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Don't suffer your treatment!

I try to be tactful, but I have my moments.

We were sitting in the sparse sunshine recently with a friend from school who I hadn't met before, when she excused herself to put on some suntan lotion.

I battled with my conscience for about 30 seconds before I offered to send her a link to a list of non-toxic sunscreens (www.cosmeticsdatabase.com).

Her reply was understandable. "Yes, I thought you would say something like that Simon."

Somehow I suspected her tone wasn't one of gratitude at my valiant attempt to save her from the long-term damage she was causing to her skin and immune system. Rather, I suspect her tone was "Why don't you mind your own business you sanctimonious Schmuck."

Normally, I have a rule never to offer help or advice unless I'm asked for it. But what do you do if someone can't or won't ask for help? What would you do if your friend was asleep in a burning building? Would you wait for their screams or would you break down the door and take them out anyway?

I admire Jeremy Vine's candour as he talks about his shame at not doing anything to help a man who was being beaten by a thug on the underground.

Such questions have no easy answers.

Even paid-for professional advice can sometimes be unwelcome.

Many patients coming in wanting help but not really knowing the "deal."

They know the "deal" when they go to a GP. The GP promises not to ask too much of them and the patient promises not to really change anything that might make themselves get truly healthy.

Alas, I fear I ask too much of my patients.

We've often heard the proverb about giving the man a fish and you'll feed him for the day, teach him to fish and you'll feed him for a lifetime. What the proverb doesn't tell you is that if you don't give him something pretty quick, he won't hang around long enough to learn anything anyway.

Very few patients are like Lance Armstrong, whose book "Every Second Counts" I had the pleasure to read this week. It's the story of his life after cancer, a process he calls survivorship.

Survivorship is about tackling the emotions of cancer survival, emotions of guilt and inadequacy, humility and grief. It is a tremendously insightful and remarkable story about his comeback from cancer and his 5 straight Tour de France victories.

His formula for success was simple. Suffering is good. By truly experiencing suffering, he could more fully enjoy living. He would train in all weathers all year round, climb Mount Ventoux after a 6 hour training ride, coast down and ride back up again - in short he would do everything his competitors were not willing to do in order to triumph. Which is exactly what he did with his cancer and the torture of chemotherapy.

I was thinking about suffering recently on day three of a liquid-only diet. Dammit, I thought, this isn't easy. Closely followed by "S***, I wonder if this is what patients think of the changes I suggest for them?"

Do they think of me as someone who makes them suffer?

It's one thing for Lance Armstrong when he is avoiding what he perceives as certain death, or chasing the goal of a Tour de France victory, but for you and me, are the benefits worth the "pain"? (Often there is no "pain," it's just different to what we're used to). Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing before you've done it.

So all this is my way of apologising to any of my patients who I have asked to have a filling changed, or a crown removed, or give up dairy products or do a gall bladder flush. Because the truth is, most of us don't have Lance Armstrong's capacity for suffering, I know I don't.

I never wanted you to suffer, I only ever wanted to relieve your suffering as quickly as possible. And I honour those of you who have done as I bid. The results of my follow-ups and your stories tell me it works. Often you "suffered" your treatments with no more evidence it was going to work than having me "wave your arms about a bit" (as one patient put it!) Little did you know that the examination you were having was far more useful than any MRI scan, blood test or X-ray.

My dilemma comes in the moment your body reveals the cause of it's distress. If it shows me the cause of your problem, I feel obliged to tell you about it, openly and honestly. Doing any less would be to betray the trust you have placed in me. Fortunately, most people latch onto the advice and follow it to the best of their abilities, and it is easy for them. Other people find following the advice more difficult because of fear or finances or some other reason, and those people probably feel like they are suffering, and for that I am sorry.

Ultimately we all make choices. Many people are prepared to suffer in the long term in order to enjoy immediate pleasure, many others enjoy healthy choices in the short-term to enjoy better health in the future. And who is to say which is better?

My concern is for the many hundreds of thousands who would like to be healthy but are mislead by science, commerce and the media into making health-destroying choices like buying the wrong suntan lotion or letting their dentist put in the wrong sort of filling.

Fortunately making healthy choices doesn't require any suffering, just know-how.

So keep reading, have a checkup regularly and share your knowledge freely.

Do you have a "suffering" story? Were you suffering before? Did you suffer to get better? Are you still suffering? Send your stories to patient@Naturality.org.uk

Here are some links to great info

Yesterday's quotes are still relevant today:

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
Winston Churchill

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
George Bernard Shaw

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Ronald Reagan (1986)

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
Will Rogers

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free.
P.J. O'Rourke

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
Voltaire (1764)

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.
Pericles (430 B.C)

No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.
Mark Twain (1866)

Talk is cheap ... except when Congress does it.
Unknown

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
Winston Churchill

What this country needs is more unemployed politicians.
Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
Thomas Jefferson

Until next month

Stay well and keep safe

Naturality Wellness Centre

by Jane Eastoe

Butterbean Soup

4 tbsp Ex.V.Coconut oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

400g butterbeans, cooked

500g tomatoes peeled and chopped

1 litre vegetable stock

1 tbsp fresh thyme

1tsp yeast extract

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Stir fry the onion, garlic and celery gently in the olive oil. Blend half of the cooked beans with the tomatoes and half the stock, then add them together with the whole beans and the remaining stock. Stir well, then add the thyme, yeast extract and salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Adjust the seasoning and serve.

Paella

3 tbsp Ex. V Coconut Oil

250g long grain rice

1 tsp turmeric

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot finely chopped

250g artichoke hearts

1 celery stalk, finely sliced

1 red pepper, de seeded and sliced

4 tomatoes, skinned and chopped

500ml basic vegetable stock

100g green peas

1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh marjoram (or 1 tsp dried)

2 tbsp cashew nuts

1 organic lemon, thickly sliced

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Gently heat the oil in a large deep pan and stir fry the rice until golden. Add the turmeric, garlic , onion and carrot, and stir fry for a few minutes, then add the artichoke hearts, celery stalk and red pepper, and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the peas, then simmer until the rice is cooked. Add the herbs, cashews and lemon slices. Season and serve hot.

Baked Apples

4 cooking apples, cored

4 bananas, mashed

10 dates, stoned and chopped

4 tbsp macadamia nuts, chopped

3 tbsp tahini

3 tbsp lemon juice

100ml maple syrup

Pre heat oven to 180 'c/gas mark 4. Cut a line horizontally around the middle in the skin of each apple. Mix half the mashed banana with the chopped dates and stuff the mixture into the apple. Sprinkle the nuts on top. Ake for 20 minutes. Mix the tahini with the rest of the banana, lemon juice and maple syrup. Add a little water and stir to a rich sauce. Pour over the baked apples.