Trust and the Medical Field

In my experience, there is no greater degree of trust than putting your life in someone's hands.

However, if you start out at a young enough age, say birth, and it is critically, medically necessary, it may seem like the ones you have no choice but to trust are sage-like and bearers of all wisdom. At that time, sacrificing your own knowledge and desires to adhere to the medically necessary demands is required. However, if the illness is congenital and permanent, then when does this dynamic stop?

There has been a shift in the medical field where the patient has equal if not more say than the doctor in many contexts to adhere to the sensitivities and feelings of the patient. As someone who was ill since birth, I know that is not an ideal way of saving someone's life. For example, my blood work needs to be managed, my heart needs to stay healthy, and I need to keep fit. These things are not my opinion, nor is it what I want. It is a fact.

However, I have had a moment recently where I realized there might be another way to look at medical science through the lens that the doctors are, granted, knowledgeable in many ways, sage-like, and fallible like anyone else.

When my arm was made shorter as an unintended consequence of a surgery, that was a fluke. When my eyesight was damaged, that was an accident, and even my pacemaker and the fact that I need it are due to a surgical complication. While granted, there were many more procedures and other unintended problems, these were brushed off as "there is nothing we can do about it" at the time.

My master's thesis has recently highlighted this aspect of the medical field, specifically to cardiology. I am not saying these consequences are intentional or malicious, nor am I ascribing any moral value to them. I am simply saying that this potential and the result should be acknowledged more. So that the patient can grieve rather than merely move forward like a brave little soldier in an endless war.

This bond of trust is nearly as sacred as something could be regarding saving someone's life. Saving a life is noble and truly admirable, but it must be worth living and not perpetually mourned for something they could never truly grieve.