Where is the Health in Hospitals?

I had to make a trip to the Emergency room. My housemate had an injury that was in decided need of interventionary medicine.  Western medicine is great for this.  It is what it is designed and intended to do. It “fixes” things when they are broken.  It intervenes. I am grateful for this. Honestly.

While I was there, I was quite cold, hospitals being thoroughly and artificially cooled.  My quest for something hot to drink was a comedy in and of itself.  First I was directed to the nourishment station.  Nourishment? Seriously!?  These higher degreed and certified practitioners are in dire need of dictionaries.  Coffee station and Styrofoam cups. UGH!  My first big cringe: bad for the environment. And I cringe to think what toxins leach from the styrofoam, especially when heated by hot beverages. As I was scanning through the offerings, of coffee, sugary sodas and other inedible junk- a doctor(?) comes in, rinses out a soda can and tosses it into a recycle bin.  Is the bin supposed to be the consolation for the horrendous food options? It’s okay- I eat total crap, but at least I recycle? OI!

So I asked where there might be a coffee shop.  While I don’t drink coffee, I figured something approaching edible might be had there.  Someone informed me that the coffee shop was closed.  No huge surprise,as Rutland is not a sprawling metropolis. A fact for which I am consistently grateful.  The person, a tad impatient, or annoyed by my disdain for their definition of “food,” commented that while the coffee shop was closed, there were vending machines where I could find coffee.  I noted that I don’t drink coffee- as its brutally hard on the body, and doesn’t create energy, either.  Well, that certainly didn’t win me any points.

At this point the aide? nurse? doctor? person.. was more than happy to personally escort me somewhere not in his immediate vicinity… so I got  hand-guided to the closed cafeteria and vending machines.  OMG.  People consider that what was available in the vending machines passes for food? I won’t even ask for nutritious.  Granted, there were some edible ( maybe) looking options. But the majority of offerings were corporate type chips, candy, soda, etc.  There was one machine that had “food” offerings, such as sandwiches, a salad ( one salad in the entire machine) and other pre-prepared offerings. I prefer my food fresh, but this was, at least,  somewhere approaching acceptable.

NOW, on to the coffee machine, which seems to be the most prevalent machine in the line.  Green Mountain Roasters, which I like and respect- being a Vermonter.  And I like that the hospital has a local supplier.  I suspect that Green Mountain coffee is not there just because it is local now- as it has grown well beyond the borders of this small state. 🙂 I opted for a hot chocolate, mostly because it had been several hours since I had eaten, and… I was quite chilled.

The machine offers the little keurig single cup packets.  I have reservations about the whole ecological sustainability about those- but that’s a whole other soap-box. 😉  The machine spits out the little capsule.  I look around.  No cups.  Seriously!!!!??  that’s formidable strategic planning for you! A trek back to the “nourishment” station, and then back to the vending station. A trek of empty halls, doors that needed clearance in weird locations, all of which felt exceedingly Orwellian and discomfiting.  I wonder how many people are so habituated to this lifestyle reality that they no longer notice it as unusual.  Chilling notion, that.

While I was wending my way through the corridors, repeatedly, I had a while to reflect on what I was noticing and experiencing.  My first thought and reaction, with some amount of righteous incredulity is:  how can doctors, who are supposed to be the dispensers of our health and well-being not see what they are putting into patients, visitors, and their own bodies?

Is there NOTHING taught in medical schools about the intrinsic and direct link between what we put into our bodies and how we feel, our health and constitution. Yes, I know every doctor will counsel diabetics, heart patients etc about the importance of dietary changes.  And they will likely refer them to a Nutritionist.  This is not a bad thing, although a better thing would be if THEY also knew and understood nutrition.

It occurred to me, the underlying problem comes from the fact that the people who BECOME doctors- come out of the broken health-paradigm.  These are people who probably had their birthday parties at ” happy fast food” play-parks ( not using specific FF names here).  These places are geared to make sure children’s happiest fun-est memories are there.  A deep and emotional bond forms at the core of the child, food, love- happy-fast food.  And they grew up to become coffee-loving adults.  DID no one tell them that coffee DOES NOT GIVE the body energy??? seriously???

What it comes down to is the core value and belief of indigenous teaching.  You cannot heal/ teach the path you have not walked.  All of our great spiritual leaders climbed the mountain, and returned with the message.  A message they passed along to the waiting, hungry masses.  Where are these disciples today? And more- where is the voice in the wilderness of modern medicine that will make that journey?

Doctors will not begin to see anything amiss with their own lives and lifestyles. Nor will anyone else, for that matter.   It is a blind spot grounded in acculturation and habituation. How can we help them, and ourselves, to step out of that state, and see through fresh eyes.  This is called, “waking up”… and, I suppose.. smelling the coffee. Wow- it is even in our collective metaphors.

I am glad I don’t get sick very often, and that I have the basic holistic and herbal knowledge to manage self-care.  We all need to do this.  WE need to become the mirrors for the health profession. WE need to lead the change.  The medical industry is a corporate, profit-driven model.  It will supply what the consumer demands.

So please- it is up to all of us to make our voices of dissent heard, albeit respectfully.  We need to be the conscience that nudges our communities toward our own best selves.

What are your experiences? and What are your thoughts? share. please.

 

 

I am an Education Specialist, Health Coach and Author. I work with aspects of the teachings I have learned from Andean shamanic and cosmology, to health, nutrition and education.  Everything is energy. Energy must flow. Like water, when it does not flow, it stagnates and is not healthy. These techniques help your life to flow. I have been initiated into many of the ancient lineages and learned ceremonies, rites of passage and healing techniques.  I have worked as a healer and done workshops and taught some of these aspects – passing the teachings on.

Author of:
Dancing in Your Bubble : ancient teaching, modern healing
Natural Support for Alzheimer’s
Getting a Handle on Happy : find and fix causes of stress and depression
The Naturally Smarter Kid : a parent’s guide to helping kids succeed in school and life
Cafe of the Hungry Ghosts : behind the veil of ordinary – a paranormal-ish fiction book

http://BeingHerd.com
http://repairalz.com