusual
characteristic of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome, to ensure other
doctors being able to produce the same great results. In the beginning
of the manual are 8 case studies a doctor can read through in less
than an hour to quickly get a feel for the treatment. The case studies
are followed by fully illustrated pages that clearly and concisely
explain the key principles a doctor must know to become proficient.
There are also 12 pages of management flowcharts that bring all
the principles together in an easy to follow format. Finally, there’s
a list of the key points and all the main questions that ever come
up with the treatment of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome, and their
answers.
As you’d expect, a doctor will still get better at treating
Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome as he gains more experience, but
the revised Doctor’s Manual makes it possible for him to be
an expert before he ever starts. In fact, a doctor will be
more proficient after spending 5 or 6 hours carefully reading the
revised Doctor’s Manual, than he would ever be in more than
2 years treating hundreds of patients without having read
it. This is possible because the manual captures and transfers Dr.
Wilson’s experience, which can’t be easily duplicated.
There is a catch though. A doctor can’t get all of this benefit
out of the manual without reading it. All of it. The manual has
been condensed, polished and refined to the point that nothing more
can be taken out or expressed any more simply and clearly. Everything
left in the Doctor’s Manual has been left in for a reason.
Fortunately, the Doctor’s Manual is plain enough and simple
enough that you can easily understand it whether you’re a doctor
or not. In fact, you should read it yourself so that you
can easily understand your doctor’s instructions. It’s
been written in an easy to follow, step-by-step format. In summary,
there is one thing you can be quite sure of: If your doctor has
not read the Doctor’s Manual for Wilson’s Thyroid
Syndrome, it is very doubtful that he’s a Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome expert-- period. If he has truthfully read it,
then he should be.
Now let's review the 3 most important things that Dr. Wilson feels
a doctor needs to be good at treating Wilson's Temperature Syndrome:
First, you want a doctor who cares about, listens to, and is interested
in helping his patients.
Second, he should have good clinical skills.
And third, he should well understand the treatment protocol for
Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome.
The characteristics that make up the profile of a doctor who is
more likely to manage proficiently Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome,
might surprise you. To ensure that your experiences are as pleasant
and rewarding as possible, we’ll go over them right now. Bear
in mind that these are generalizations and don’t always
hold true, but they are good guides.
1. You don’t want a doctor that’s too busy. In order
to understand the treatment protocol well, he will have to read
the Doctor’s Manual carefully. You’ll want a doctor who
takes an interest in, and is very intrigued by what the manual says,
and the possibilities it presents. That’s less likely to happen
if the doctor’s too busy to really even look at it.
2. You’ll want to find a doctor who doesn’t already have
a strong interest in something else. You want a doctor who is constantly
on the lookout for methods and techniques he can use to really help
his patients. Doctors who already have a strong interest in a given
specialty or technique tend to feel they have found what they’re
looking for. They tend to stop looking as hard for other ways to
help their patients. The more generalized and less specialized a
doctor’s practice, the more likely he is to be able to manage
Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome well.
3. The management of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome lends itself
more to clinically oriented doctors than it does to credential oriented
doctors. There are a couple of reasons for this. Again it’s
a matter of focus. Clinical doctors tend to focus more on patients
while credential oriented doctors tend to focus more on tests, and
technology. Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome is best managed clinically.
The obtaining of a credential or board-certification represents
a psychological, financial, political, and professional investment.
In addition to becoming more proficient in certain medical approaches,
obtaining board certification is a lot like joining a club. By joining
such a club, a doctor submits to restrictions imposed upon him by
the club in return for the advantages the club offers. He gives
up some of his ability to act as an individual for the strength
in numbers. He agrees to do things the way the club does things,
and he agrees to be penalized by the club if he doesn’t. Medical
Associations are also like clubs. Doctors are not required to join
these clubs to practice medicine. But did you know that when a doctor
voluntarily joins a club, and then doesn’t do everything the
way the club does, then the club can censure him for it -- which
can cause the doctor’s malpractice insurance to go up? It can
also affect his chances at certain job opportunities. So you can
see that when you ask a doctor who belongs to a club, or two, or
three to help you with something that he feels the whole club might
not yet be doing, you’re asking him a lot. Yes, doctor’s
invest a lot into clubs and there tends to be a need to justify
that investment. If you spent years in training wouldn’t you
like to think that you were being taught all that there was to know
in a certain area, so that you could hope to have all the answers
for years to come? But how the thyroid system really works doesn’t
depend upon how doctors have spent their time. They either know
what’s wrong with you and how to fix it, or they don’t.
When you get more answers to your problems in a matter of hours
reading the right book than your doctor got in years of training,
it devalues his investment with evidence that suggests he may not
know it all. This explains the sometimes irrational opposition people
encounter from their doctors about Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome
and other approaches. In general, the more heavily credentialed
a doctor is, the more irrational his opposition can become. You
might think you’re just talking about a little bit of thyroid
medicine to get your temperature up to see how you’ll feel.
But subconsciously, part of what he’s talking about is his
time investment, self-image, and strength in numbers. So a doctor
who is board-certified in a given specialty may not be your first
choice. General Practice doctors are more likely to be able to help
you with the treatment for Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome.
4. Older doctors often have a lot of experience treating patients
clinically with thyroid medicine. They have been doing it for years.
You see, before doctors started getting preoccupied with thyroid
blood tests, doctors managed patients clinically all the time. They
already know how great the benefits can be. And they’ll also
be anxious to know of methods that can solve some of the problems
they’ve run into in the past. An old country doctor or family
doctor might be just what you need, because he’s been practicing
general clinical medicine since before there were any specialties
and clubs.
5. Osteopathic doctors or D.O.’s, as opposed to M.D.’s,
are often excellent at managing Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome because
of their strongly clinical background. Naturopathic physicians are
also often very good.
6. Go to someone who’s nice. Although this has already been
said in different ways before, it’s being emphasized specifically
now. Believe it, when a doctor is genuinely nice it instantly tells
you a great deal about him and where he’s coming from. It will
tell you vast amounts about him both personally and professionally.
It will tell you how interested he is in his patients, and how available
he makes himself to them when they need him. It will tell you how
closely he’ll be willing to work with you to get better. It
will tell you how he’s likely to act if challenges arise. He
won’t be as likely to give up. He’ll be less likely to
get defensive and point blame at you, or criticize you. He’ll
be more cooperative, and give more thought to what he’s trying
to accomplish. Yes, it tells you a lot -- instantly. So of all the
guides we’ve given you, this is perhaps the most powerful.
In fact, probably your two top criteria for what you’re looking
for in a doctor should be that:
1. He’s very nice, and
2. He will read the Doctor’s Manual.
Now that you know what to look for in a doctor, perhaps a good
doctor comes to mind for you (or someone you know) right off. You
can decide whether you’d rather go to a doctor that you know
of, or would rather try a doctor referral from us. The above points
will enable you to identify a doctor that is more clinically oriented.
Remember, you only need one doctor to treat you for Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome and you want a doctor that’s more likely to
be good at it.
There is an ideal attitude that you should have when approaching
a doctor about Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome. It can be captured
in the following sentence.
“This really sounds like me and I think it’s
worth a try, would you be willing to work with me on it?”
It would be great for you to repeat this sentence over and over
to yourself for a few days. Let it get ingrained into your mind.
We’ll break the attitude down now and show you why
it’s exactly the right thing to say. The attitude is
made up of 3 important components. The first is “This
really sounds like me.” The second, “I
think it’s worth a try.” And third, “would
you be willing to work with me on it.”
The first (This really sounds like me) takes a
lot of pressure off the doctor. Whether he is aware of it or not,
there are two things that a doctor is under pressure to accomplish.
One, is to establish your trust in him. And two, is to establish
your trust in what he says. Different doctors go about this in different
ways. Some do this by relying heavily upon their credentials, while
others rely more heavily on their ability to help you. You want
a doctor that’s more clinically oriented because he’s
focused more on solving your problems and getting you better, than
he is on pieces of paper.
So how does saying “This really sounds like me”
take a lot of pressure off a clinically oriented doctor?
Because it tends to establish your trust in him and what he might
say. You didn’t say “This is definitely what’s
wrong with me.” You said it sounds like you, which means you
are putting your trust in him to find out for sure. And when you
say “this really sounds like me,” he knows that
if it turns out that he agrees with you, you’re already pretty
well convinced because you’re the one that brought it up in
the first place. Clinical doctors have learned to pay attention
to their patients’ instincts. In fact, there’s another
old saying that says: “If you listen to your patients long
enough they’ll tell you what’s wrong with them, and if
you listen longer still they’ll tell you how to fix it.”
Let’s move on now to the second component of the attitude
that says “I think it’s worth a try.”
Clinical doctors are very comfortable with a fundamental concept
known as the therapeutic trial. Basically, a therapeutic trial means
to try a treatment to see if it will work. A therapeutic trial is
especially attractive if there is little risk of harm, and a great
chance of benefit. So by saying “worth a try,” you’re
tapping into the idea that the benefits of trying this treatment
might greatly outweigh the risks. There’s a chance that
you might really improve, which is what clinical doctors
care most about anyway. And, clinical doctors like to serve the
interests and needs of their patients. They don’t like to feel
as though they’re pushing patients. By saying “I think
it’s worth a try,” suggests that you’re looking for
a doctor who would be willing to help serve your interests and needs.
At the same time, it eliminates any chance of him feeling as if
he’s pushing you into anything, because it’s your idea.
Now it’s just a matter of him deciding whether or not he agrees
the benefits outweigh the risks in your particular case.
The third component is asking “would you be willing
to work with me on it?” This shows that you understand
that you’re asking him for a special favor. You’re asking
him to invest some of his free time. You’re also asking him
to take an interest in something outside his normal way of doing
things. Also, it’s a little easier for doctors to do things
the way everyone else does, or the way it’s always been done.
Depending upon how your doctor looks at it, he might view it as
essentially the same old thing that’s been done for years,
or he may view T3 therapy as something new and different. Here’s
why. T3 therapy involves giving patients thyroid medicine according
to patient response and laboratory findings, which has been common
practice for more than 50 years. In the same way, men have been
shooting basketballs through hoops for a very long time. But only
relatively recently did players start slam-dunking the basketball
through the hoop. They’re still using their hands to project
the ball through the hoop, but doing things a little differently
can be quite dramatic. In a similar way, the treatment protocol
for Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome specifies how to give
the medicine in the right way to give dramatic results. Basketball
is not a new game, but it’s played a little differently these
days. And thyroid medicine is not a new medicine but the how’s
and why’s can be very significant. So your doctor may feel
that this approach is nothing different than what’s always
been done. Or, he may feel that you’re asking him to stretch
a little for you.
Now let’s look at the attitude as a whole: “This
really sounds like me and I think it’s worth a try, would you
be willing to work with me on it?” Taken as a whole
this is the best attitude because it is cooperative and accepting.
It’s as if you’re saying, “I’m OK, and you’re
OK, would you like to work together on this?” Be courteous,
but don’t overdo it. By the same token, don’t blame your
doctor for not knowing about Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome. There’s
no reason you should expect him to know all about it, it’s
not yet common knowledge. And, don’t condemn him if he can’t
or doesn’t want to take some time to learn about it. He’s
got his own challenges and time constraints which might be awful.
Rest assured of one thing, there are hundreds of doctors that are
very excited to hear of, and learn more about Wilson’s Thyroid
Syndrome. This is because they have been searching for ways to help
their difficult patients. A “difficult patient” is one
for which their current methods aren’t working. If your doctor’s
not too busy and he’s looking for a way to help his difficult
patients, you’ll be able to tell. If he’s not, then how
much easier would it be to go to someone who is?
Also, it would be good for you to decide within yourself that you
are going to pursue the treatment at your own risk. Liability is
a big consideration for doctors these days. It’s probably enough
that you’re aware of this important issue, you probably won’t
want to say anything about it. Deciding beforehand that you will
be pursuing the treatment at your own risk will automatically help
everything to get off on the right foot. If you’re not really
sure enough about this approach to pursue it at your own risk, then
it probably would be best for you not to pursue it at all. This
is because the treatment protocol for Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome
requires that you be enthusiastic and confident enough to follow
the protocol carefully. Skepticism and doubt can be a self-fulfilling
prophecy for you since you’ll be less likely to follow the
protocol as directed.
The good news is that there’s no reason you have to wait one
more day for your doctor to find out about Wilson’s Thyroid
Syndrome. We’ll go step-by-step, and show you how you can easily
obtain treatment for Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome immediately.
A.
Doctor Referral from Us
The first way is to get a doctor referral -based on a zip
code -from us at the Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome Foundation.
Some people are very excited and well-pleased with the doctor referrals
they receive from us. But others aren’t. Sometimes, the referrals
are to doctors that are too far away. Also, different doctors place
emphasis on different things. This affects their interests, their
attitudes, their charges, their service, and their personalities
among other things. So a referral doesn’t always work out as
well as you might hope. Please keep in mind, who we refer to is
continually evolving. If you’re especially happy with, or for
some reason disappointed in a doctor we refer you to, please let
us know why. We want to continue referring to those doctors who
provide good service.
B.
A Doctor of Your Choosing
The other two main ways for you to get treatment for Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome is through your own doctor, or some other doctor
that comes to mind. Dr. Wilson has produced a cassette
tape that you can drop by your Doctor’s office. The tape is
called: A Therapeutic Trial of T3 Therapy (for Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome). This tape presents what Wilson’s
Thyroid Syndrome is, and what would be involved in its treatment
to see if your doctor would be interested in helping you with it.
This way, your doctor can listen to the doctor’s tape at his
convenience on the way to or from work in his car. It concisely
gets all the important points across so you won’t have to.
It saves both you and your doctor valuable time. It would take a
lot more time for you to try to explain everything in person than
it does for the tape. And, the tape will help his driving pass more
quickly, instead of taking time away from his practice.
If it turns out that he’s not interested in working with you,
you can always pick up the tape and give it to another doctor. This
will save you a lot of time, money, inconvenience, and aggravation.
4 ways you can approach a doctor
There are at least 4 ways you can approach a doctor with the tape.
First, you can drop it by the office in person.
Second, you can give it to him during an office visit.
Third, you can drop it off with a note.
Or fourth, you can call him about it on the phone.
Let’s explore each of these methods a little more fully.
1. You can drop it by the office in person. Dropping it by
the office in person is ideal if you have a good relationship with
your doctor. It’s especially good if you can say hi to him
and give him the tape personally. Be friendly, and explain that
you know he’s busy and that you don’t want to take too
much of his time but that you just wanted to say hi and ask him
if he’d mind listening to the tape in his car on the way home
from work. If he says yes, say “Great! I’ll give you a
call in the next few days to see what you think.”
2. You can give it to him during an office visit. Giving
it to him in an office visit will cost you money, but it may be
worth it. He’ll be more obliged to consider your proposal because
you’ll be a paying customer. It’s nice to have paying
customers. By paying an office visit, you’ll be sending your
doctor a clear message that you’re willing to pay for his time
and services.
3. You can drop it off with a note. You would use this approach
more often with a doctor you’ve never been to before. You would
be a prospective patient. It’s nice to have prospective patients.
If you haven’t yet met the doctor your note should read something
like this:
Dear Doctor So-and-so,
My name is Such-and-such. I’ve
made an appointment to see you as a new patient on such-and-such
a date. I can tell you then what I’ve been going through. Also,
I have heard about something with complaints similar to mine and
I wanted to ask you about it. So, would you please listen to this
tape perhaps on your way to or from work? That way I won’t
take too much of your time when I see you.
Thanks a lot, and I’m looking forward to seeing you
then,
Signed Such-and-such
This shows the doctor that you are accepting and trusting of him,
and that you’re serious about seeing him, and that you respect
his judgment and abilities as a doctor. Sometime before your appointment,
you can call the doctor to see if he has had a chance to listen
to the tape and get a feel for his reaction. If he sounds excited,
then you’ll keep your appointment. He may tell you when you
call that he doesn’t think he’ll be able to help you,
and you can always cancel the appointment. If you’re not encouraged
to cancel the appointment, but it sounds like the doctor’s
too busy to get to the tape, or if there’s something you don’t
like about what he or his staff is saying, then you can pick the
tape up when you’re in the neighborhood and then cancel the
appointment.
When you write the note, you should include something about having
heard about him from a friend or relative, if you have. But more
importantly, let’s review what this note should not
say.
If you’ve never seen this doctor, you’ll want to save
the “This-really-sounds-like-me-and I think-it’s-worth-a-try,
would-you-be-willing-to-work-with-me-on-it?” sentence for when
you see him. Some doctors will feel uncomfortable if they get the
feeling they’re being “shopped.” It’s better
to meet the doctor first, and to then take it from there with an
accepting cooperative attitude.
Don’t go into what kind of complaints you’ve
been having, and when they started, and all that. Here's a little
story about what they taught Dr. Wilson one day in medical school.
Believe it or not, he was taught to watch out for patients that
come in complaining of a lot of symptoms, especially if they come
in with those symptoms written down on a sheet of paper. The reason?
Because, the teacher said, those patients’ problems are more
likely to be in their head! Apparently it’s assumed that if
patients complain of more than one or two complaints, then none
of them can be that severe. Presumably, because none of them are
bad enough to stand out above the rest. And, the teacher said that
if they can’t easily remember all their complaints and have
to write them down, they’re less likely to be significant.
These ideas or “red flags” are commonly taught in medical
schools. How did they come up with these assumptions? That’s
explained in the Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome book, but it’s
basically got to do with doctors being more comfortable saying that
there’s nothing wrong with you than it is for them to admit
their knowledge and technology has limitations.
Don’t say that you’ve been from doctor
to doctor, or that you’re looking for a doctor who’ll
help you. It’s obvious that you’re looking for a doctor
to help you, you don’t need to say so. Doctors are just like
you, they don’t want to feel like just another somebody. And
doctors are also taught to have “red flags” go up when
someone says they’ve been from doctor to doctor. This suggests
that other doctors haven’t been able to help you, so maybe
you’re a difficult patient and no one can make you happy. The
doctor is trained to think you’re likely to be a problem patient.
Don’t play hardball. Don’t say anything
that intimates the doctor practices to make money. Don’t say
anything that suggests that helping you will be an opportunity for
him to make more money. And don’t act or say anything like:
“You’ll do what I want because that’s what I pay
you for, and if you don’t like it I’ll take my money somewhere
else.” Hardly anyone would behave in such a way but it’s
worth pointing out that it’s not good to be pushy. Doctors
don’t respond any better to being pushed than you do.
4. You can tell the doctor about the tape by calling him on the
phone. Also, someone you know might tell you of a doctor that
you should call. Here are some helpful hints that will help
you determine if he’s someone you’d like to see. First
ask if Dr. So-and-so is taking new patients. If he is, ask how soon
you’ll be able to get in to see him. If it’s more than
a week or so, then that might be an indication that he’s too
busy. If he does surgery or does rounds to see patients in the hospital,
then he’s probably too busy. You’re more likely to get
the time and attention you need from a doctor who has strictly an
office practice.
The attitude of the staff of an office often reflects the attitude
of the doctor. Be careful if you’re put on hold too long. And
if they’re curt and abrupt with you on the phone it may be
because they talk to a lot of unhappy and dissatisfied people (perhaps
their patients), or the office may be poorly organized or too busy.
If the person you talk to on the phone is very nice and helpful,
that’s a very good sign. Perhaps you will want to make an appointment
if the office sounds relaxed, cooperative, and above all, helpful.
If you do like what you hear, strike up some friendly conversation
while you make the appointment. Then you might ask the receptionist
to level with you as to whether the doctor is very nice. We’ve
already covered how much this will tell you about the doctor. Receptionists
don’t often hear this blunt yet seemingly harmless question,
and taken off guard a little they will tell you what you want to
know. They will almost always say yes, but if the doctor is really
nice, then the answer will usually be a very emphatic and genuine
“Oh yes, he’s really nice.” But if he’s not,
then the answer will more likely be “yes” or “yes,
he’s nice.” A doctor that’s a nice person treats
his staff and his patients well, and they enjoy being around him.
If you’ve made an appointment, then you may want to ask for
his nurse if you’re not talking to her or him already, to ask
a medical question. Mention to the nurse, that to save the doctor
time when you see him, you have a tape that talks about something
you wanted to ask him about. Ask his nurse about what she or he
thinks are the chances that he might listen to the tape before your
visit, perhaps on the way to or from work. Ask: “What should
we do, put it into his car to make sure he hears it?” Nurses
and Office Managers are experts at knowing how to get information
in front of the doctor. It would be very good if they can help you.
You might ask how long the doctor’s been in practice to get
a feel for how old he is. You might also ask if he’s board-certified
in a specialty. Does he have a general practice, or does he have
some special interest?
You might not get all this done on the first phone call. The main
purpose of the phone call is to just get a feel for the office,
and to decide if it sounds like a place you’d like to go. If
it does and you make an appointment, you can always make a follow
up call or go into the office sometime before your appointment to
see if you can drop off the tape for the doctor to listen to.
Let’s review now all the things you’ve learned in this
booklet.
