Confessions

Well, the recent poll results showed that the majority of would like more disability quotes - and lucky for you, I've got tons of them, so expect to see more in the upcoming entries. Also, if you like Friday Night Quotes, please let me know. Likewise, if you like the series on Healthcare reform I'd like to know that, too. You can send me a message on the blog, or on our Facebook Page if you'd care to comment. Anyway, onto the blog.

I'd like to make a confession. I'm starting to get very frustrated with the majority of patients I see while performing disability physicals. I know that I talk all the time about "looking beyond the disease," "treating the person," and so forth, but the fact of the matter is that I have had a really hard time recently holding my tongue when dealing with some of these people. While I know that there are people who definitely should receive disability, I feel like telling everyone else to just "toughen up," and move on with their lives. I wrote a while back about a teenager who hadn't ever worked, but wanted disability because he was afraid that no one would hire him. At the time, I thought that that was simply a fluke. I've come to realize, however, that this is a fairly common occurrence, as just last week I saw at least one claimant a day (under the age of 20) who wanted disability because their "legs get swollen after standing for eight hours," or their job "won't give me medication to help me work," and other such banal reasons. I'm sorry, but my feet get swollen after standing for eight hours, too, and my job definitely does not give me medication (although I probably wouldn't turn it down), but you don't see me applying for free money. Aside from the physical "aliments," I've seen multiple people applying because they're depressed, and don't feel like working anymore. When asked if they're on medication, the majority say "no." When asked if they're undergoing counseling, the majority say "no," as well. I understand that many people don't have the money to purchase medication or counseling, but when they tell me that they're planning to use their disability money to, "play the lotto or something," I have a hard time believing that they would seek help, even if they could afford it.

In addition to the "I'd rather play the lotto than work," crowd, I'm seeing an increase in the number of parents trying to get disability for/from their children. As a preface, I will say that I definitely see kids that have real problems - bad cerebral palsy, developmental disorders and so forth. On the other hand, I see a large number of children whose parents think they should be on disability because "they yell at the teacher," are depressed (what does a five year-old have to be depressed about?) or, my personal favorite, "can't walk like their three year-old brother." Keep in mind that that the "disabled" child was two. I understand that times are tough, and people are just trying to get by, but do you really want to be paying money every year because Little Billy gets mad? I don't. I want to tell the parents to actually "parent," and not just flop the kid down in front of the TV and feed them McDonald's when they get pissed off. I'm sorry, but Bob the Builder is no excuse for a well-disciplined household.

I've been told before that I'm an idealist, and it's very true, especially when it comes to medicine. I really try to practice what I preach, and to use this blog as a source of encouragement, but even I fall sort of the ideals contained within. The unfortunate truth is that medicine is dirty, filled with pathos, and, in the current healthcare setting, a very frustrating profession to be part of. There is simply no way that someone could practice 100% of the ideals I put forth, and I realize that. That said, I believe that those ideals are good goals to strive towards, who knows, maybe if physicians did something as simple as really listened to their patients, healthcare could be an entirely different world.

And now, for the disability quotes of the day:

Lady: "I'm not diabetic, but they say I'm on the border between high and low sugar."
Me: "So you're normal."
Lady: "If you call borderline normal."

Patient's written response to the question, "Please write why you are applying for Social Security Disability."
"I need money, and this is the easiest way to get it."

Me: "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me about your condition?"
Man: "I once got hit by a welding solder, but I didn't scream. I don't know if that helped."

Live your life,
-DD