What's wrong with this picture??


Many of According to Asia's experiences leave her shaking her head in wonderment; here are a few such stories.  Check back each week for a new post!

 

*some names may have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals*



  • Talk About 'Milking' It For All It's Worth!


    According to Asia was sitting and talking to an acquaintance one day not too long ago. It had been quite a while since they'd last seen each other, and they had some catching up to do. Charlene had recently been in the hospital and was telling Asia about it.

    When she told Asia that the doctors had to give her Calcium by IV, Asia gave Charlene a funny look and slapped her gently on the arm. "You silly girl! They had to give you Calcium? Why? Don't you take calcium already? You know, there's this thing you can buy at the store here in Canada - it's called milk."

    "Well, yes, I do," Charlene acknowledged. "Actually, I take seven calcium tablets every day."

    Asia's jaw dropped. "Seven??" She was shocked! At first she didn't even believe Charlene. "You take seven every day, and they still had to give you more? That doesn't sound right!"

    After her meeting with Charlene, According to Asia began to wonder; in a country where milk, yogurt, and other dairy products are so readily available and such a large part of our diet, why were so many people still lacking in calcium? In areas with great poverty, people could barely afford to drink milk. As a special treat they might buy a little, but just a few sips and it was gone already. Yet here, where we can drink milk many times a day if we want, so many people need to take extra calcium and still don't get enough. Of course, being According to Asia, she had to find an answer!

    Asia set out on a mission. She tried every calcium supplement she could find on the market in order to find the best one. To her surprise, almost every calcium supplement had very little to no effect at all! She was disgusted, especially when she realized how much money people were spending every month on products they thought were good quality. Wanting to find out more, Asia called some of the companies as a potential buyer. She was shocked at the large markup on all of the products! In addition, According to Asia's research brought her to the realization that calcium deficiency is caused by a parathyroid problem. This means that no amount of calcium will be enough if it is not combined with the right ingredients to assist the parathyroid gland in distributing the calcium through the body.

    Apparently, most of the companies were not willing to invest enough to make a good product that worked. Instead, they were selling low quality so they could make more money - and they were getting away with it! Now when According to Asia goes into a health food store and sees people spending their hard-earned money on products that just aren't going to work, she feels like shouting out to the world, "Don't let them take you for Bobo the Fool! Don't let them trick you!"

    It makes you wonder, are we really doing as much good for our health as we think we are? Are the products we're spending our money on actually doing the job we expect them to? Why do people continue to spend hundreds of dollars on something that is obviously not working? What's wrong with this picture??

  • Benign Schmenign, That Diagnosis Didn't Make the 'Cut'...


    One day, as she often does, According to Asia was picking up coffee and muffins for a meeting with one of her clients. This particular restaurant was one she often goes to. In fact, the employees there always recognise her, talk to her, and even ask where she's been if they haven't seen her in a while. This time, however, it was Asia's turn to greet a friend she had not seen for some time.

    Pratima, one of the employees Asia had come to know, had been away for a month. Asia was happy to see her again and asked where she'd been. To her dismay, Pratima told her that the doctor had found lumps in her breast; they were benign, he'd told Pratima, and if she had them removed they would not turn into cancer. So she'd had the surgery and was back at work again.

    Asia was quiet for a minute. She knew the diagnosis was not correct. The lumps were caused by dampness in the body. Since cancer comes from dampness, unless the dampness was removed it would cause cancer. According to Asia also knew that she could help, and it was important to her that Pratima knew she had options. So Asia said bluntly, as only she could, "I don't want to burst your bubble, but I have to honest with you. It will come back." She hoped she was wrong, but she knew in her heart that she wasn't. She gave her phone number to Pratima, hoping to hear from her, but Pratima didn't call.

    About a month later, According to Asia was at the restaurant again and was greeted by the employees with an emphatic, "Guess what, you were right!"

    "I was right? What was I right about?" Asia replied.

    "You know," one of the employees answered, "that girl."

    Her mind on other things, Asia didn't understand at first.

    "What girl?"

    "That girl," they insisted, and she noticed the concern in their voices. "You were right. She has cancer now."

    According to Asia was shocked. Even she had not expected it to happen in only a month!

    It makes you think, how many serious illnesses and conditions can be prevented before they even start? How long do we have to wait before we start taking responsibility for our own health? How sick do we have to get before we decide to make a change? What's wrong with this picture??

  • The Wrong Way to 'Stretch a Dollar'


    Some time ago, when she had just begun her journey to better health and was still quite ill, Asia was looking for medical help. Particularly, she was having hormonal problems. So, she looked up naturopaths in the Saskatoon area. A few names popped up. One of them was Dr. Wallace. She'd heard some people mention the work he does, so Asia decided to call him. Perhaps, she thought, he could help!

    During her conversation over the phone, she asked him, among other things, how much a visit would cost. He quoted her a consultation fee of nearly $200. But, Asia realized, this would be worth it if Dr. Wallace could actually help her. Realizing that she didn't know if the cost included taxes, she asked how much money she should bring with her. This time, the price was closer to $300. That's a lot of taxes, Asia thought to herself, something's not right.

    "Why is it so much more now," she asked him.

    "Well, there's the acupuncture, too," Dr. Wallace replied.

    "Acupuncture? We didn't talk about acupuncture," Asia said, calling his bluff. Now she knew something wasn't right, and she was getting annoyed. First he'd told her less than $200, and he only told her about the extra cost for acupuncture after she asked. He still hadn't mentioned the cost of herbs or medicines he might prescribe, and she still didn't know if there were taxes, too. Realizing that he was not being straight-forward and honest with her, Asia decided that this was not someone she could trust.

    "I don't think it will work for us to do business," she told Dr. Wallace, as only According to Asia could.

    "No," he replied bluntly, "I don't think it will." He must have realized that Asia was not someone he could screw over, and he didn’t seem to like it!

    What bothered Asia was, not that it cost so much, but rather that he was being sneaky about the price instead of upfront and honest. Even though he told her less than $200, she could very well have ended up spending $400 or more. While According to Asia could afford it, what about the people who can't? It makes you wonder, was his focus on helping the patient or on how much money he could get? If our health professionals really are more concerned about what's going on in their wallets, can we trust such people to care about what's going on in our bodies? Shouldn't be we able to have confidence that we are really getting the value we're paying for? What's wrong with this picture??

  • When a 'sunny' personality just isn't enough...


    A client of Asia's, Aurora, called her up one day to chat. She'd been to her doctor, she told Asia. Her doctor said her Vitamin D levels were low.

    "Oh?" replied Asia. "What did she give you?"

    "Nothing," Aurora said. "He told me I needed go out in the sun." There was silence for a minute.

    "It's the middle of January!" Asia finally burst out. "What are you going to do, go stand outside naked in the middle of winter?" They both laughed, and Asia continued, "Why don't you go to the store and buy some Vitamin D?"

    "You can't buy Vitamin D."

    "Of course you can," replied Asia.

    "No! If you could buy Vitamin D, my doctor would have told me," Aurora responded, truly intrigued.

    Asia assured her that you most certainly can get Vitamin D at the store, and it is much more effective than freezing outside under the winter sun! Aurora was still skeptical, so Asia met her at the store and, sure enough, there was the Vitamin D!

    It makes you wonder, if the doctors we rely on every day are supposed to be professionals, experts who care for our health, people we trust with our welbeing, how is it they can't tell us or don't tell us something so simple, a fact anyone could learn just by walking into a store? What's wrong with this picture??

  • I wonder how much they charge when they don't fail...


    Some time ago, Asia noticed that one of her friends, Sajid, was looking a little ill. His eyes were red and had very dark circles around them, and he appeared feable and unwell. She recognized that he must be having problems with his liver, digestion, and spleen. As anyone would expect from According to Asia, she approached Sajid and warned him about the symptoms she was observing and made sure he knew that she could help. He knew he was sick, he told her, but still had faith in his doctor, so he wasn't too concerned. His doctor, however, merely gave him an antacid for the acid reflux and sent him on his way, unconcerned that the antacid only helped for a few minutes. Over the course of the next year, the symptoms became more severe, forcing Sajid to visit his doctor again for help - to no avail. The doctor sat, and stared, and spent a whole 10 minutes pretending to care but, suprisingly, couldn't find the problem. When his general practitioner was at a loss, Asia's friend was sent to an immunologist. After poking, prodding, and running his standard set of tests, the specialist stared him right in the eyes - which, by this time, anyone could see were red and sickly - and told him nothing was wrong. And it only cost his employer's insurance company $298 for this fabulous non-diagnosis! We can only imagine how much it might have cost if the specialist had been able to find a problem.

    Finally Sajid was desperate to see Asia and began calling her ferverously! When he came to see According to Asia for a consultation, her friend was so sick that, not only were his eyes noticably red, but he also couldn't sleep, he couldn't get up in the morning, and he could barely keep food down. When even $298 couldn't buy him a diagnosis, could According to Asia help? Well, when she saw him, she burst out laughing! While the symptoms affecting Sajid were severe, the problem that had so stumped doctors and specialists alike was actually quite minor. And, sure enough, after only a few days on According to Asia's program, he was starting to feel better.

    It makes you wonder: When our government and our insurance companies are sneaking our money away from us in small monthly payments and tax deductions on every pay check, we might not notice how much it's really costing us. But if we could see our health care costs coming directly out of our wallet, would we be willing to pay $298 to hear someone tell us nothing is wrong? Would we be happy to pay out $60 or more just so our family doctor can tell us to go see someone else? What's wrong with this picture??

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