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"Whatever in connection with my professional practice or not
in connection with it I may see or hear in the lives of my patients
which ought not be spoken abroad, I will not divulge, reckoning that
all such should be kept secret".
(Hippocrates)
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Dear Friends
My Guarantee to you as a valued client.
I just want to say that anything you tell me will remain strictly
private. In my 10years of practicing medicine I have always upheld
the above statement and you can be 100% sure that what you tell me
will remain confidential. The Hippocratic Oath is extremely
important to me as a doctor and is something that I have always
followed and practiced by.
I built this site for women all
over the World to use: somewhere for women like yourself to find
out about the health problems faced by women in the modern era. I
also understand that some times it is not possible for women to talk
openly with a medical practitioner in there area. Sometimes it is
through embarrassment as the only doctor available may be male and
many women find it impossible to discus sensitive matters.
Or it can
be from cultural differences that make it hard for women to express
their concerns and fears. Or living in a small community: or on
religious grounds that make it difficult for some women to seek
medical advice. Or a host of other reasons where women find it
difficult to express their feelings to a local doctor. Or simply
there is no local doctor to see and discus any problems with.
Alice's Story.
"Let me tell you a story about Alice
(not her real name) who lived in a close community where everyone
knew everyone. Alice was a married lady with 2 children of just
school age 7 and 5 years old. Her husband was always away leaving
her to manage by herself for weeks on end, to say Alice was lonely
sometimes is an understatement.
One of her husbands friends would always drop by to help her with
some of the more difficult chores around the home. These visits were
always conducted in a purely plutonic way and there was never any
hint of anything else. One day the friend arrived very upset and
really down. He told Alice that he had just separated from his long
time girlfriend and it was not in a friendly way. He started to come
over more often and Alice always listened to him giving support
trying to reassure him that it was not the end of the world. This
continued for quite a few months and was starting to worry Alice
because the visits started to come just after her children's bedtime
on occasions.
Alice finally expressed her fears to her husband on one of the rare
occasions he was home for more that a couple of weeks. He was not
that supportive and told her she was just imagining things as his
friend had already told him he was dropping by to help out. Alice
could not understand her husbands lack of concern as they had always
confided in each other and helped each other, she just thought he
was under a bit of stress because of his job.
A few weeks after her husband went away it was Alice's birthday and
she got a call from her husband that he would not be able to make it
back as he was in the middle of a business deal. Alice was upset
with this as her husband had never missed her birthday before and
she would have to spend the day alone. Alice had sat by the phone
all night waiting for a call from her husband that never came and
she was really upset. Later on in the night her husbands friend
turned up with a bottle of wine and a bunch of flowers. Alice was
for the first time glad for the company and confided in the friend
that she was really lonely.
It was at this time the friend told her that he thought her husband
had another woman some place else and he had heard rumors about this
but never told Alice because he did not want to upset her. Alice
told me this really upset her and seemed to make sense at the time.
This news in conjunction with the wine lead Alice to drop her guard,
one thing lead to another and she ended up having sex with the
friend.
It was about 2 weeks after this that Alice wrote to me really upset
and worried. She told me she thought she may have contracted an STD
from her once off sexual encounter and could not possibly go to the
local doctor. She told me the story and that her husband had called
her the next day and told her his car had broken down in an area
that did not have Cell phone transmission and was really sorry that
he could not call on her birthday.
Alice was by this stage frantic
about what happened and really disgusted with herself for believing
what the friend had told her. More so she felt used by the friend
and believed he had played on her emotions to get what he wanted and
now she feared she had caught something.
Alice explained the symptoms and that she had severe itching around
the pubic area that was worse at night and there was a bluish gray
marks and inflammation of the skin. She was worried in case it was
genital herpes and simply did not know what to do. I explained to
her that it did not seem likely by what she explained as there was
only itching and no painful blisters. My first thoughts were it was
probably a case of
Phthirus pubis
or what is commonly referred to as Crabs.
I
asked her if there was any signs of eggs or small dark shapes in her
pubic hair and she confirmed there was. I told her the lesions she
had were probably due to irritation from the bites and probably
scratch marks as lice do not cause a rash, but constant scratching
and digging will lead to rash like symptoms. I told her to use
over the counter medications like Rid or Nix, thoroughly work the
shampoo into the pubic hair and surrounding area for at least 5
minutes. Wash all her bedding and underwear with the same solutions
and dry in the sun.
It is also important that people with pubic lice should be evaluated
for other sexually transmitted disease and Alice should go
immediately to a doctor for tests. I told her if she was scared to
see the local doctor then go to another town close by and get
checked.
A week later Alice thanked me for the advise and it seemed to have
worked. I do not know if she went for a checkup, but it is highly
recommended that you do without delay".
"This story was published with the consent of my patient and the
story modified slightly to protect her identity".
Alice's story is typical of
what can happen through no fault of her own and certain
circumstances happening that led to a situation she now regrets and
has to live with.
At least I was able to help her and assure her that everything will
be ok.
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