8. GESUNDHEIT!

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!
A million times over I'm sorry!!!!

Many people have asked me when my next review is coming and because of that- I fought my way through this book. Just. For. You. You have no idea how much I wanted to walk away from this last selection but I didn't. I kept it next to my bed and read it whenever I could find it inside myself to crack open the cover. This is why it has taken me 8 weeks to read a book that is only 193 pages. It normally doesn't take me 80 minutes to read a book that short. For reasons to later be discussed this one beat the living daylights out of me, it made me sleep after just a few paragraphs (which I took advantage of more than once) and it made my head hurt with its redundancy... but I did it! GESUNDHEIT! By Patch Adams M.D. with Maureen Mylander is finished! Here are my thoughts.

Never, ever - no matter how much you want to- just don't judge a book by it's movie. While I fully condone judging a book by its cover, a movie is a completely different story - literally. I saw the movie in the theaters when I was in middle school and I fell in love with the character of Patch Adams (even though he was slightly inappropriate) and his fight to create a free hospital. I thought the story was sad and endearing and the battle for free medical care was something we should all get behind... okay so that part is a lie, I just thought it was a good story, free medical care really has no baring on the mind of a 14-year-old girl.

I thought (THOUGHT) I knew this story, so when I found the book, I bought it.

This book started out in the most phenomenal way- with the retelling of Patch Adam's life and vividly I could see Robin Williams prancing around in mental wards and medical school- on his way to brilliancy and then the tides changed and when I say "changed" I mean this book went from being a small current in Whipporwill Creek to being a tsunami that made me want to let go of the door I was clinging to and just give up. This was not a biography as I previously though but rather a ted.i.ous dissection of everything that is wrong with the world of medicine and what "cancers" are destroying what might be the oldest profession known to man. I cannot give you a word to tell you what this reading experience was like was like. We'll start with the positives:

Reasons to read Gesundheit!

1. The discussion about third party reimbursement in the medical field. This is a huge issue in our country right now. This may have been a reason I was both horrified and fascinated by this book. In my mind I kept thinking "if he brings up insurance one more time..." but at the same time I was desperate to learn more. I want to be an American who can come to an informed decision about her rights. Could this guys approach to health care be what our country is searching for? I think it could be- in some respects. In med school Adams was told "Don't worry about it, he's insured." This led to over-testing and overdoing procedures. As a result:
"The hospital supply companies and medical technology firms have become multibillion dollar moguls of medicine". I really like where he said "If the current health insurance system is failing, many observers say, lets' solve the problem with universal health insurance. Don't address the staggering costs, just ask the federal government to pay! But universal health insurance will never cut cost; it will only make them higher. I shudder at the further losses our health care system will suffer if universal insurance becomes law."
What Dr. Adams had to say about this really made me think- even though this was written years before our current debate. This discussion is covered on Pg. 41 if you are interested in reading more.

2. Communal Living is Weird. Isn't it a tiny bit fascinating to learn more about something we don't practice? I'm a little bit obsessed with the Amish way of living so the idea of a self-sufficient society is bizarre and odd and interesting to me. Its great for doctors to be so in love with their profession to be able to live and breathe their jobs-but there is such a thing as taking stuff to far. The guys, including Dr. Adams, involved in the Gusundheit! Project worked and lived within a commune (I lived at a camp one summer- I have a preconceived notion that communes smell really bad). In a way, I think that's taking medical care a bit too far but it seemed to work for this group and I think it was great they were able to pool their resources- financially and medically and create a really interesting and successful format for healing. Some of the stories ( I don't honestly think they were stories... I think they were Dr. Adams saying we should live in huddled masses) were disgusting. If my husband was a doctor and chose to live in a commune and then encouraged me to "give birth before an audience of our family and friends" I'd have to hit him. That's just.... not even right.

3. What is your relationship with physician? Patch has a philosophy that all your doctor should be your friend. "Our ideal patient will be one who wants a deep personal friendship for life." Pg. 54 Dr. Adams believes that the closer you are with your doctor, the more open you will be about the true nature of your symptoms. "Please come prepared for interactions with your healer. Examine your life, talk with friends and family, and arrive with as broad an understanding of yourself and your needs as possible. Bring a list of questions and insist on their being answered. Please exclude nothing- and remember, you are worth all this attention." Pg. 64 I find this to be a very valid point. The person you trust to heal your body should know the most about you right? So why do we tell our friends things that we don't tell our doctors? Why are we scared to be open with these health care professionals? Why do we treat them like strangers? If we truly trust them with our health- they should be our friends.

4. Re-activeness vs. Pro-activeness. "One reason we have such a costly health care system is that it offers little if any emphasis on preventive medicine. Relatively little money is spent on preventive medical services, and health insurers give minimal reimbursement for wellness counseling. Hospitals survive and prosper when people are sick; they are not designed to thrive with empty beds when people are healthy." Pg.52 In college there was a textbook that I fell in love with because it had an entire section devoted to pro-activeness vs. re-activeness. Its something that we all need to evaluate in our lives. Why do we sit around and wait for things to happen to us? We know that eating poorly raises our health risks. We know that H1N1 is incredibly contagious or that cold season is just around the corner... yet, we all love our Big Macs and refuse to get shots because it will hurt or don't take our vitamins because we "forget"... oddly enough- I know exactly what time all my favorite shows are on.

5. Isn't your health care your whole environment? "A more effective approach to health care, by contrast, would base care in local health centers and programs, use technology as supportive therapy when necessary, focus on preventive, and support both alternative and conventional healing methods. It would accept dealt when it is inevitable, value quality of life, use community development approaches, protect the "victim," promote self-care, and be environmentally sensitive." Pg 52. Not only is it important to have a personal relationship with your health care providers but it is important to understand that your body is just part of your actual health. If a doctor does not know about stresses in your life or is not aware of great changes in your lifestyle or habitat then he cannot fully treat you. All aspects of your life- your friends, your family, your home, your pets, your diet, your job, your likes and dislikes make you who you are and can greatly influence your health- recognizing this and sharing it with your doctor makes your health care experience that much more valuable.

So maybe this book was a bit of a learning experience- I did learn alot about taking control of my own health... but this book still left a bad taste in my mouth. Why?

Reasons to NOT read Gesundheit!

1. Redundancy. Most of the above points are made in the first few chapters... and then repeated with reckless abandon throughout the rest of the book...over and over and over and over and over again.

2. Did I mention he likes to repeat himself? A lot?

It was exhausting!

8/52 Books (Currently 8 behind... Oops!)
2404 Pages Read.

The next review is coming SOON I promise!