AlaskaAngel
06-02-2007, 07:01 AM
Probably the less said about my visit this week with the naturopath, the better. But in fairness to mainstream medicine I will post my impression. Perhaps I just expect too much from people with credentials. I am somewhat disheartened to find yet another dead end in terms of seeing people who are professionally qualified to treat us. I tried (just as I have with each oncologist I've seen) to entertain the benefit of the doubt... but... to summarize:
The positive points:
1.The senior naturopath is endorsed by the major cancer center where I have been treated.
2.He had a book published in 1999 wherein he promotes complementary treatment.
3.Even in a town as tiny as the one where I was visiting in the Lower 48 prior to going to the major cancer center, I found a copy of his book in the local library -- and no others on the topic.
4.One of the HER2support members recently mentioned she does consultations from Texas with the senior naturopath.
5.At the appointment I eventually was given the name and number of a person at the University nearby who is either a dietitian or trained in nutrition.
The negative points:
1.The naturopath's website is not kept current, which to me is not professional in this day and age.
2.His very nice appointments clerk e-mailed me the preliminary forms to fill out, including a detailed history and information about my eating habits, etc. and the associate naturopath who saw me used a lot of my appointment time to repeat most of those questions, clearly indicating he never bothered to read the form prior to seeing me, even though I had called the day before to verify that they received it and had it in the file ready for him to see. I was the first patient of the day.
3. I sent them a letter ahead of time specifically telling them I did not want a full evaluation and only wished to discuss the metabolism of sugars and fats and in particular the balancing of types of fats. I was told that would be fine. The associate naturopath kept trying to do a full evaluation and never did come close to adequately addressing my question, even though at one point I said straight out that I did not want to leave knowing that my primary question had not been dealt with.
Any advice, folks?
AlaskaAngel
The positive points:
1.The senior naturopath is endorsed by the major cancer center where I have been treated.
2.He had a book published in 1999 wherein he promotes complementary treatment.
3.Even in a town as tiny as the one where I was visiting in the Lower 48 prior to going to the major cancer center, I found a copy of his book in the local library -- and no others on the topic.
4.One of the HER2support members recently mentioned she does consultations from Texas with the senior naturopath.
5.At the appointment I eventually was given the name and number of a person at the University nearby who is either a dietitian or trained in nutrition.
The negative points:
1.The naturopath's website is not kept current, which to me is not professional in this day and age.
2.His very nice appointments clerk e-mailed me the preliminary forms to fill out, including a detailed history and information about my eating habits, etc. and the associate naturopath who saw me used a lot of my appointment time to repeat most of those questions, clearly indicating he never bothered to read the form prior to seeing me, even though I had called the day before to verify that they received it and had it in the file ready for him to see. I was the first patient of the day.
3. I sent them a letter ahead of time specifically telling them I did not want a full evaluation and only wished to discuss the metabolism of sugars and fats and in particular the balancing of types of fats. I was told that would be fine. The associate naturopath kept trying to do a full evaluation and never did come close to adequately addressing my question, even though at one point I said straight out that I did not want to leave knowing that my primary question had not been dealt with.
Any advice, folks?
AlaskaAngel