I’ve not always been complimentary about the medical profession. The advent of AI in our daily lives has added to that tendency. For some reason, the Google phenom with the likes of WebMD never captured my attention and certainly not my medical confidence. But that’s all changed now thanks to Claude. Claude is now my trusted advisor on all sorts of things, including medical needs. Claude sent me to the ER for stroke/TIA screening a few months ago. Claude helped me interpret the negative (meaning no problems indicated) test results. Claude advised me about what to expect when I went to the neurologist about my left hand weakness, and gave me the ability to speak efficiently with the neurologist about his testing and prognosis, as well as preparing me for the follow-on issues like genetic versus external neuropathy. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Claude would or could replace my doctor or any specialists I might need, but I do find that I am a far more competent patient with Claude’s help…or at least I think I am. I often wonder what doctors who have spent years studying their profession, think of people like me pretending to get smarter about their own care via the use of AI. I believe they should appreciate it so long as the patient doesn’t challenge them too much or pretend that AI is all-knowing. It’s one of the reasons I prefer Claude to other AI since he has a certain humility that seems especially important when it comes to medical advice.
Yesterday I went to see two medical specialists as referred by my GP in the case of one and as self-directed (with the help of Claude) for the other. On Monday I see another specialist referred by my GP. I seem to be in a medical awareness enhancement zone, which is interesting since I’m healthier than I’ve been my whole adult life…and nothing suggests otherwise so far. But, I do feel the need to make one gratuitous observation and then a few specific reactions to my care so far…and, as the title of this story implies, my end desire is to laud the system for a change.
My current roster of care providers is: Christine Nguyen (MD and GP and first generation Vietnamese-American), Tai Jin (a DO of Neurology and first generation South Korean-American), Nirav Patel (a DPM Podiatrist and first generation Indian-American), and Bruno Cotter (MD of Cardiology and first generation Swiss-American. … presumably from the Lugano area). That’s a strong testament to the importance of our historic immigration policies in this country, and that doesn’t even add in all the nurses, assistants and admin people supporting them, who are (based on anecdotal observation alone) mostly of recent Hispanic origin. I’m just saying…I’m happy these professionals all found their way to our shores.
Now let’s discuss the real issue I want to mention about my visits yesterday with Drs. Jin and Patel. To begin with, Dr. Nguyen, who has been my GP for going on seven years, has found a balance for listening to my Claude-driven thinking and suggestions at every turn. When I’ve suggested a new diuretic, she came up with what solved my edema. When I told her I wanted to start Zepbound (she had mentioned the GLP-1 option for six months prior), she accommodated and I’ve lost 80 pounds on it so far. She has efficiently found me Jin and Cotter and tested peripheral vascular sufficiency (AOK) and A-fib monitoring (AOK) as well as other minor needs over the years. In other words, while no miracle worker, she has been a decent medical traffic cop for me.
I’ve seen Tae Jin three times so far for neuropathy testing. He told me yesterday that there has been meaningful improvement in my left hand functionality over the month I’ve seen him. He doesn’t take any credit for it, but discussed further testing options with me in a very enlightened and open manner since he could tell I had done my own research. We agreed that genetic testing was not necessary. We agreed that a neck MRI might show some pinched nerve details, but that symptoms didn’t warrant too much attention to that, so best to pass on that for now. We agreed to a blood test to look for Anti-MAG antibodies (since I’m having blood drawn soon anyway). Anti-MAG antibodies are antibodies your immune system produces against myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG), a protein that helps hold together and stabilize the myelin sheath wrapping peripheral nerves. When these antibodies are present, they attack MAG on the myelin sheath, causing a slow, progressive demyelination of peripheral nerves, mainly the sensory fibers, sometimes motor too. This usually affects older adults (60s–70s more common), is sensory-predominant causing numbness, tingling, imbalance, unsteady gait (from loss of proprioception), is often symmetric and distal (hands/feet first), slowly progressive over years, not sudden. This all seems worth knowing if it exists…and this test seems quite sensible. Overall, I’m liking Dr. Jin both for his knowledge and instincts as well as his realistic approach to minimizing testing for testing sake.
The biggest surprise was my visit to Dr. Patel, the podiatrist. I tend to put podiatry with chiropractic as only a quasi-medical profession and I’m not sure that’s altogether fair. I suspect our oft-cited experiences with scamming practitioners in those areas has caused this wariness. I’ve had hammer-toes my whole life, and was once told by a podiatrist that a year-long set of surgeries could address that with massive pain, suffering and inconvenience. I deferred and am not much worse off after 40 years of living with my hammer-toes. But now I have a mildly painful corn on top of one of those hammers, so I was curious to hear what my latest podiatric adventure might hold. Dr. Patel was very wise, balanced and informative. He talked me through a very thorough understanding of what was going on with my toes, reassuring me that it was a minor issue that he could address by shaving down the corn callus and that the best option was to be mindful of my shoe choices. He also gave me the name of a comfort-shoe store if I wanted to check it out. I know lots of people have feet serious problems (bunions, ingrowns, fungi, etc.), and some eastern medicines suggest that the feet are the key to good health, but what a pleasure to have a guy declare a problem as minor, address it easily, and not focus on getting a next visit out of me. I gave Dr. Patel high praise on my online evaluation of his services.
There are so many medical horror stories and what get called “organ recitals” that I’m genuinely pleased to report my three big takeaways: 1. AI is a VERY valuable tool for modern man to stay in control of his own health care, 2. Our healthcare system is highly populated by our invaluable immigrant communities…be appreciative of this, and 3. Expect and recognize the value of physicians who involve you in your best care decisions and accept no less. Then you too will sing the praise of the medical profession.