Last March my doctor wanted me to get a colonoscopy. Really, really wanted me to get one because the doctor he wanted me to see was leaving the office. Which I didn't think was that important since basically anyone there could do the procedure; it is pretty common. Anyway, a couple of days later, I'm at work and check my email and there's one from the colonoscopy place saying I'm scheduled to get it done in 4 days. And here's the lengthy list of instructions...some of which need to be done more than 4 days in advance.
I was pretty confused and angry. So when someone from the doctor's office called, I verbally tore a few strips off her hide, ending with, "Next time use your damned brain." How dare they schedule what is basically a surgical procedure behind my back! Especially one with all these complicated dietary restrictions and things I have to do before I can do it. To borrow from Sean Bean in Lord of the Rings, "One does not simply walk into the doctor's office and get a colonoscopy."
(Now this is the part where someone says, "I do this stuff all the time and it's totally cool" or some variation thereof to say directly or insinuate that I'm overreacting.)
The excuses for this conduct were, "We were only trying to help" and "If you don't like it, you can change it." Which to change it you have to call someone in a call center who barely speaks English. That's a lot of fun. Thanks for that. As for the first one, the analogy I decided to finally go with is it's like when a dog or cat leaves a dead animal for you. To them it's a present, but to you it's just a disgusting nuisance.
To get to my main point though, the problem is of course the doctor's office will circle the wagons on this and keep mewling their stupid excuses and I'll be seen as the bully because I got upset about it. Whereas I think they're unethical morons who ought to be fired for breaching my trust and right to self-determination. As in, I'll be the one who decides when (and if) these things happen, not you. Trying to force my hand by scheduling something behind my back is unethical and really, really not cool.
What it made me think of is there are two sides in any argument and more often than not, who feels they're right (and often who's seen as right) is based more on popularity than actual truth. There is that saying, "History is written by the victors." What that means is the side that wins a war gets to write the history books afterwards. Our history books would look a lot different if the Nazis had won WWII or the Confederates had won the Civil War--or at least in states outside the South.
And nowhere is this more true than the Internet. Like back in the 90s on the Transformers message board there was a case where I was very clearly right about something--I even had visual evidence of it. But people wouldn't agree with me solely because they didn't like me. So they hemmed and hawwed and tried to poke holes in what was obvious. And in the end the truth proved beyond a doubt that I was right. Not that anyone would apologize to me.
It's why I left a Discord group of other authors. I disagreed with someone else but I knew she was more popular, so any argument I made would be shouted down. Just like anything I suggested for the group project was shouted down. There was no point arguing about it, so I figured I'd just save some aggravation and leave.
And of course on this here blog we had the Andrew Leon Debacle(TM) where some people chose what to believe solely on who they liked better. It didn't matter what arguments I made or how I tried to reason with them; they were "friends" with him so that was it.
This is why in a nutshell bogus conspiracy theories like anti-vaxxers, Flat Earthers, election deniers, and Covid deniers can continue to remain viable even in the face of all evidence. People just decide something, find a bunch of like-minded people, and then circle the wagons. When the government or scientists or just normal people try to argue, they twist themselves into pretzels to continue denying what should be pretty obvious. And especially with the Internet they have this built-in support group to keep making them feel they're right when they aren't.
It's also why gaslighting works so well. If one person is so confident in his/her beliefs and the other person less so, that less confident person can be convinced about all sorts of things that may not really be true. Add in some "negging" to lessen someone's confidence and it becomes easier.
And that is why most arguments end up being pretty pointless. Most people will just stick to whatever point of view. When that is shared by others, that seems to vindicate them and so they continue thinking they are right, even if it's pretty obvious that they aren't. And if you're only one man, it's pretty hard to penetrate that circle of wagons.
Does that mean you should just give up? Probably. At least give up on those people.
2 comments:
I recently completed my colonoscopy after delaying for a year. It was absolutely as awful as I thought it would be. I was afraid of being put under again. I had a difficult time and a bad reaction to anesthesia when I had my kidney stone removed back in 2013. This time, the anesthesia they used was propofol, and it was the easiest part of the thing. Leading up to the procedure was terrible. I remember having my last meal, and the next day waking up to only have broth for breakfast. I had some gummy bears to eat that are approved, and then I made that Miralax solution in the gatorade and drank the whole thing all day long, going to the bathroom (of course) repeatedly. Then you have to set your alarm in the middle of the night to continue drinking the last of it before the procedure. And then before the procedure...like four hours before, you can't have anything...not even water (maybe a sip or two). It's awful. The actual procedure was awful too as I have rolling veins, and they brought in an inexperienced trainee to try and get my I.V. in. I ended up getting stuck half a dozen times, them calling for a vein finder, and having the experienced technician step in to get me stuck properly. And then in my hospital gown that barely felt adequate to cover my nude body, I had to walk to the bathroom to relieve myself one more time through a corridor of people. Was like a walk of shame. My blood pressure skyrocketed despite my medication to control it. While on the operating table waiting for the anesthesiologist, I kept staring at the ceiling of the room looking at all of the scary medical equipment and people in the room and wondering if this is how it all ends for me. Obviously, it didn't (some people do not wake up from anesthesia but it is very rare). What a terrible experience. They didn't find anything, but I wouldn't wish the procedure on my worst enemy. Anyone who tells you a conoloscopy is fine isn't being truthful. I'm glad I got it done though. One of my friend's father has got stage 4 colon cancer. They could have caught it earlier if he'd gotten his. As it is now, he's probably going to die because it has spread to his liver and lungs. I dunno...I wish there was an easier way. Why couldn't A.I. have solved that problem, instead of doing all the fun stuff?
That is strange they would schedule without you consent. Do they need the money or what? I wonder because the procedure is not cheap. When I had mine, they billed the insurance about 8K.
The prep is the bad part. There are also different methods. Some take longer than others. The fasting isn't easy, but I drank a lot of apple juice that helped keep the hunger away. Then for dinner, I had to start drinking a huge jug of liquid laxative. You have to drink and drink and drink. It had a slightly salty taste but all that drinking kept my mind off food. Then it kicks in. I didn't sleep well, and had to get up early. I was miserable in the morning. However, for me the procedure was the easy part. I woke up glad it was over and went to the nearest restaurant and ate a big waffle for breakfast. Then I came home and slept for 3 hours.
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