Tell Giselle: Dodging sickness can take its toll

A retiree posed a question to me that is not unique to most of us. The senior was uncertain about whether or not to get on a prescribed medication. They wanted direction on how to evaluate the drug, the pros, cons, and all the tradeoffs that come with any medication and their side effects.

You may be such a person now, or there may be someone you deeply care about who may be in that predicament at some point. Navigating an answer to this presents challenges and confusion, especially for the elderly or anyone who is inexperienced with researching medical literature.

I was reminded of similar concerns during the holiday stretch. Like many of you who were happy to reunite with friends or family members, dealing with a health crisis is to be expected. Some of our loved ones who have been in various stages of illness, whether it be from a cold, COVID, pneumonia or cancers, force upon us the thought of mortality.

It’s an unwelcome backdrop, most acutely felt at year’s end. Why so? Because so many of us had to trek far and it probably wasn’t an easy to and fro.

For many who travel during Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holidays, trying to keep from being exposed to the unwanted germs, has become quite complicated. And more than a few of us likely will spend more than a few moments calculating risk stats and actuary tables.

For many months, too many to count, my partner and I have done pretty much everything in our control to avoid catching the most miserable or deadly transmissible viruses and bacteria that have been circulating and recirculating. This past holiday trip we opted to stay at a hotel instead of at a relative’s home until their COVID test showed negative.

Even then, knowing that these tests are not 100 percent accurate, we continued to sanitize surfaces and wash our hands frequently, to the point our hygiene protocol perhaps began to mirror the behavior of those suffering with OCD.

Our hygiene rituals to avoid exposure were not easy, fun nor cheap.

But if you want to at least try to preserve what good health status you have, and avoid an expensive hospitalization, that kind of choreographed dance will go on for a long, long time.

When it comes to taking medication to try to shorten the duration of a disease or to fully cure oneself of it, that option from my perspective usually comes down to getting at least a second or third medical opinion and multiple examinations.

Relying on hearsay, or what is often called anecdotal, rather than legitimate medical research and data, is less than ideal. Reviewing one’s history of what has or has not worked in times past is also

wise. Our tolerance for medications and supplements may vary over the years. What may have been of value a while ago may no longer work, or be enough, to get you back to wellness.

Someone I know who was recently diagnosed with what could have been a deadly condition had it gone unchecked and untreated, was told that no change in diet, no supplement, no apple cider vinegar, that sort of functional or alternative/complementary medicine would make one iota of difference. That was alarming to hear, as so often there is at least one thing or something that can be tweaked, that may improve or relieve a condition.

But when I dug deep into the medical literature (PubMed, the free search engine of The National Institutes of Health is a marvelous source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ ) I discovered the physician was exactly correct.

Truth be told, some health conditions just cannot be altered, or not significantly enough by many of the “natural” ways that try to replace traditional treatments. Those approaches often fail the clinical trials set up to determine efficacy, and thus cannot be considered an effective protocol.

One just has to break through hard denials or resistance, and come around to accept that fact.

Fortunately, that is not the case with some of the circulating bugs that are plaguing, when they are not killing, our loved ones. Several newer approaches are worth considering.

All I can suggest here, for those who are in doubt as to what to do for their treatment plan, is to begin with getting the best medical advice, and then take it. My wise father once told me never to try to be your own lawyer, and he also said this of doctoring. Relying on yourself, or on a wish to come true, instead of the guidance of as many highly educated and experienced experts as you can afford, is an ignorant choice.

Lean in to the advice of trained health professionals with gratitude. Then continue to live your life with as much gusto, and as best you can, as my friend has decided to do.