I have heard very scary stories of people who went for surgery and were stitched with some of the surgery equipment in their bodies such as scissors; of misdiagnosed patients going through very expensive treatments only to realize that they were being treated for the wrong ailment; of people dying because they were said to be suffering from a common ailment only to realize too late that they had a serious condition that needed to be attended to urgently and by a specialized doctor. I have also seen patients with mental and physical disabilities left to vegetate as doctors wrongly declare them unable to get out of bed or use their mental capabilities to make any decisions.

All these experiences make me wonder; do we really take our wellbeing seriously enough to question the doctors when they tell us we are suffering from a certain ailment and require a certain kind of treatment?

With all the tools available to modern medicine (the blood tests, M.R.I.’s and endoscopes), you might think that misdiagnosis has become a rare thing. Unfortunately studies of autopsies have shown that doctors seriously misdiagnose fatal illnesses about 20 percent of the time. Interestingly the rate has not changed much since 1930’s.

Under the current medical system, it seems that doctors, nurses, lab technicians and hospital executives are not actually paid to come up with the right diagnosis – They are paid to perform tests and to do surgery and to dispense drugs.

Clinical negligence or medical negligence occurs when a health professional provides care that is below standard causing or increasing the level of physical injury or mental illness.

Negligence may occur from delay or failure to diagnose a condition, delay or failure to treat a condition, use of the wrong treatment, or failure to obtain consent.

It is important to understand the ailment one is said to be suffering from, so as to understand whether the correct treatment is being administered and to understand the financial implications as well. Other equally important questions one may want to ask the Doctor may include:

• How long the treatment is is expected to take,
• Is  hospitalization necessary,
• Is it a permanent condition and if not,
• Is it likely to recur?
• What is the cause of the condition ailment?

The responses to all your questions are very useful in determining your next cause of action. You may have to change your lifestyle to avoid recurrence of the same condition and if nothing can be done to cure or prevent it from happening, you will be able to research on the best way to handle the situation. Either way you look at it, the more informed you are about what is happening to your health, the better the chances of finding adequate ways maintaining or improving your health.

I personally, prefer seasoned medical professionals who can actually be able to relate the patient with lab results. With many years of experience behind them, these medical professionals have gained an edge in the industry; they probably made their mistakes some time back and have now perfected their skills.

Fresh professionals straight from learning institutions can easily use you as their guinea pig – not necessarily out of will. But take note – some of the old professionals never learnt anything from their many years of practice.  They probably got into the profession for money, you can be sure that they do not care much for your health, so make sure the medical professional you engage is knowledgeable, enjoys what they do, and is always ready to answer your myriad questions. I know of someone who goes to the doctor with print outs from the internet just to prove that they know what ails them and what the doctor should prescribe – I do really sympathize with the doctors sometimes.

After all is said and done, make sure your safeguard your health – constantly review your doctors’ performance. If you are uncomfortable or unsure of the diagnosis or treatment they give you, go ahead and seek a second and third opinion, after all, believing that you have the right treatment is the first step towards getting physically healed.

It bothers me that the society we live in is sometimes very ignorant of people who appear different from the ‘norm’. Instead of appreciating differences, the people who appear to be physically different from the rest of the world are considered as outcasts.

The term ‘hermaphrodite’ refers to an organism with both male and female reproductive organs. In recent years the term ‘hermaphrodite’ has been replaced by the term ‘Intersex’ when dealing with human beings. Intersex conditions are also referred to as ‘Disorders of Sex Development’ (DSD).

Intersexuality is applied to human beings whose biological sex cannot be determined as either male or female, and does not necessarily mean that the person has both male and female reproductive organs. It may be that the person’s sexual organs are ambiguous, such as a scrotum that looks like a labia; or they have some parts usually associated with males and some parts usually associated with females; or they may have clearly defined external sexual organs, but internally their sexual anatomy is mixed up. One out of every two thousand births is an intersexed child.

Unfortunately in most societies, intersexed children are viewed as outcasts/abnormal, hence they grow up knowing that they are unworthy and have to keep their condition as secret.

For a long time, the doctors also thought it necessary to treat Intersex by concealing the condition, or simply taking a child through early surgery and designating the sex, male or female depending on what they found fit at the time.

The actual causes of Intersex appearance are not well known. However, the condition is thought to develop when the fetus has an unusual level of certain hormones, or has an unusually low or high ability to respond to them.

Most parents opt to have surgery for their young children to avoid the stigma associated with the condition. This notion has been greatly opposed by the Intersex adults who were made to go through surgery as young children. They claim to have been physically, emotionally, and sexually harmed by such procedures, which unfortunately are irreversible.

Generally, intersex conditions do not cause the person to feel sick or in pain. However, some intersex conditions are associated with serious health issues, and require to be treated medically.

A number of organizations and support groups have been formed to cater for needs of the intersexed persons and to sensitize people on how best to handle such people in their midst.

As a parent of an Intersex child, the first lesson you need to learn is not to panic. You need to keep a cool head for your own sanity and for the well being of your child.

Seek medical advice on which gender to allocate your child – There are tests that are done by doctors and may give an indicative gender to your child. This is a ‘provisional’ gender that will serve in giving your child an identity as they grow up as it may be difficult for them to grow up without being identified as either male or female.

Give your child room to grow. Treat them as you would any other child. Be flexible enough to let your child decide what suites them best – being male or female. This may take some time and is best decided after puberty. The child should be given the option to decide what they are most comfortable with – being male or female.

Whatever you do, do not take your child for surgery at an early age, and in essence decide for them their gender. This may traumatize them for life and may not be reversible.

Finally, enjoy your time with your child. Ignore what other people say; after all, your child is still capable of doing all those things that ‘normal’ children do.

Joining a support group may do you a lot of good as you will soon appreciate that you are not alone and you will get to learn how all the others have managed to survive in our sometimes very judgmental society. It will also keep you up to speed with the latest developments in this particular field.

If you do come across an Intersex person, give them all the support you can and treat them as you would any other person, after all, they are really not that different from every one else.

A few months ago, a very good friend of mine invited me to a cycling event that was meant to raise money for charity. In this particular event, the funds raised were meant to go towards providing water to a very dry and poverty stricken area – a very noble cause.

So, as you can already guess, I jumped at the idea of ‘cycling for water’ and in my excitement, I invited my brother to join me and he quickly accepted.

My friend confirmed that a renowned international bank was sponsoring the event and liaising with a local cycling company to provide the cycling gear which was to include the bicycles and helmets. The only requirement was that participants be at the starting point on time, everything else was to be catered for by the bank.

Come the D-day, my brother and I woke up very early, eager to get to the starting point on time. In fact we were so early, we were the first ones to arrive. The next group of people to arrive came in over half an hour later.

The route chosen was very scenic – by the countryside, hilly and rocky with plenty of fresh air.  We even managed to spot a dear that was quickly hunted down by some members of a hunting community who inhabit the area.

At the end of the cycling event, to soothe our sore muscles, we were to dip ourselves in the hot water springs which are said to have medicinal value. People with skin diseases claim to be healed by the water and those without skin problems come out of there glowing… we could not wait to dip ourselves in the hot springs. We were so excited; little did we know what fate had in store for us.

Surprisingly as the bicycles were unloaded from the lorry, the participants realized that there were no helmets available, but decided to proceed on with this noble cause but with caution to avoid injuries.

Within minutes after flag off, the bicycle which my brother was using fell apart as some of the screws had not been fastened properly. He fell down head first at a very high speed going down a steep hill – without a helmet of course.

I was just a few seconds behind him, so I quickly stopped to help him out. He was badly injured and was not breathing in the first few seconds immediately after he hit the ground. He had blood all over his body, making it difficult to know exactly where he was hurt. The tarmac was all blue from the tatters of the new branded T-shirt which he had received from the bank and put on a few minutes prior to the accident.

To cut a long story short, we got him into an ambulance and took him to hospital. The medical personnel at the hospital were convinced that he had been hit by a speeding vehicle, judging from his injuries. We actually had a difficult time trying to convince them otherwise.

My brother suffered amnesia. Initially he could not recall anything in his life going back for about 5 years.

Within the last few months he has greatly improved but he still does not remember bits and pieces about his life. Thankfully he is still able to lead a normal productive life.

Accidents do happen and they can happen to anyone anytime. The only thing that I did not anticipate is that the big bank would bail out on me at the hour of need. The bank conveniently stepped back and refused to offer any help. I felt sick to my stomach to imagine how inhumane the bank could be.

My brother was unfortunate to suffer the most during this incident, but I came to learn later that a lot of people also suffered from friction wounds and minor cuts as they fell off their bikes and off to the rough terrain as they too ‘cycled for water’.

I also learnt a few lessons which I hope to share with you so that you do not find yourself in a tight corner as you try to help the communities around you in the name of CSR.

THE BIG LESSON: What nobody ever tells you…

If you are really want to participate in a charity event organized by any corporate, confirm that as a participant you are insured for that particular activity, if not, make specific/personal insurance arrangements for that particular day. Bear in mind that most corporates already have their staff under medical insurance cover; hence any medical bills for employees are more or less catered for. The individuals who need to watch out are those not covered by the company’s medical scheme.

Alternatively you can choose to participate at your own risk – in which case you should clearly understand what you are getting yourself into.

You could also sue after the fact, in which case even if you won the case, it would be too little too late in my opinion.

A lot has been said about CSR both the good and the not too good stuff. In my view, these are the gains for the participants of CSR:

1. You give back to the community in terms of money, time, or  in kind;
2. There is great  fulfillment in knowing  that you made someone else’s life that much better;
3. On a personal note – you get to learn new skills (e.g. organization skills), socialize and probably make new friends and get new hobbies;
4. On a professional note – you may just thrust yourself in the limelight in your company for the good deeds that eventually makes the company look good.

Let’s see now what is in it for the company:

1. Staff  help build the brand by contributing money from their personal income, and getting further contributions in money and/or in kind from friends and relatives.
2. The companies want to differentiate their brands – There are those core CSR activities that each company undertakes that are closely associated with the sponsoring company. This is a marketing strategy – makes the communities (read consumers), develop a soft spot for the company and therefore become more receptive to the company’s products (goods/services).
3. There is taxation implications as some of these costs are tax deductible.

Either way that I look at it, the individuals who participate in CSR do so out of a generous spirit while the company is just gaining mileage riding on the participants’ good will and intentions.

It makes me wonder, what happened to professional ethics – whereby a company’s good conduct is also based on how well they cater for incidental as well as unexpected risks. Does it mean that these organizations do not provide for people who get hurt promoting their brand, unless they are their own employees?

I expect that there are some rules that govern CSR which require the company involved to assess the possible risks in carrying out a certain activity, and then come up with a sound strategy on how to handle it – In this particular case, if people are riding bicycles what are the chances that someone will fall of their bike? Further still, if they are riding without observing the mandatory safety requirements (read without safety gear), what are the chances that someone will get badly hurt in a fall. Does anybody look at these risks any more? It seems that all the corporates see is the mileage they will gain in the communities – ‘Hey we provided water (or whatever else) to you when you really needed it, now come on and bank with us….’

Ethically speaking, how do they go to donate money for a ‘worthy cause’ when one of the people who assisted them to get that money is lying in hospital and they can’t even acknowledge his contribution? Someone please tell me, what is the difference between the money obtained by these corporate organizations in this manner, and the money obtained from selling blood diamonds – it’s all tainted as far as I see.

You have probably faced a similar situation or know someone else who has. This is the place to air your views freely. Please post your comments, concerns or observations on my blog. I would love to hear from you. What’s your story?