Change Text Size
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home:
Knowledgebase:
Insight on Aging:
More than Skin Deep:
Edit Log
|
|
MGordon_MD
User
/ Moderator
Aug 3, 2011, 7:59 AM
Views: 20410
|
By Dr. Michael Gordon
It wasn’t my usual reason to be in a downtown Toronto hospital. This time it was because I was an out-patient in a special dermatology surgical clinic at Women’s College Hospital to deal with a personal problem. The experience taught me a few very important lessons.
It reminded me how lucky I feel to have a universal publicly funded health care system to which access by many older patients (in particular) could occur without any real impediment. Although I was just shy of 70 years old, I was among the younger people in the waiting room. It was clear from the various bandages that most of the people were having surgical procedures to their face or neck all of which could be done safely and effectively on an out-patient basis.
Signing in was smooth and effortless. The referral had been made by my dermatologist with the confirmation coming within an hour of his faxing the request.
Although it was a few months hence I was not worried as I knew the lesion in the crease of my nose was very slow-growing. My being a doctor had nothing to do with the appointment being made for me and I was happy in that knowledge as I respect the intrinsic equity of access to the system.
After I showed my health care card, I waited until the nurse came to me, explained the procedure and prepared everything for the doctor. He too explained the procedure and did the first level of the procedure. After a period of waiting to demonstrate that the “margins” of the tissue were clear, he told me that he had to go again to establish everything was clear which eventually was achieved. He then showed me how he had to “fill” the space made by the surgical removal and did a finely planned and executed “plastic” repair. It took a few days, some modest pain and a black eye before things began to recover and a week later he removed the sutures and told me things were “fine”.
In addition to my relief and delight with the health care system, the number of people waiting for similar procedures highlighted for me the importance of sun exposure in the risk of developing skin lesions that might require invasive treatments. I grew up literally on the beach in Brighton Beach, made famous by Neil Simon’s play Brighton Beach Memoirs. At that time little was known about the dangers of excessive sun exposure and the summer ritual of sun-burn to sun tan was practiced by all of my contemporaries even to the point of using intensifying oils and reflectors that would increase the impact of the sun’s rays. Little did we know or appreciate how we would suffer during our more mature years from the negative effects of this prolonged sun exposure which ranges from cosmetically unattractive lesions to more serious ones some of which can be lethal.
We know better now and it is therefore incumbent on us who know the risks to let our peers know what kind of care they should take but most importantly impress upon our children and grandchildren that the transitory attractiveness of a sun-tan can in the long run play havoc to one’s skin, with damage ranging from increased wrinkling and premature aging to malignant skin lesions.
My experience in the clinic was more than skin deep-it went right to the core of our wonderful health care system and the steps that all of us should take to maintain and assure good skin health which is also associated with long-term good skin appearance.
---
Dr. Michael Gordon is Medical Program Director, Palliative Care Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System in Toronto, Canada and Professor of Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Gordon is the author of the engaging memoir Brooklyn Beginnings: A Geriatrician's Odyssey, published by I-Universe.
Brooklyn Beginnings is available in bookstores and online at: Indigo-Chapters, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and I-Universe
Moments That Matter: Cases in Ethical Eldercare: A Guide for Family Members, is available online at Amazon.ca.
His latest release is Late-Stage Dementia: providing comfort, compassion and care. It is available at Amazon and Indigo.
Visit Dr. Michael Gordon's website.
(This post was edited by MGordon_MD on Aug 3, 2011, 8:06 AM)
|
|
|
Edit Log:
|
|
Post edited by MGordon_MD
(User) on Aug 3, 2011, 8:06 AM
|
|
|
Welcome to RetirementHomes.com. Our goal is to help you and/or your loved ones find the perfect retirement community that meets your specific needs and allows you to enjoy your retirement.
MAIN
SEARCH
WHO'S 
LOG 