Pet Goats & Pap Smears: 101 Medical Adventures to Open Your Heart & Mind Paperback – September 29, 2012

From Diarrhea Diagrams to Godiva Gallstones, it's all explained within...Dr. Pamela Wible MD is a hero. A real life all-American HERO. I don't use the word "hero" often, and never regarding the author of a book. With the maleficent medical maladies we've endured.. endured? SUFFERED these past years, for me to call a living, breathing, practicing medical professional within the western medical paradigm a HERO, is absolutely stunning. I'm in disbelief.Pamela (not Dr. Wible like Bible, but first names among her patients, please) includes a great many stories of her patients - some with real names and some with made up names, to share stories of her very unique way of practicing in an Ideal Medical Center. KUDOS for living outside the box!In the book  Dead Doctors Don't Lie , Dr. Joel Wallach DVM has previously pointed out that despite living and working in the supposedly greatest medical system anywhere in the world, US Doctors are dying at alarming rates. He points out that top cardiologists are dying at young ages - of heart disease. That top cancer doctors are dying at alarming rates - of cancers. Why are the top doctors of the world dying of the very dreaded dis-eases that they are the world's leading experts? Dr. Wallach elaborates on the pandemic of mineral deficiencies and the lack of understanding of true pillars of health within western medicine (yet very well understood within the veterinary agriculture industry.)What Dr. Wallach fails to address that Dr. Wible brings to the forefront, why are doctors dying at such an alarming rate - of suicide? Pamela cites 400 doctors dieing of suicide per year. Sadly, I suspect the number may truthfully be far higher. Afterall, we all know that most insurance policies are NOT going to pay out for intentional suicides. And doctors are the ones who are controlling those death certificates. It's easy to fathom that their peers would be in disbelief that they could have actually taken their own lives. So that number of 400 ... it's likely far higher. Why are doctors so dissatisfied? I have a good friend who's a middle-aged retired doctor. She left medicine for the very same reasons these other doctors are taking their own lives. Because the current system is frustrating to ALL of us. It's frustrating to us patients. But it's equally frustrating to those doctors who still have empathy.I personally know of someone who's ex-wife was a doctor who committed suicide. I personally know many practicing doctors who are growing increasingly dissatisfied with at least some aspect of their practice. I know a few doctors. I HAVE more than a few doctors. In fact I have quite a list of doctors, because western medicine can only treat small areas of my vast problem, so I am always referred to this doctor or that doctor for whatever latest manifestation develops and there are entire specialties that do NOT yet exist for some areas where I need very experienced care. We've become increasingly TOO specialized. See, I am physically disabled. I was born with a serious congenital situation that remained undiagnosed into my 40s and is so serious that multiple aspects of it's complications I have personally endured for 20+ years is extremely life-threatening. On a moments notice. I was born with May Thurner Syndrome. Iliac Compression Syndrome. I've spent the past 2 decades learning far too much about DVTs, PEs, PTS, Lymphedema, Raynaud's syndrome as a side effect of purple toe syndrome due to the adverse effects of warfarin, ulcerations, phlebitis, cellulitis, and always wondering, will I at some point need to learn more about nutcracker syndrome, pelvic congestion or worse?My last visits to a primary care type doctor? My leg had manifested to an entirely new level. A BURNING pain. A burning, deep INTENSE pain. I am NOT one to be doped up on pain killers. In fact I NEVER accept hard core pain meds and I seldom accept a script for ANY pain meds at all. So when I finally break down and seek out a doctor for INTENSE burning pain in my thigh and yet I still refuse pain meds, I expect more than the primary care doctor to spend the entire patient appointment with me to tell me I need to see my lymphedema doctor (WHAT lymphedema doctor?!) and brush me off, or my next appointment with his cohort 3 months later, STILL in dire intense BURNING pain to be blown off for the appointment while she rants why she's leaving practice (which she eventually does.) So 2 appointments and months later and I'm NO WHERE closer to an answer. Oh, I finally got an answer.. after I sought out a SPORTS MEDICINE doctor (add him to my ever growing list of doctors) who diagnoses 3 things, the most relevant as "femoral stress fractures". Grrreat. NO ONE ever mentioned to me MTS and a couple decades of anti-coagulants may predispose me to something as serious as an entire femur of stress fractures. NO WONDER I've been in so much pain. It seriously took nearly 9 months from onset of new INTENSE symptoms and the first visit to primary care to get that diagnosis. Why should getting a simple diagnosis be so complicated? I won't go into the 2 decades of prior mismanagement of my case.. nor why my husband was sent home with a prognosis of "you don't understand... you're taking [you're husband] home to die... he'll be dead within 2 weeks, probably a few days..." nor why here we are, 7 years later, and he's not only still alive but WE reversed his "end stage severe congestive heart failure" and how WE "cured" his former 18 year battle of Type 2 Diabetes. It didn't take rocket science. It simply took the two of us, non-medical professionals - to read several books available through Amazon and to read a number of the medical article abstracts available through Google's Scholar site.People, it shouldn't be this difficult. It's ONLY this difficult because the system we currently have is EXTREMELY BROKEN. It will take true Medical Professionals such as Dr. Pamela Wible, Dr. Patch Adams, Dr. Stephen Sinatra, Dr. Joel Wallach and Dr. Ma Lan, Dr. Julian Whitaker, Dr. Richard Garber, Dr. Octavio Chirino, Dr. Simon Yu, Dr. Christian Wessling and many others to fully help transform Western Medicine into a viable sustainably resilient medical system.I want to switch my primary care to Dr. Wible, alas, I live outside her service area. Far outside any reasonable service area. and I don't think she's taking new patients. I could be wrong. If I was closer I'd look into it more closely. However what she IS doing is far superior. She's guiding other doctors to this new paradigm. Pamela is creating a growing wave of doctors who are foregoing the current EXPENSIVE medical paradigm that ultimately you and I and our children are paying for, and going back to the way Modern Medicine SHOULD be practiced. With Life, Love, Laughter and above all else, HUMANITY. Pamela has uniquely found a way to restore much needed HUMANITY back to western medicine. As a patient, as a primary caregiver, as a friend, as a reviewer, READ THIS BOOK.  Pet Goats & Pap Smears . It's life-changing!

Pamela Wible is my hero. A family physician in Eugene, Oregon, she had grown despondent about the practice of medicine which dehumanized both her and her patients."After ten years on the treadmill, I was tired of being rude to people and neglecting myself--all in the name of health care. I hated interrupting patients to say, "Sorry, we're out of time," when I wanted to ask, "How can I help you?" So I dropped out of medicine and imagined returning to my college waitressing job just so I could be nice to people again. At least when I was a waitress, people appreciated me. And they left tips.When I gave up doctoring, life seemed meaningless. I fell into a depression and didn't get out of bed for six weeks.Then--in a dream--came an epiphany: patients could create their own clinics! In my dream, I saw grandmothers and grandchildren, teachers and teenagers, farmers and firefighters--entire communities--coming together to build ideal clinics and hospitals.Energized, I jumped out of bed. Feeling invincible, I phoned the newspaper and told the editor that I'd be opening an ideal clinic created entirely by our community. Then I called a series of town hall meetings and invited citizens to design the clinic of their dreams. I collected 100 pages of testimony, adopted ninety percent of the feedback, and opened our clinic one month later! In 2005, the people of Eugene, Oregon, had created the first community-designed ideal clinic in America.Now reporters fly here from all over the country to study our clinic. Hundreds of ideal clinics have opened nationwide. Communities have even used our model to design ideal hospitals. I now know that just by living my dream, I can inspire others to live their dreams too."So Pam Wible found that when she gave love she was loved; in healing she was, herself, healed. Now Pamela is a national leader in the "Ideal Medical Care" movement.Her most recent book "Pet Goats and Pap Smears", a series of brief irreverent, insightful and often humorous vignettes about day to day encounters of a family doc is the product of an open heart and the best thing since Ferrol Sams.Pam isn't new to writing, having co-authored "Goddess Shift: Women Leading For a Change" along with Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Aung San Suu Kyi and many others in 2010. A frequent contributor to NPR and columnist for The Oregonian, Pam has also regularly appears on CNN.As a fellow physician I salute this brilliant and humanizing book!

They say there are 4C's of diamonds--Cut, Color, Clarity, and Carats. Pamela Wibel has 4 more brilliants C's--those of Compassion, Care, Creativity, and Curiosity. It is no accident that none other than Patch Adams has written the foreword for Pet Goats and Pap Smears for they both share the same visions--patients first; care of ourselves (as providers); care for all, LOVE, and FUN. This is the type of book I wanted to stop reading so I wouldn't finish it, but I couldn't stop and read it in one sitting. WOW and boy do I have gratitude for getting this book and reading it and gratitude for the many compassionate people I've gotten to work with, and who have taught me--add Pamela Wibel to that amazing list! I hope we get to meet one day (soon).

Our GP is one in a million, he ,has time, he has empathy, he has compassion. He obviously enjoys his work, but I worry he will burnout if he does not make more time for himself. I do hope he takes some of Pamela's ways into his life.In the UK we don't have to worry about Drs Bills, as we pay into the National Health Service through our Salary.I'm going to buy this book for my Dr I'm sure he will see himself in it and may be able to use some of Pamela's ideas. We live in a village that is growing as is our Surgery numbers, we now have more GP's to cover the number of new people coming to live and work here. I do hope when the Surgery grown that the personal touch is not lost.

Excellent and fun book which captures how health care practitioners have to find different ways of practicing in order to reclaim the reasons why they are in their roles today. Patients and clients will see the real benefit in terms of person centred care and fun, compassionate and enjoyable contacts with knowledgeable people who care. However, all practitioners will benefit too by getting the pleasure back into their work lives. Pamela's work life is joyful and fun and ours could be too. This book contains lots of short chapters on individual approaches to care based on individual initiatives and real people. I loved reading about Pamela's ideal health care approaches and hope that you will too.

A pretty hilarious book, written by an inspiring and special woman...Doctor Pam!It's a collection of real experiences about her work as a Family Doctor at a private surgery, in the States.An easy read (the chapters are quite short), with plenty of good ideas to discuss about with your friends and - why not- your own doctor!Little drawback on the e-book version: it seems like you should have access to online/interactive videos and stuff, basically at the end of every single chapter. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to access any of them, despite my excellent wi-fi connection.

Not for me.