I am Jack Richman. Aka, Dr. Jack. This web site / Blog is what I like to title as “In Perspective, Understanding and divergent solutions”.
Why this blog/website? As a 20 year old for the last 60 years and not really growing up, I found that over the span of my lifetime (80 years this June) with 55 years as an MD, 72 years an active uncle to 4 girls and a nephew, 54 years as a husband, almost 52 years as a father, and a medical practitioner in so many roles from Family physician, to a corporate medical director for several large corporations, a teacher at the University, a board member of many professional boards, a researcher and a former business owner of 25 years, I have made enough mistakes and learned so much, while gaining so much, that I feel it is time to give back. Uniquely I still feel like a 20-year-old but with 80 years of life experience.
That was a mouth full!
For those of you who wonder to whom I am talking and if you fit in, I have 3 audiences. Patients who carry a burden on their shoulders of worry and concern 2. Doctors who need to see their patients with various and chronic conditions in a different light, not for just their sake but for their patient’s sake; and 3. Persons who may become patients and want to see their world in a different light so their communication with family and friends can reach a level that gives them happiness. – So that covers the entire world.
It is my style to lead with, or follow up with, an anecdote to illustrate the point I hope to make.
ANECDOTE: When my granddaughter (about 13 years old at the time) was looking kind of low I asked her what was wrong. She looked at me in a sad way, as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders, and said, “I don’t want to grow up.”
I looked at her and responded “That is okay. You do not have to. I didn’t. ” She looked at me, a 75-year-old at the time and with that one sentence smiled as if the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.
Physician Anecdote:
When I was in daily practice, at one time in my career, I was a specialist in the management of chronic pain. I was treating a patient with spinal injections. They seemed to be very helpful but after the third spinal injection for back pain she went home feeling. A few hours later , she called me as she became paralysed from the waist down., I immediately dropped everything and made a house call. I felt terrible. She lost control of her urine and bladder. I apologized and told her I was so sorry, and this was related to the third injection and something I did I must have caused it (I believed she had a hematoma / bleed that was compressing her cord. To my utter surprise she then started to console me telling me that she knew I was trying my best to help her and not to worry and she felt sure she would be fine. –Note: She is paralysed, and she is consoling me. I sent her by ambulance to a hospital where the neurosurgeon I knew operated. It was not abled or anything I had done but an allergic reaction to the medication causing swelling of her spinal cord. The decompression helped her and she did improve.
Take away: My medical and legal colleagues told me I should never have told her it was my fault because I could be sued. I could not believe what I heard even though I knew that was common practise. I felt that behaviour was only for those who had done something wrong and were dishonest to cover it up. I could not do that. – I injected her and she became paralysed. – No question it was related to the injection. However, in her mind, my coming over very quickly, accepting responsibility and taking ownership of the problem, and taking action to get her help more than compensated for anything I could have done. – I have always, and I mean always, told my patients if I “screwed up”. In 55 years, I have never been sued. Even when I practised at the Vermont ski slopes where the nurse told me all the doctors there had been sued at sometime. I was told I was the only physician who explained by looking into their eyes, what was happening and what to look for. While the other physicians with the same number of bookings finished each day at noon and skied the afternoon, I often did not finish till 2 PM before I skied a couple of hours. BUT I SLEPT WELL.
I will end here. See you soon. I hope to write twice a week. Let me know what you think or if you have any things you would like me to address.
Dr. Jack
Disclaimer:
There may be from time to time that I will be asked for advice of where to go and I will tell you where to go (no disrespect intended) for services or products. I will be honest and give you the best information I can or where to go or to trust to get that information.
It is common for blogs such as mine, to have sponsors of sorts. There will be some occasions that the service or the item recommended benefits them. That means I will benefit. I hate advertising and do not want ads on this blog or my website; for me, it is tacky for a physician to do that but that is me. I personally support this blog and website on my own. However, if sponsors appreciate my supporting them, (as I do so to help them stay in business so they can provide for my audience) then they are helping me to keep the blog and website going.
That said. Tune in and see you soon.
Dr Jack
