Dear Editor,
This letter is concerning Dr Cranton’s article on page 12 of the July 13th issue of Thunder Bay Source.
On behalf of all the caregivers and support workers, both employed and independent, who are trapped in positions of responsibility for the health outcomes of their clients but are without the power to affect the negative causes of their clients poor health, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Cranton for re-empowering us, with his 7 tips, to be of real help.
Although it is slightly insane to take on a job where you have all of the responsibility and none of the power, if there were no support workers willing to work under these conditions, our health-care system would be in a sorry mess.
Carry on, caregivers!
Also, I appreciate Dr. Cranton’s choice of the word scary. It certainly got my attention. The reality is that there is no such thing as a side effect. As I have said before, everything is a direct effect of ingesting the chemicals that make up the drug you have decided to put in your body.
The word ‘side’ is used to help avoid triggering your fear response, because if you were fearful of drug effects compromising your well being, you might decide not to take the drug after all.
I don’t know what is scarier, this attitude of the drug companies or the drugs themselves.
Dr. Cranton also touches on responsibility. If I am the captain of my own health care team, then is it not the case, that it is I who has the final say about what goes on with my health regimen? I wonder how many of us thought they had handed over the responsibility for the integrity of their health care to someone else only to find that integrity compromised because that other person did not take on all the responsibility, just part of it.
This situation creates a concealed gap in one's total health care delivery. Who among us has had the experience of finding out that important issues are falling through that crack?
Did you find out too late?
I hope not.
Trudi J. Jones,
Thunder Bay
