{"id":249,"date":"2020-05-02T15:27:24","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T19:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myuprightlife.com\/?p=249"},"modified":"2020-05-02T15:27:27","modified_gmt":"2020-05-02T19:27:27","slug":"health-decisions-type-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myuprightlife.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/02\/health-decisions-type-c\/","title":{"rendered":"There Will Be Charts: Making Health Decisions as a Type C"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I had a coworker at my old company who used to tell me about her back troubles. (That tends to happen. Because I stand all the time, I\u2019m a magnet for questions and back pain stories.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, I remember once, at a work social event, this woman recommended her chiropractor to me. She had tried a few chiropractors, but she liked this one because he used a traction technique that was gentle on the spine. I asked about the treatment, and she ended up telling me that her chiropractor was out of network, she had been paying him hundreds of dollars a week for months, and her back was as bad as ever. But the chiropractor recommended ongoing treatment, and she continued to pay for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was shocked. I wanted to say, \u201cIf you\u2019ve been going to this guy for months with nothing to show for it, he\u2019s a quack! Stop wasting your money.\u201d But you can\u2019t say that to a coworker, so I stammered out something that was only marginally more polite. She emailed me her chiropractor\u2019s information, I never called him, and things were awkward between us until I left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I puzzled over this incident for a while. I still puzzle over it sometimes. Her story led me to another question, which is still a partial mystery to me. This woman was smart and creative \u2013 her job required more technical chops and a better sense of design than I have \u2013 but she clearly approached treating her back differently than I did, and I couldn\u2019t explain why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just that I got this story second-hand. I\u2019ve had three first visits to a chiropractor in my life. Only one resulted in a second visit, and only because I\u2019d already researched the massage therapy technique he offered, knew he was the only practitioner in my area, and made my peace with a couple sessions before I called to book the first session. I don\u2019t recall the exact number of appointments I made, but I know it was less than five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honey, I Love You, but Your Health Advice Sucks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My husband and I also have very different philosophies regarding medical care, to our mutual frustration. We are both health-conscious, but we act on that impulse in very different ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my husband has a health problem, his first impulse is to go to the doctor, where he expects to be given a prescription, either for medication or a procedure. He generally doesn\u2019t do a lot of research himself beforehand, and trusts the doctor to make the right decision. (To be fair, his mother is a family practice doctor, and he will often call and discuss the matter with her first. Which is sensible.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is far less willing than I am to experiment with lifestyle changes. He doesn\u2019t go out of his way to wear sunscreen, exercise, or plan his diet. He doesn\u2019t actively look for ways to avoid medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, I am, in my husband\u2019s words, \u201ca stubborn goat.\u201d I\u2019m not likely to go to a doctor unless I already have a good idea of what\u2019s wrong with me, and need a prescription to deal with it. If I suspect a sinus infection, for example, I\u2019ll go to the doctor and ask for antibiotics. But if my knife slips and I cut my hand? Yeah, I\u2019m staying home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We clashed recently when I came down with a killer flu that left me with a high fever for over a week. One day, when my husband insisted that I take my temperature, the readout was 104.0\u00b0 F (or 40.0\u00b0 C, if metric is your thing). My husband panicked, and pleaded with me to go to the emergency room. I wouldn\u2019t budge. I insisted the ER doctors wouldn\u2019t do anything I couldn\u2019t do at home, and it wasn\u2019t worth the time or expense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But my husband has a stubborn streak equal to mine, and it was fully engaged that day. He was ready to tie me up and drag me off to the emergency room. And I was ready to jump out the window and into the river to avoid it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We compromised, sort of. I took some ibuprofen, and agreed to go to the hospital if my temperature got any higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ibuprofen lowered my fever to an acceptable level, we didn\u2019t go in, and I felt vindicated. And I fully intend to drag this story out as evidence the next time he insists on a hospital visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s My Type? I Will Answer With a Heavily-Annotated Report.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Type
Wasn’t there supposed to be a forest around here somewhere?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few days ago, my husband and I got sucked into a Google rabbit hole when we tried to decide whether we were type As or type Bs. Neither of us have ever felt completely comfortable in either category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I won\u2019t make any claims about the accuracy of online personality quizzes or categories. But my husband and I landed on this explanation of personality types A, B, C, & D<\/a>, and it resonated with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The description of a type C personality in particular was shockingly on the nose for me. When my husband read it out loud, I thought it could have been written specifically to describe me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n