Doctors without orders

I have always enjoyed doctor-ish scenes. I loved when I had extended cable and had Discovery Health Channel. They showed full surgeries and did not censor blood or guts or gore. I love Dr. 90210 and seeing the augmentation procedures they do there. I also love emergency room shows like when they have guys who have had 18" power screw drivers embedded in their heads. Nothing grosses me out. I can eat, and enjoy whatever while viewing it all. I find it all educational and entertaining.

My love for all things surgical is one reason why it is awesome to have siblings who are in medical school. Not only can I hear stories of people who name their children Ewuznme, or of people who leave chunks of corn in their child's teeth for months, or of random letters people send to them after finding them on some list serve, I can also hear medically informative things.

It is amazing how science has answers to some questions, but people really don't head the advice.

Take pregnancy for example. In medical school the students learn that a woman should only gain about 25-35 pounds during pregnancy. That they only need to eat an additional 200 calories during the first and second trimester, and 300-350 additional calories during the last trimester. That is really not a lot of food. That could be an additional candy bar if you like junk food, or two oranges if you are healthy during the first trimester. All this made me excited, perhaps in my vanity, about being pregnant and not becoming huge.

But, amazingly, many of the doctors pregnant sis is encountering are not heeding what they have learned. They are constantly telling her that she is not eating enough, that she is not big enough, etc.

It really makes me question the medical profession. Seriously. I understand that they have a lot to learn and understand, but when you are in a ob-gyn rotation, shouldn't you understand at least the BASICS, and be able to give the patients the correct information. When kid sisters were in their ob-gyn rotations they said the doctors would not tell the patients that they do not need to be "eating for two". It's like they rely on their great grandmother's oral tradition instead of listening to science.

It also makes me wonder what else they don't know, or what else they are telling people incorrectly, or not correcting people on.

There is so much out there for them to know, and if they can't tell a woman the basics of not eating too much food when they are pregnant, there must be so much more.

I will have to rely on my intelligent, studious sisters and father for information. Or, perhaps, go to medical school, or study the information on my own so I can question and correct my doctors when I am examined or counseled.