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A Balancing Act
A few years ago I decided to go to the doctor in hopes of getting some relief with joint pain and spasticity related to my Cerebral Palsy. The goal seemed pretty straight forward. I was happy that with one appointment I would find the solution that would work for me. During the much needed appointment the doctor was polite, he watched me walk, and offered me some Baclofen. As for as the joint pain he said that nothing seemed broken and there was simply nothing he could do. A simple appointment which started with so much hope ended with little hope with nowhere to turn.
Eighteen months later I found myself in another treatment consultation, but this time I was talking about the health benefits of hypobaric oxygen. This was a completely different scenario. We discussed how hypobaric can really make a difference in my life. The oxygen treatment actually allows my body to heal itself by creating new stem cells. Yes, this treatment was expensive and no, it is not covered by insurance, but it does work. Within a matter of moments there was a lot of hope. Hope turned into reality when a few short months. I found myself doing 40 treatments in the oxygen chamber paired with physical therapy.
While my experience in the chamber was a positive one at the end I discovered that I needed a lot more treatment cycles to get the results I desired.In my first example there was no hope for a recovery. In my second there was so much hope that it became over shadowed by the reality that healing takes time. My point is in both of these situations I left disappointed and frustrated. How then do we provide hope with sharing the reality of what is?
This is no easy question to answer. The only way to explore the possibilities is to think of all the parties or potential parties involved.
Doctors and/or professionals are often looked upon as the experts, the primary givers of hope. Doctors are consulted when people need help in understanding what the best course of treatment should be. However, doctors are somewhat in a tough spot because they may not know what your individual response to treatment will be. In my experience doctors are not into developing a dialogue with patients (maybe some of this is due to the managed care system). Most of the time I am given one treatment option, and as I have gotten older sometime I am told to live with my condition and make the best of it. Doctors, in a lot of ways, hold the key of hope in their hands. They allow patients and their parents to believe there is something better. Hope must be grounded in the reality of the limitations of science and technology, but also must be grounded in the reality that with the advances there could be a new treatment or product.
Patients and their families rely on the hope of finding a solution or cure. Without hope people tend to find another doctor or solution. In the first example I gave I never returned back to that doctor. He was unwilling to consider any other options, so I just assumed it was a dead end. With being a patient all of my life I began to prepare myself for constant disappointment. When I became a teenager I took about 15 to 20 year break and instead, did my own research. When my parents went to the doctor they too wanted the same thing. But I did notice they had more hope that something could be done. Any hope or slight hope was something to grasp. Then, they were at the very least surprised when I did not get the results the doctor wanted. The doctors on more than one occasion were at a loss of what to say when the procedure did not produce the results. Then and only then would they explain, well this is what we hope would have happened and maybe it still will if she keeps working. Over and over again this was the after treatment response.
The reality of such an experience is more crushing than hearing the harsh reality before the procedure. I think of it as having a conversation with a teenager who most of the time tries to share the good and leaves out the bad. For some reason it seems like this when trying to make a medical decision. I believe it is because we are all emotionally invested. But I point this out because it is important to ask as many questions as you can think of. Also, realize that the doctor, even with the best intentions, may not be describing your solution.
Hope is in its basic form a powerful tool. Hope causes people to believe. Believe in something or someone who is greater. Hope motivates you that something greater can be achieved. Without hope life would be boring. Hope at its core is something that is real and yet not always tangible. The one thing that is always true about hope is there seems to be a period of waiting. Waiting for something better, something not yet achieved.
Hope is good and in a lot of ways makes life more meaningful. Hoping for something that we know is a super long-shot may be fun to daydream about. However, true hope must be rooted in reality of what is. This way of balancing hope and our present reality makes sure that hope remains positive.
I have Cerebral Palsy and there are treatments for sure for this condition. The first doctor could have given a list of treatments to try and foster some type of hope to improve my quality of life. In my second example there was a lot of hope offered to get me to try such an innovative type of treatment in an oxygen chamber. The problem came when the hope was not balanced with the results I received. A part of me was more disappointed with the chamber results simply because of the time and the expense involved. Both time and money again must be weighed appropriately to fully make the treatment a true option. In the end a hopeful option can and will become a true reality if hope is balanced with truth.
