A former surgeon finds a vitality in Florida that inspires her vision of proper health care.
By DR. CAROL ROBERTS
Published October 10, 2003
I moved to Florida in a family caravan of three generations from New York City. In 1978, Uncle Sam offered my ex-husband a choice for his next assignment: Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base or a grim Strategic Air Command base in North Dakota.
Duh.
Brandon at that time boasted three traffic lights. Little girls barebacked (on horses, that is) up the street to a long gone 7-Eleven. I assumed we would go "home" to New York as soon as possible.
Fifteen years later, I realized the big barn going up on Highway 60 was becoming a Barnes & Noble. In that moment, I knew I could stay. New York was coming to me.
Florida has indeed become more cosmopolitan. More diverse, more densely packed. The New York Times has dubbed us "the new California."
It is a mixed blessing to be Boomtown-in-the-Spotlight. An unmitigated blessing is our sky, which entertains us 24-7 with awesome displays of color, power and drama. How lucky to have the sea so close, to enjoy the beauty of Florida's creatures and to witness the polyglot garden of diversity that Florida has become.
That is why I live here.
It has become my purpose to bring life to the vision of how medicine could, would, should be practiced. This vision came to me (as well as to many other physicians) as I practiced conventional medicine, as a surgeon, as an emergency room doctor, for 20 years.
The greatest value of conventional medicine is for rescue. We are pretty lousy at the treatment of chronic disease. Many people are wondering how much of their disease is caused by our treatments. We have become content to treat symptoms, to "sweep it under the drug." A vitamin deficiency is not a good reason to put a kid on amphetamines.
Our seniors are struggling with prescriptions that damage both their livers and their bank accounts. I have looked at herbs, at nutrition, at yoga and movement and massage - and found them to be attractive antidotes to the "normal" aging/disease process.
Unlike a typical "body parts" doctor, I see each patient as an elegantly intertwined system of consciousness and matter, whose every cell seeks to be vitally alive. My job is to assist them to find the way to get there.
Look for whatever you need to heal, don't just "live with" your ailments. That is a cop out and beneath your spiritual dignity.
- Dr. Roberts lives on Lakeside Drive.[Last modified October 9, 2003, 09:41:36]
