Rest, never mind relaxation, just plain old rest.

The medical profession/industry has come full circle when it comes to assessing the value of rest, and I suspect the change has been spurred by the insurance industry, though I have not heard anyone in the medical profession admit it may be so.

I am old enough to actually remember when doctors made house calls.

For youngsters unfamiliar with the term “house call,” it is exactly what it sounds like.  Get past your unbelieving, incredulous thoughts — yes, doctors actually got into their cars, usually black ones for some reason, and drove to patients’ homes to diagnose and to provide treatment.  I did not read this in a book or hear about it from someone else, I had a doctor visit my house several times when I was child and I can remember the doctor’s name.

Regardless what medication was prescribed, be it in the office or in the home, and there were a lot fewer pharmaceuticals available then, REST, or BED REST, was almost always a part of the instruction.  “Rest” was a prescribed partial solution for many ailments.  Giving the body a chance to regenerate, to heal, was a valued process.  REST was recognized as a valuable commodity and was prescribed as often as any medication.

Have you been in a hospital lately?  “Rest” is a dirty word there, the kind that could have gotten your mouth a coating of Ivory soap years ago if you had uttered such a nasty, obscene word within earshot of one’s mother.

What changed?  Does the medical industry now believe we have so many pharmaceutical choices that rest is no longer an effective solution?

Now, I’m not suggesting we have people occupy hospital beds, particularly at their cost, for the sole purpose of resting and therefore recuperating, but when did we throw out the baby with the bath water? 

When did we decide, and by “we” I sure as hell don’t mean I had anything to do with it – we patients get far too small a voice in medical decision making, but when did rest become not only not a healing tool, but in fact an unwelcome part of therapy and healing?   

When was it decided that the patient would not only not be prescribed rest, but also actively prevented its use?

After my four surgeries of late I have to wonder how many patients are using their Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) button to self-administer pain medication because of actual pain, versus the number who have discovered that though at some point there may be little actual pain, that button is the only way to achieve a restful state, even if chemically induced.

“Hello!!!” as the room ceiling light comes on.  It is 10 minutes to midnight and the evening’s gauntlet of vital signs checks has begun, not so long after those accomplished when I thought I might, just might, drop off to sleep.  It has been a tiring experience, hard on the body and the mind, and I couldn’t be more tired if I had just completed a marathon.

“I’m here to take your vital signs!”

OK, but do you really have to turn on that damned ceiling light?  There are four options for lighting in this room and the fact that the switch for the overhead ballroom lighting is near the door doesn’t make it necessarily the best choice.  Oh, and I notice you have a penlight in your pocket right next to your three ballpoint pens.  I suppose we’re saving that penlight for when power goes out and the emergency generator fails.

Now, when you were in here a few hours ago and I’d been eating ice chips, you were content to use armpit temperature.  In fact, we’ve run that scenario several times now because ice chips are my bread, butter, steak, eggs, beer, wine, cookies, and ice cream, so the odds of getting my temperature by mouth are very slim.  Armpit temp has become the de facto norm.

So, in the interests of patient comfort and consistency, why the hell do you have to awaken me with the ballroom lighting and shove a temperature probe under my tongue?

“Now I need your blood pressure.”

No shit.  And rather than allow me, at this hour, in the condition I’m in and REALLY wanting to get some rest, I must take an active role in the process of your getting a blood pressure reading?  I suppose with the temp probe under my tongue, and my having to take an active role in that because the cord is constantly trying to pull it out of my mouth, I may as well be active in blood pressure determination, too.

I do have a question, however.

If it is so damned necessary that I play such an active role in this process, how in the world do we get blood pressure readings from trauma victims or from those for various reasons are unable to actively participate?

Excuse, me, but the logic here seems to add up that the hospital patient who is physically and mentally able to be aroused from a restful state WILL be, simply because it is possible.

And the corker of it all, when asked if rest wasn’t a part of the healing process, is the doctor’s response, and I do quote here, “You are not here to rest, you are here to heal.”

Dumbfounded.  Speechless.  Utterly without response.