What if the person who is supposed to fix you is actually just reading a manual for someone else? This is the question that stays in the throat. People do not ask the question out loud. People sit in the waiting room. People look at the floor. People wait for the name to be called.
Then the name is called. The patient walks into the small room. The patient sits on the table. The paper on the table makes a crinkling noise. The clinician enters the room.
The clinician holds a tablet. The clinician looks at the screen. The clinician does not look at the eyes of the patient. The clinician looks at the data on the screen. The data says the patient is normal. The patient does not feel normal. The patient feels a weight in the chest. The patient feels a fog in the brain. The patient cannot sleep at night.
The clinician speaks. The clinician says the guidelines are clear. The guidelines say to wait. The clinician says waiting is the safest choice for most people. The clinician is right about the math. The math is based on a million people. The clinician is wrong about the patient. The patient is not a million people. The patient is one person. The patient is sitting on the crinkling paper.
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The Sharp Reality of Pain
I cracked my neck too hard this morning. My neck hurts now. The pain is sharp when I turn my head to the left. The medical book says this pain will go away in . The book is a policy. My neck is a reality.
The policy does not feel the sharp pain. The policy does not have to drive a car or look at a monitor. The policy is an average. I am not an average. I am a person with a stiff neck and a bad mood.
The health system is built on population logic. Population logic is a set of rules. The rules are made to help the group. The group is a large number of people. The rules are good for the group. The rules save the system money. The rules keep the system safe from mistakes. But the rules do not always help the individual.
When the Person Meets the Policy
The individual is a specific body. The body has a specific history. The body has specific needs. When the individual meets the policy, the individual usually loses. The policy is stronger than the person. The policy has the power of the average.
I talked to Logan A.-M. about this problem. Logan is a therapy animal trainer. Logan trains dogs to help people who have needs. Logan sees how bodies work in the real world. This is a literal truth. The breed standard is a piece of paper. The paper says how the dog should look. The paper says how the dog should act.
The paw is made of bone and skin. The paw has a thorn in it. The dog does not read the paper. The dog feels the thorn. The trainer must find the thorn. The trainer cannot just read the paper and say the dog is fine.
Treats the patient like the breed standard. If you don’t fit the numbers, you are an outlier.
Finds the thorn. Looks for the story behind the symptoms, not the rule in the book.
The shift from population logic to personal investigation.
The system does not like outliers. The system tries to ignore the outliers. The system tells the outliers to wait and see. This is a common phrase. Wait and see. It means the system is waiting for the patient to become a more obvious statistic. It means the system is waiting for the problem to get big enough to fit a rule.
A Destination for the Unseen
This is why people go to White Rock Naturopathic Clinic. The clinic is in Surrey, British Columbia.
Dr. Tom Grodski is the doctor at the clinic. Dr. Grodski has been a doctor in White Rock since .
Dr. Grodski does not just look at the guidelines. Dr. Grodski looks at the patient. The patient has a story. The story is the key to the health of the patient. The story explains why the patient is tired. The story explains why the patient is in pain.
The Functional Advantage
The clinic uses functional lab testing. Functional lab testing is different from standard lab testing. Standard lab testing looks for disease. If the disease is not there, the test is normal. Functional lab testing looks for function. It looks for how the body is working. It looks for the root cause of the problem.
Standard Range
Optimal Level
The range is a wide space. The range includes many people. The range includes people who are healthy. The range includes people who are almost sick. The functional test looks for the optimal level. The optimal level is the level where the person feels good.
The clinic offers many therapies. The clinic offers hormone balancing. The clinic offers IV nutrient therapy. The clinic offers PRP regenerative medicine. The clinic offers allergy desensitization. These are medical tools. These tools are used to help the body heal. The healing is the goal. The goal is not to follow a policy. The goal is to fix the person.
The patient at the clinic is a professional. The patient is a parent. The patient is . The patient has 13 symptoms. The symptoms are not a mystery to the patient. The symptoms are a burden.
The patient has tried the conventional route. The conventional route did not work. The conventional route gave the patient a pill for the symptoms. The pill did not find the cause. The cause was still there. The cause was hidden behind the policy.
The policy says the patient should have more energy. The policy says the patient is at the right weight. The patient is not at the right weight. The patient is over the weight. The weight does not move.
The patient eats well. The patient walks every day. The weight stays. The policy says the patient is eating too much. The policy is wrong. The body of the patient has a metabolic block. The block is a physical thing. The block can be measured. Dr. Grodski measures the block. Dr. Grodski finds the reason for the weight.
The coat is a medium size. The coat fits the average person. The average person is a ghost. The average person does not exist. Some people are small. The coat is too big for them. Some people are large. The coat is too small for them. The system gives the coat to everyone. The system says the coat is the right size. If the coat does not fit, the system says the person is the problem. The person is not the problem. The coat is the problem.
A Legacy of Care
Dr. Grodski treats the South Surrey community. Dr. Grodski treats the White Rock community. He has of experience. He has seen many patients. He has seen many bodies. He knows that every body is different.
He blends natural medicine with clinical therapies. He uses science. He uses evidence. He also uses compassion. Compassion is not a policy. Compassion is an action. Compassion is listening to the patient. Compassion is taking the time to find the root cause.
Measured by Trust
The clinic has the most 5-star reviews in the region. There are over 121 reviews on Google. There are many reviews on RateMD. The reviews say the same thing. The reviews say the doctor listens. The reviews say the doctor cares. The reviews say the doctor found the answer. The answer was not in the guidelines. The answer was in the patient.
Individual care is a project. Population optimization is a different project. These projects are not the same. They often conflict. The system wants to optimize the crowd. The crowd is a set of data points. The doctor wants to care for the person. The person is a living being.
When individual care is governed by population logic, the patient is a representative sample. The patient is a stand-in for a group. The patient is a map. The map is not the territory. The territory is the body. The body is the only thing that matters when the body is in pain.
I think about my neck. I think about the book. I do not care about the book. I care about my neck. I want the pain to stop.
I want to turn my head. I want to feel like myself again. This is what every patient wants. The patient wants to be seen. The patient wants to be heard. The patient wants to be more than a number on a chart.
The Luxury of Ten Minutes
The clinic provides a space for the person. The clinic is a professional environment. The clinic is unhurried. The doctor has time for the patient. Time is a necessary thing. Time is needed to find the cause. Time is needed to explain the why.
Most doctors do not have time. Most doctors have . Ten minutes is enough for a policy. Ten minutes is not enough for a person. The root cause is often deep. The root cause is often hidden. The root cause might be a hormone shift. The root cause might be a nutrient deficiency.
The root cause might be an allergy. The root cause might be old trauma in the tissue. These things do not show up on a standard screening. These things require investigation. Investigation is a process. The process starts with the patient. The process ends with the patient.
I stopped believing the chart. I stopped accepting the average. I am a person. I am a specific body. I have a specific life. I deserve a specific plan.
You deserve a specific plan. You are not a population. You are not a policy. You are a person. The doctor should see the person. The doctor should treat the person. This is the only way to get better. This is the only way to heal.
The clinic in White Rock understands this truth. The clinic in White Rock acts on this truth every day.