This piece of writing is a rant! I’m ranting because I’ve had enough! I’m writing with the hope that somebody will read and benefit from it....
INTROSPECTION
This piece of writing is a rant! I’m ranting because I’ve had enough! I’m writing with the hope that somebody will read and benefit from it.
Why do patients not follow their doctor’s instructions? Is there any harm in it? Did the doctor ask you to do the impossible? Or was it that if you followed the instruction, the doctor would benefit from it, instead of you?
Why is it that people are more willing to listen to ‘totkay’ over the doctor’s advice? If you’re ready to listen to and act on ‘totkay’, then what’s wrong with listening to your doctor for once?
When the dermatologists says, “Wash your face with this facewash, and apply this cream,” why do you say, “I know better,” and put cinnamon and baking soda on your face instead? Will you be later willing to tell your dermatologist that your face got burned because instead of putting the cream he advised, you decided to put food on your face?
A wise man once said, “Never do anything you can’t explain to the paramedic.”
When the physiotherapist says, “Don’t twist your wrist for two weeks. Perform this exercise only.” Why do you still wash those clothes, saying, “I am doing the exercises he told me do.” Yes you are. But you’re also twisting your wrist, which he prohibited you from doing.
When the dentist says, “I’ve extracted your tooth. Swallow your blood for 1 day. Don’t spit or rinse.” Why do you spit all the blood? Give your mouth a good rinse, saying, “I’m not a vampire.” Or, “drinking blood is haram.”
Why do heart patients perform cardio? Why do diabetics eat extra sugar? Why do hypertensive patients stop taking their anti-hypertensive drugs when their headaches stop?
The story does not end here. When a problem arises (and a problem will definitely arise) they blame the doctor. They don’t look in the mirror!
We once inserted a denture and gave the aged patient instructions on how to use and take care of his denture. One of the things on the ‘avoid-at-all-costs list’ was eating hard food before the passage of one week. The patient agreed, and left. After 20 minutes, he came back, complaining, “The guy outside was selling boiled corn. When I tried biting it, it hurt. This denture is faulty.” Facepalm.
If you don’t follow the doctor’s instructions, you won’t get the desired results, and it will be entirely your fault. It’s as simple as that. What happens when you’re making dessert and omit an essential ingredient? Let’s assume you were baking a cake, and you put the baking soda on your face instead of in your cake? What will happen? Your face will get damaged and your cake won’t rise. It’s the same with the doctor’s instructions. If you’ve had a surgery, and the doctor says, “Don’t take a bath for this many days,” what should you do? You should not take a bath for that many days. If you do, you may end up with an infection on the operated area. Do you want your stitches to burst open, pus to sweep out and leave an ugly scar? It’s called wound dehiscence. It isn’t just ugly; it’s extremely painful and lethal if you still decide to not pay your doctor a visit.
I’ve seen so many patients lose a limb, or one of their five senses, just because they didn’t follow their doctor’s instruction. Or maybe they did follow the instructions, but decided to not go for the follow up. Follow ups are just as important.
To the doctor:
Most doctors don’t tell their patients the consequences of not following the instructions, most commonly due to lack of time. Usually, educating the patient of the consequences scares them into following the instructions. Tell them:
Of course, this is not a 100 percent. I’ve personally seen patients ignoring the doctor all the way to the consequences, and then blaming the doctor’s incompetency for their loss.
To the reader:
Follow your doctor’s orders, please! If you know someone who is ignoring their doctor, tell them their doctor studied in a university just so they could fix you up. They know better than that ‘muhalay wali auntie’ with all those ‘totkay’.
Sometimes, some patients get lucky. They don’t listen to the doctor, and nothing bad happens to them. The problem is that these people then proceed to discourage others from obeying their doctors. Don’t listen to these people. They got lucky. They should thank God for it. No need to go about and discourage or mock others who listen to their doctor. If you meet such people, you know the rule - in from one ear, out the other. Just because they got lucky, doesn’t mean you’ll get lucky, too. You’ll probably lose half your teeth trying out your luck.
