get a regular doctor!

Had she listened to what her body was telling her and sought proper medical attention immediately - from a doctor she knew and could trust - Mary's story of permanent hearing loss might have had a happier ending.

“I didn't have a regular doctor because I was rarely ill,” says Mary, “but I can see now how important it is to develop a good relationship with a primary care practitioner – just to have a checkup when you are feeling well – so that when something does go wrong, you’re dealing with someone who knows you.”

“When I experienced a pain in my left ear I ignored it, expecting it would sort itself out,” explains Mary, “but by the fifth day, the pain was excruciating and I dropped by a medical center close to my workplace, thinking that I all I needed was stronger painkiller and I’ll be OK.”

“The medical center was extremely busy that day and if it were not for the fact that my head was screaming in pain I would have walked out.”

“Instead, I waited my turn and when I got to see the doctor I did not mind that I was not thoroughly examined,” explains Mary. “I just wanted to get out of that place as fast as I could, get my pills and get back to work.”

“For three more days I literally stuffed myself with painkillers and carried on as best I could at work,” says Mary. “Rather than listening to what my body was telling me, I put my faith in the painkillers and kept on working.”

“I was working, but the painkillers weren't.”

“On the third day at work on painkillers, I picked up a ringing telephone and received a fax screech in my painful left ear that sent me reeling,” says Mary. “That screech remained in my ear and was so alarming that I made an appointment with a specialist who diagnosed a massive ear infection and a perforated eardrum so big it needed an operation to patch it.”

“It’s possible that a regular doctor, if I had done, may also have been too busy to examine me properly,” says Mary, “but had I taken time out of my busy life to develop a relationship with a good doctor, I think he or she would have been more inclined to take care of me better than someone who didn’t know me.”

Read more of Mary’s story:

listen to your body

body language

deaf and dizzy invalid

listen to your husband!

are vets smarter than doctors?

Minx, 44, quit a social smoking habit 15 years ago when she moved to a country town with her family. She had enjoyed good health all of her life until a routine X-ray following a sudden respiratory problem that she thought was related to local crop-dusting revealed a small lung cancer.


"Since moving to a country town I've often thought that the local vets are a whole lot smarter than any city doctor I once knew," laughs Minx. "I've learned things from vets that make good sense when applied to us, and a lot of people around here just don't need doctors."

"Take cancer, for instance," says Minx. "You'd think from all the stuff on the Internet that it's something only human beings get and is caused by lifestyle factors such as smoking (lung cancer), drinking (pancreatic cancer), eating meat (stomach cancer), etc. Right?"

"Wrong! All types of animals get all types of cancers just like we do, and while the anti-smokers may say that lung cancer in animals such as cats and dogs is caused by passively breathing their owners' cigarette smoke, what do they say about lung cancer in sheep, for example?"

"Yep, sheep get lung cancer just like we do and when was the last time you saw a sheep dragging on a fag or passively sucking up side-stream cigarette smoke?"

"Check out an article called 'Retrovirus-induced ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma, an animal model for lung cancer' and you'll see that a virus is involved which induces lung cancer in sheep that has striking analogies to human lung cancer."

"A virus, it makes sense doesn't it?" sighs Minx. "Cancer has been around since time immemorial, long before tobacco was discovered - it's a natural reaction when our immune system can't cope - but when is anyone out there in the human lung cancer world going to pay attention to cancer research in animals when it's so convenient to blame it all on a smelly habit like smoking that may be current or, in my case, 15 years old?"

"People who've never smoked get lung cancer, too – in fact, 60% of lung cancer patients are non-smokers or ex-smokers like me who quit many years ago," says Minx. "So, if there's a virus around here that caused my lung cancer then I want to know about it – and so should everyone, wherever they are."

"I've got kids to protect, and so does everyone else."

"I'm now wondering whether moving out of the city was a wise thing to do," says Minx. "I love the life, but I guess being close to farm animals and agricultural pollution exposes us to risks that may be worse than those we left behind in the city."


"I was lucky that the cancer was operable, and no chemotherapy was required afterwards," says Minx, "but it was a huge operation, very painful, and the whole thing was made worse by some of the medical professionals attending me who never let up reminding me in so many ways that it was all my fault, that I should never have smoked when I was younger."

"I can accept that I may be more susceptible than a non-smoker to respiratory problems because I once smoked, but I really cannot believe that a short history of social smoking 15 years ago is wholly responsible for my lung cancer," says Minx. "In fact, the more I read about all sorts of cancers the more I believe that something other than lifestyle factors is responsible for them."

"What's more, it kind of defeats the purpose of quitting smoking when people like me still get lung cancer," shrugs Minx. "I wanted to give up smoking and it was no big deal for me to quit - we were starting a healthy new life in the country - but for heavy smokers who really enjoy the habit then my story is only going to give them a good reason to carry on smoking, knowing that they are doomed whether they quit or not."

"In fact, that's exactly what my crazy heavy smoking girlfriend in the city said to me, and reluctantly I had to agree with her because if something else causes lung cancer then why should she quit doing something she enjoys and obviously needs to do in order to keep her sane?"

"I'm certainly not advocating that smoking is a good thing or harmless - I hate the smell of cigarettes now and sure don't want my kids to take up the habit - but a distinction should be drawn between something that smells bad and something that is the sole cause of lung cancer."

"If the anti-smoking medical establishment really wants to protect us from lung cancer - rather than stopping us from smoking smelly cigarettes as they line their pockets with kickbacks from the pharmaceutical companies pushing quit smoking products - then it should pay more attention to cancer research in animals."

breast cancer butchery

Rafaela, a single mom of 49, is one of many women who thought she was doing the right thing getting screened for breast cancer when she found a little lump. Now that it's officially accepted that breast cancer over-diagnosis results in unnecessary surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy for one in three women her gut feeling at the time – that she was bullied, lied to and butchered for a small cancer that could have regressed, remained dormant or grown so slowly that it was not worth worrying about in the first place – has been confirmed.

"When I was diagnosed with a small breast cancer six years ago I was not given the same sort of 'wait and see' approach that men get when they are diagnosed with prostate cancer," says Rafaela. "Instead, I was bullied unmercifully into having treatment I did not want, and in all likelihood did not need, by a whole team of white coats with faces to match."

"I was told I would die without treatment – and not just die, but die horribly in agonizing pain," sighs Rafaela. "Imagine the impact of that sort of blunt statement on a mother of young children. I was devastated, and I felt like slapping the face of the ghoulish doctor who delivered that soul-destroying statement to me, as if it was an undisputable fact and he was an all-knowing god.”

"My doctors must have known about the risks of over-diagnosis, but they doggedly asserted the worst case scenario and gave me no way out," says Rafaela. "In doing so, they blatantly lied to me and bullied me into being butchered – having one of my beautiful breasts surgically removed, as if it were a lump of lard without any purpose or significance."

"I had no history of breast cancer, or any cancer, in my family history," adds Rafaela. "I was not a high risk patient and the speed with which they bullied me into surgery after diagnosis was almost criminal, and why they had to remove my whole breast rather than remove the cancerous lump was probably criminal too.”

"I was given no time to do research, ask for a second opinion or just to reflect on my situation and follow my gut instinct," cries Rafaela. "It was diagnosis, biopsy, scans, tests and hospital within a week, and although they maintained that speed was essential to stop the cancer spreading, I now feel that this speed had more to do with denying me the time and space I needed to assert control over my own body."

"There's a whole breast cancer industry out there that preys on women like me," says Rafaela. "No doubt, most of the participants in this industry believe they are helping us, but at the time I had an awful feeling from the depth of my being that I was being bullied into something I didn't want or need and that they were monsters who either delighted in cutting off women's breasts or just wanted to line their pockets or gain medical research kudos at my expense."

"No doubt, too, many women with breast cancer have been 'saved' by being bullied, lied to and butchered in this fashion – if only for a maximum of five years which, to the industry, is considered a reasonable survival period," adds Rafaela, "but why should one in three women have to suffer unnecessarily from this one-size-fits-all approach to breast cancer?"

"For large tumors or invasive cancers by all means adopt an aggressive treatment regime if that's what the woman wants," cries Rafaela, "but for the rest of us, for pity’s sake, leave us alone, don’t bully and scare us, adopt the wait and see approach and get some sensitivity training."

"I went through the most soul-destroying and terrifying experience imaginable having breast cancer treatment, and to a lesser extent so did my kids and my mother (who moved in to take care of the kids for me, even though she had health problems of her own)," says Rafaela. "It still galls me today that in the 21st century nothing more gentle than butchery, poisoning and burning has been developed to deal with this cancer."

"That the industry masks this awful truth with pink ribbons - and a booklet euphemistically called a 'journey' - is something that really needs to be addressed," says Rafaela. "Nothing defines a woman more than a pair of breasts, and in bullying me into having a mastectomy they murdered my womanhood, destroyed my self-esteem and my sense of control over my own body. Nothing, least of all a silicon implant, can make me feel whole again.”

“OK, I’ve survived six years without a recurrence and I’m supposedly ‘cured’,” says Rafaela, “but there’s no evidence whatsoever to prove that the butchery, poisoning and burning they put me through had anything to do with it.”

“The point I’m making is that had I been given an option to wait and see, that is what I would have done, and I would have signed a legal waiver if being sued was their main worry – which I believe it probably was,” explains Rafaela. “If waiting and monitoring the lump led to the cancer growing then I would have agreed to aggressive treatment willingly and uncomplainingly as an active participant.”

“If anything, when I think of survival I think of surviving the torture they put me through, not the cancer,” sighs Rafaela, “and it makes my blood boil to realize that that my cancer could have regressed, remained dormant or grown so slowly that it was not worth worrying about – and I went through hell and back for no good reason other than the industry was hung up on following to the letter some ‘standard procedure’ devised by some misogynistic sadist.”

“My advice for women with a little lump in their breast is this: keep an eye on it and only seek medical advice if it grows bigger,” says Rafaela. “If you panic at the first sign of a little lump as I did (following scare campaigns by the industry to get it early) you will live to regret it – as I have.”

elbows, x-rays and terrorist doctors

It is no surprise to Erina that medical doctors have been roped into the Islamic terrorist cause because they are already at the forefront in the fanatic anti-smoking crusade and fully experienced in terrorizing hapless patients.

"One of the most surprising anti-smoking tirades I have ever encountered came from a GP I visited for a swollen elbow," says Erina. "In the course of the consultation he asked about my medical history and then -- as if required by a Mullah to do so -- asked whether I smoked."

"When I said, yes, he wanted to know how many, how often and what type of cigarette and abused me savagely when I refused to co-operate on the grounds that it was totally unrelated to my complaint and,frankly, none of his business."

"He then insisted that I get an X-ray on my elbow and sent me to a radiologist," relates Erina. "I should have suspected his motives, but I trusted that he would do me no harm."

"The radiologist turned out to be a sour-faced woman who told me get undressed," sighs Erina. "I protested, asking why I needed to get undressed for an elbow X-ray, and she told me to do as she said or get a referral to another radiologist."

"Terrorized into doing what she said," says Erin, "I was then told to stand on a metal contraption and she went behind a screen."

"I felt terribly uncomfortable and asked where was the lead vest to protect my body -- and what exactly she was X-raying," says Erin, "and she raved on about sunlight and air flight exposing us to more radiation than her machine -- in which case why was she hiding behind a screen? -- and told me that the referring doctor had recommended a chest X-ray and a shoulder X-ray as well."

"At that, I jumped off the contraption and told her that I didn't want any X-rays," says Erin, "and her face turned to thunder and she stormed out."

"I have no idea whether or not she had X-rayed my body without my permission -- and at what strength," says Erin, "but it was pretty obvious that she was in collusion with the GP and intended to intimidate me -- if not do me terrible harm."

"I would imagine he told her that I was a smoker and was to be given 'the works'," sighs Erin. "I decided against reporting them to the medical authority because I had no evidence of their improper behavior and besides which the medical authority is the body behind the anti-smoking crusade and might do me more harm."

"It would be like going to a mosque to complain about terrorist bombings, wouldn't it?"

"After the latest terrorist activities by Islamic doctors in London and Glasgow, everyone threw up their arms in horror that people trained to heal could really set out to kill," sighs Erin, "but how short our memories are. What about Dr Harold Shipman, the granny murderer, and Dr Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death at Auschwitz, and the 15 German physicians and scientists who were convicted at the Nuremberg Medical Trial? And what about the thousands of hapless patients who die or are maimed each week by the negligent or murderous actions of ordinary doctors?"

"Doctors, like lawyers and accountants and everyone else in privileged positions are fallible human beings first and foremost and you never know what's going on in their heads and what diabolical agenda they may have."

"The doctor I visited was not a well-looking man and I assuaged my fury at being mistreated by him by presuming he's riddled with some incurable venereal disease that a smoking prostitute had given him -- and was on a mission to debase all female smokers he came across in his work," sighs Erin. "Either that, or he was a total control freak -- an epithet that fits all fanatics and crusaders, whatever their cause - and smoking was his pet hate."

"My swollen elbow healed within days -- without any medication," adds Erin, "but my general health was poor for at least six months after that incident, and I was terrified when my hair started falling out. It may have been coincidence, but I fear that I was, indeed, deliberately exposed to harmful radiation."

"Forget about Islamic terrorists," says Erin. "We're all at risk from terrorist doctors pushing some ideological barrow -- be it smoking, obesity, drinking or whatever."

bad health consequences of quitting?

Persia works as a medical records assistant in a public hospital which has a vigorous non-smoking policy. She feels a bit guilty about pretending to be a non-smoker, but from what she sees of the drug habits and attitudes of everyone else she works with she believes she's better off than they are and less hypocritical, too.

"I could tell you things about doctors and nurses that would put you off seeing a doctor or coming to hospital," says Persia. "To start with, some of the immigrant medical staff have dodgy qualifications and most have a bad attitude towards us."

"The non-immigrant medical staff are overworked, consider themselves underpaid and can be very arrogant," says Persia. "But their real problem is drugs -- mainly alcohol -- but a lot of other stuff that the average person hasn't even heard of."

"The only thing all the medical staff have in common, really, is a hatred of smokers," sighs Persia. "Not a dislike of smokers and their habit, but a genuine hatred of them."

"It's really very scary to hear them go on about patients who smoke because one day my mom or dad -- or even I -- may have to come here for an operation and the first thing they ask you is not what's wrong with you but whether or not you smoke."

"Word has got around among smokers that if you want to be treated normally by medical staff you must lie about smoking," says Persia, "and it's become so bad now that a lot of patients who don't smoke -- especially those with respiratory troubles -- are accused of lying."

"If you're on death's door they're not going to argue with you," says Persia, "but if you're not then you're put on the bottom of the waiting list and told not to smoke (even if you never have)."

"What happens is that six months down the track -- or longer -- however long it takes to get to the top of the list, a lot of patients never even make it."

"Sure, this may be a reflection of an over-burdened health system," says Persia, "but it could also be a deliberate way to kill off smokers."

"If you're a patient with heart trouble and you're told you must stop smoking, drinking or doing other risky things for a certain length of time in order to be eligible for an operation," says Persia, "then imagine the stress on that person."

"Far more pressure is put on smokers than drinkers," says Persia. "I can't see how smoking is worse than drinking for any type of disease or operation, but that's the official guidelines the staff must follow and they really enjoy putting the boot into smokers."

"I honestly believe that most of the smokers who come back for their operation have totally disregarded what they were told," laughs Persia, "and good for them, I say, because had they put themselves through the stress of quitting, their chances of lasting out the waiting period are not good."

"The really old smokers, those in their 80s up, are very outspoken about enjoying a smoke and are given a bit of grudging respect -- after all, they've outlived the non-smokers," laughs Persia, "but if you're not old enough to have been a fighting man or woman in WWII you're literally forced to give up smoking if you want a simple operation."

"As I see it, there is a lot of information about the health hazards of smoking and absolutely no information at all about the health hazards of giving it up," says Persia. "Similarly, there's a lot of information about the benefits of giving it up, and absolutely no information about the benefits of smoking. Isn't this negligence?"

"Imagine a man in his 50s who's been smoking for about 40 years," says Persia. "His body is perfectly in tune with his habit and the shock of a sudden change can literally kill him."

"This is not just relevant for people needing an operation," says Persia. "It's for all smokers who try to quit for one reason or another."

"Withdrawal symptoms for any type of drug addiction can have dangerous consequences," says Persia. "Advising smokers to buy nicotine replacement and sending them home without adequate supervision is not particularly smart if you want to keep them alive."

"Detox is routinely offered to other drug addicts," says Persia, "but the health budget, amazingly, is not big enough to cover the cost of offering this life-saving luxury to smokers (even though their smoking tax dollars practically pay for the health costs of everyone else)."

"According to the medical staff where I work, smokers are extraneous rubbish -- not worth saving," sighs Persia, "and certainly not worth a follow up study to see how many ex-smokers are healthy and happy five years after quitting."

"From the records I've seen, I'd hazard a guess that a significant number of smokers who give up their habit are either seriously ill -- not necessarily with cancer or heart disease -- or dead within five years."

"For what other legal human activity is there a total ban in medical and scientific journals -- and the media -- on saying anything good about it?" asks Persia. "Even with the obvious terrible effects of alcohol there is hardly a day goes by without some research being done to show how good it is for us. Come on guys, smoking must have some therapeutic benefit. Why are you gagged from telling us about it?"

"When they say that smokers are a dying breed, they're not kidding," says Persia, "and as far as I can see they are doing as much as they can to speed us on our way by forcing us to quit."

medical check scares young refugee

Jalenka was a 16 year old orphan when she was accepted as a refugee immigrant but her joy at a chance for a new life was soured by the cold-blooded medical check she was forced to endure.

"No man had ever seen much of my face - let alone a part of my body," says Jalenka, "so imagine how terrified I was when I was required to strip to my panties for a medical examination conducted by a young male doctor."

"I appreciate now that women in my new country accept being treated like lumps of flesh by male doctors - and do not flinch at being regularly subjected to all sorts of invasive procedures whether they are necessary or not," says Jalenka, "but it was all very new and very frightening for me - and it still is."

"In my old country a man is a man and no white coat makes him less of a man."

"There was no nurse - male or female - present at the medical examination," explains Jalenka. "It was just the young male doctor and myself."

"I could not believe that my new country was so insensitive to the feelings of a young girl."

"Would it have been too much trouble to have hired female doctors to examine female refugees?"

"I felt like a sheep - an animal without human feelings."

"The young doctor did not speak my language and I did not speak much English - but no words were necessary. He was just there to give me a physical examination, but he could not have missed how terrified I was."

"I was shaking like a leaf the whole time."

"I did not look at him - I turned my head away in shame."

"All I wore was a pair of panties - but he even wanted to see what was under the only piece of clothing I wore," says Jalenka.

"He lifted the elastic of my panties when I was lying down."

"Was it part of the medical examination to check whether I had public hair? Or was he looking to check that I was indeed a woman and not a man?"

"I started to weep at this point of the examination and I think the silly young doctor thought I was becoming sexually aroused."

"I was terrified that he was going to take my panties off in order to inspect my private parts - and maybe to stick something inside of me," sighs Jalenka, "but luckily for me he did not."

"I think I would have jumped up off the examination table and run away - rescinding my opportunity for a new life in a new country - had this happened to me."

"It was fit and proper that I needed to be medically examined for tuberculosis and other terrible diseases," says Jalenka, "but I do not believe that I needed to be humiliated in the way I was."

"X-rays and blood tests could have determined everything the government needed to know about my medical condition."

"I am left wondering whether I was accepted as an immigrant not because I was a refugee in need of a new home - but because I was a nubile young woman checked out and given the thumbs up by a male."

doctors, drugs and hassled moms

When Germaine, 45, developed sharp pains in her chest a few days after a 'money' argument with her daughter she went into panic mode and thought she was having a heart attack.

"I suppose I should have called an ambulance straight away," muses Germaine, "but because my husband would have got here quicker I telephoned him instead. He carries his phone with him, but I guess he couldn't answer, so I left an urgent message and then decided to drag myself off to see the local doctor. If I got into trouble on the way I could call out for help. It was better than sitting home alone in panic mode waiting for my husband to respond to my urgent message."

"For normal health problems - coughs and colds and broken bones - we drive to the big medical center in town ," says Germaine. "It's quick - you get to see the first available doctor; it has all X-Ray and lab services on tap for quick results; and it's open 24/7. But I didn't dare drive that day. I didn't have far to walk and besides which I prefer our local doctor for important health problems - he gives more personal care than the big medical centers."

"It was about 1pm when I arrived and his surgery was packed," relates Germaine. "I was told I'd have to wait at least an hour to see the doctor - it was actually an hour and a half - but I didn't mind. I was, after all, in the right place for medical assistance."

"I made small talk with the other patients - flipped through old magazines - watched a bit of television - went outside for some fresh air - visited the bathroom - and generally observed my fellow patients as they came and went."

"Strangely - or not so strangely considering that men get cared for by their wives or girlfriends - not one man was a patient in the surgery waiting room. They were all women - young women with children, young women in suits probably taking the afternoon off to visit the doctor - and older women like myself with the saddest faces of all."

"At my examination, all the vital signs were okay," says Germaine. "The doctor asked me what had caused the 'panic attack' and when I told him about the argument with my daughter he commiserated with me and told me it was a common event."

"My doctor isn't married and as far as I know doesn't have children so I suppose he was talking about his patients," says Germaine. "I wondered how many women he sees each week, or even each day, whose only problem is a hassling adult kid. I wondered how many of the older women waiting outside in the surgery had the same problem. It was scary!"

"He decided I needed something to calm me down over the coming weeks," says Germaine, "and I suppose he was doing what any doctor could do under the circumstances but I wondered how many pills he hands out to women each week, or even each day, who have nothing physically wrong with them - who just need to be calmed down after a bad incident with a greedy adult son or daughter."

"I went home relieved to know I wasn't having a heart attack but I was very upset, nevertheless, to accept that I was going to need drugs to help me over this bad incident."

"I had raised my daughter never to take drugs - not to drink or smoke," sighs Germaine, "and as far as I know I'd been successful in keeping her clean. It would be ironic if I'm the one who becomes a drug addict! I can appreciate now those baleful jokes made by men about wives driving them to drink."

"I can now make a baleful joke about my kid driving me to drugs."

pap smear rape?

Until her daughter was born, Mitzi, 27, had never had a pap smear test and nobody ever suggested she have one - which is understandable in view of the fact that she had never seen a doctor since childhood.

"Soon after Jacquie was born I started taking her to the local doctor for colic and rashes and other baby problems," says Mitzi, "and one day - when I was distracted with Jacquie crying her eyes out - this doctor suggested I come in for a pap smear test."

"No, he didn't suggest it - with an option to say no," explains Mitzi, "he insisted I have a pap smear test on the basis of medical research that apparently said that women after childbirth are at high risk for cervical cancer."

"This doctor was a GP - not a gynecologist or even a pediatrician," says Mitzi, "and I don't know why I bothered to listen to him but two months after giving birth I guess I was in no mood for rational thought."

"When I turned up to keep the pap smear test appointment he told me to leave Jacquie with his receptionist," says Mitzi, "and when I pushed the stroller towards the woman she gave me a look as if to say 'you poor young thing'."

"I felt like running away right there and then," says Mitzi. "There was something not quite right about the situation. The woman's eyes quite clearly told me that I was going to be a lamb to the slaughter - and that's exactly what I was."

"The doctor made me take all of my clothes off and then he gave me a sheet to cover myself and asked me to lay down on the examining table."

"He forced my legs open and spent a very long time poking and prodding around inside me."

"I felt violated and sick."

"As far as I was concerned he had 'raped' me under the guise of medical examination - and he had taken advantage of my vulnerability as a new mother to gain my trust by fraud."

"He was an old man - in his sixties - and this was his way of getting his rocks off."

"After the ordeal I dressed as quickly as I could and rushed out without saying a word to him," says Mitzi. "The receptionist looked at me with pity and I felt like screaming at her for being an accomplice in the rape."

"When I telephoned to make the appointment for the pap smear she could have advised me to go to a woman doctor or a gynecologist or do anything but subject myself to the medical ravages of her dirty old man boss."

"I was obviously not the first young mom to experience this ordeal with him," says Mitzi. "That woman knew what was going on - but she kept quiet."

"At the time I didn't tell anyone about it," says Mitzi. "I felt too ashamed to tell my friends about the indignity the old man had put me through, but now that I am stronger I want every young mom to watch out for doctors like him."

"I wasn't even interested in the results of the pap smear. The whole examination - and the reason for it - was a fraud. It was just an excuse to medically rape young women."

"I took Jacquie to a new doctor after that incident," says Mitzi, "and I never plan on having another pap smear test for the rest of my life if I can help it.