When breath becomes air, a book by Paul Kalanithi…

I recently read this beautiful but sad book by Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon resident…

As I loved the deep philosophical moments & the lovely words, I kept thinking how grueling medical school was…

This doctor in training described the days on end of his residency training…

He worked so hard that his wife was considering leaving him…He was always working…

The incredibly long hours were compounded by the massive complexity of being a neurosurgeon…

His cases were unbelievably complex, & he was apparently supposed to handle very sick people every day, remove their brain tumours with precision & expertise, & continually be sleep deprived…

In the middle of the book, he mentions his “usual” lunch was a Diet coke & an ice cream sandwich…

So here is a young doctor in training, eating ice cream sandwiches daily, in a hospital environment where sickness is everywhere, totally sleep deprived, under extreme pressure to perform at the very highest level, & not paid yet for his services…

This is possibly the MOST UNHEALTHY ENVIRONMENT I COULD IMAGINE…

Is it any wonder this brilliant genius of a man became ill?

I think not…I think if you gave this lifestyle recipe to any person, they would also get sick…

So I wondered:” If doctors are trained to live this very unhealthy lifestyle in medical school, interning, & residency, then how can doctors possibly help others to get well???”

I also noticed that when this young doctor got sick, that his only modalities were drugs…

There seemed to be no mention of diet or exercise even…No megadosing of vitamin c, no antiparasitics which are de rigueur at every alternative cancer centre in mexico even, no magnesium, no coppers, no cannabis oil, no graviola, no bloodroot tonic, no Two feathers black salve, no nothing but drugs…

No retreats or vacations to recapture his rest…No exploration of the weird & wonderful…No acupuncture, no chinese herbals, no moxibustion, no massages with essential oils…

Simply, when he discovered that his drug was starting to fail, he sort of gave up hope…

Where were the crazy people? Why didn’t any kooky people offer him some alternatives? Just drugs & chemo, & then failure…

It seems that the root cause of this man’s illness was the medical system itself, which burns out its residents immediately…

And gives them no answers when their candle starts to burn out…

Until medical students are treated better, in regards to their own health & sanity, how can doctors ever bring health to others?

In the book, Dr. Kalanithi’s friend, another surgeon, kills himself , after a particularly trying day…

How can this be possible? Well, there are a huge number of studies showing mere sleep deprivation is a catalyst to suicidal ideations…

Just that…Take someone’s sleep away, & they start to feel sad…

& yet, the residents in hospitals are continually forced to be sleep deprived…It is insanity!

When are the survivors of these young doctors in training going to sue the medical system?

Why should becoming a doctor be a hazard to your health?

Shouldn’t becoming a doctor be like becoming a yoga teacher? The longer you do it, the healthier you become?

Paul Kalanithi would have become the chief neurosurgeon, probably at Stanford, as well as a scientist who was planning projects that would pioneer brain stimulation, perhaps in prosthetic situations…

Instead the medical system killed him…

Ps. Today I got a Booster Juice smoothie at Toronto Western Hospital on my way out, after my appointment at their wonderful hand clinic…Tonight, as I read a book, my neck feels stiff & achey, as if I am coming down with something…I have to remind myself once again, Never to eat food at a hospital…I always always feel ill afterwards…Imagine how sick doctors must be, eating meals almost daily in all that illness?