Do I give the best pap smear in the northwest? Do I figure hormonal problems out like a detective? Do I draw blood with ease? Do I help people feel better? YES, I do ALL of the above but none of those things are my BESTEST skill.
LISTENING is my best skill….and probably the most important. Now, I do admit there are times when I may be distracted and don’t listen as intently as I should but most of the time my job is to sit back and listen to the person (patients) story.
My appointments are 30 to 90 minutes long…the less I know you the longer your appointment (for example, the first visit is always the longest). I need to know who you are, what makes you tick, what makes you sick….so to speak.
I want to give you a few examples of stories I have heard over the last year that have nothing to do with health but still affect health:
1. A woman came in and before I even introduced myself she began: “I am sorry I am such a wreck today but last night I found out my husband of 23 years is having an affair” BULLET straight to the heart! For the next hour and a half we talked about love, love lost, and how stress can kill you.
2. A man who recently lost his young wife to a devastating cancer came in to talk about sex. Lack of sex after your mate dies talk………DEEP, HEARTWARMING, and IMPORTANT! We had a great conversation and I hope eased his questioning brain.
3. Last week a woman came in with no emotions….flatlined and gone. The beginning of the conversation was rough…not many words. Then she said “we have been through a lot in the last year and last night our adopted child was taken from us”….the bomb dropped. The story is much more complicated than I will let on but for her privacy the details are unnecessary. We talked about 90 minutes about her situation and how it is affecting her body and brain chemistry. She left with a smile on her face and a “sense of hope for the first time in a long time”.
I ask you, what DRUG or pill gives “hope for the first time in a long time”????????????????? Listening to clients is the best medicine! I urge you to find a physician who does listen and one that you listen to as well.
rgds,
dr.gb