Month: March 2023

Doctors invest a decade or more in medical training and have student loans averaging around $200,000. Despite healthy physician salaries—averaging $223,000 for primary care and $329,000 for specialists—these loans take years to pay down. Doctors typically work 60 to 70 hours a week thereby sacrificing time with their families and for personal needs.

It’s in the patient’s interest to appreciate the doctors we depend on for our health care needs because they’re quitting medicine in alarming numbers. Nearly half of doctors experience physician burnout caused by bureaucratic tasks, insufficient time with patients, and long hours, to name a few. The 10 to 20 hours a week spent on administration detracts from the most rewarding part of a doctor’s job and their reason for being drawn into the profession in the first place—patient care.

A doctor shortage is exacerbated by the growing number of aging patients and physicians. Patients age 65 or older generally require more specialty care and, in the next five years, 35% of working physicians will be of retirement age. And even before retirement, about one third of doctors report their intention to reduce work hours in the next 12 months. The effects of this shortage are already being felt. Patients often have to wait weeks to get an appointment with a specialist.

There are several steps patients can take to encourage physicians to continue practicing medicine. Please consider doing one or more of the following: 

• Since physicians rely on online reviews to bring new patients through the front door, take the time to write a fair and accurate review that reflects the positive aspects of your patient experience with the doctor. This will help offset your doctor’s worry about receiving negative reviews.
• Send thank-you cards to physicians you value.
• Bring your doctor a red carnation, the representative flower of National Doctor’s Day.
• Follow your doctor’s sound medical advice so that they don’t feel like you’re wasting their time.
• Ask your doctor how they’re doing. When I did this at my annual cardiology check-up last month, I was surprised when my cardiologist disclosed his personal struggle navigating a divorce with two teenage children.
• Pray for your doctors.
• Make an honorary donation to an organization that would recognize the doctor you honor. For example, worthy candidates would be doctors on Little People of America’s (LPA) Medical Advisory Board, https://www.lpaonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106:medical-advisory-board&catid=19:site-content&Itemid=103. They volunteer their time at free medical clinics and workshops at LPA national and regional conferences.

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/operation-operating-room-doctor-540597/

For more of my writings, go to https://angelamuirvanetten.com where you can subscribe to my weekly blog and find information and buy links to my dwarfism trilogy memoir.

Although 22 million people are estimated to have OSA, about 80 percent are undiagnosed. Their lack of oxygen comes with a high mortality risk. Sadly, I knew multiple little people who died in their 40s due to undiagnosed sleep apnea.

Until about 20 years ago, I too was undiagnosed. I didn’t know that my excessive daytime sleepiness put me at twice the risk of having a car accident. But I was jolted awake one afternoon after falling asleep at the wheel and my car veering off the road onto the grass. Thankfully, I didn’t hit a power pole or cross the center line into oncoming traffic and avoided being among the 100,000 auto crashes or 1,550 crash-related deaths the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration annually attributes to fatigue.

I had ignored sleep apnea symptoms like loud snoring, waking up with a dry mouth, and feeling as tired as when I went to bed. I forget if I had trouble remembering. Other symptoms didn’t bother me—insomnia, morning headaches, mood or behavior changes, and lack of energy. Other than being middle aged, common risk factors for sleep apnea were absent—allergies, drug use, family history, being a male, obesity, nasal blockages, large neck circumference, sleeping on my back, smoking, and enlarged tonsils or tongue. But failing to address my sleep apnea symptoms also put me at risk for life-threatening conditions like: diabetes; cardiovascular diseases; psychiatric comorbid diseases; cancer; neurological disorders; and brain damage.

Soon after my wake up call, I had a sleep study and was officially diagnosed with severe OSA. I slept overnight in a sleep clinic dotted with sensors that measured my sleep stages, breathing, muscle movement, and oxygen levels. I was prescribed a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine with a tube blowing pressurized air into a mask and through my airway to keep it open while I slept. 

Adjusting to the CPAP was challenging. However, I was determined to benefit from the health benefits of the device and refused to give up. With the help of a respiratory therapist, I chose a nasal pillow and comfortable headgear. The CPAP came with a compact carry bag making travel easy; airlines have made it a free carry on.

So how well are you sleeping?

You may also want to read:

• “Sleep Apnea.”Cleveland Clinic.November 15, 2022. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8718-sleep-apnea

• Health Risks of Poor Sleep. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-dangers-of-uncontrolled-sleep-apnea

• “Ways to Improve CPAP Therapy Compliance for Sleep Apnea Patients.” Reviewed by Pramod Kerkar, M.D., FFARCSI, DA. https://www.epainassist.com/sleep-disorders/ways-to-improve-cpap-therapy-compliance-for-sleep-apnea-patients

• Sleep Awareness Week®. https://nationaltoday.com/sleep-awareness-week/
• For links to my dwarfism memoir trilogy and weekly blog posts, go to my website at https://angelamuirvanetten.com.