Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California • Page 8

ivim A-8-Santa Cruz Sentinel Tuesday, April 16, 1985 Think for yourself in the doctor's office A shaken Miss Petri, in tiny voice, 1 Ai I will pinpoint the problem and what treatment will be required if the test is abnormal. Besides putting his tips for consumers in book form with Nelson, an author and editor with special interest in family life and health education, Keet's also taking them to live audiences. Thursday, with a back-up of professional actors known as the Twelfth Night Repertory Co. of Mill Valley, Keet will present key points from his book to employees at Plantronics. The presentation is financed by a federal grant.

Monday night, Keet, aided by Ellen Wagman of Keneko Communications, and the acting troupe had a dress re- care and when deciding whether to have hospitalization, surgery, medical testing or surgery. The book includes consumer checklists for dealing with various medical situations and tips on how to save money, especially when purchasing medications. One helpful chart lists some common medications by their brand names and generic names and how much one can save by purchasing the generic. "It impresses me what a tremendous difference it makes when a patient takes an active part in his medical care," said Keet. When a patient doesn't take responsibility for making medical decisions, it's thrown in the doctor's lap.

ipliisiiilliil liiiiiiiiii If' Pi Consumer watch answers, "I have this tiny tickle in my throat." The booming voice replies, "You have the great and unmitigated gall to come with such petty symptoms." "It is an easy role to fall into as a physician, a parental role," admitted Keet, but it is the patient who hands all decisions over to the doctor that puts him into this role. Rule number one, said Keet, is to use a physician as a teacher, not as a parent. "What holds me up is even if I ask the questions, I may not understand the answers," Wagman said. "I spent the last 15 years learning a different language," Keet stated, holding up a medical dictionary with 60,000 words. While he knows most of the words, Keet said the average consumer understands few, if any.

Rule number two, according to Keet, is to keep asking questions until you understand excactly what the physician is saying. Rule number three, said Keet, is give your physician permission to suggest all possibilities, including doing nothing. "I love it when a patient says to me, 'If I don't need treatment and will get better on my own, just tell said Keet. The fourth rule, according to Keet, is take the ultimate responsbility for your own health care. For more information on "The Medical Marketplace A Handbook for the Medical Consumer," call 429-9823.

By DENISE FRANKLIN Sentinel Staff Writer EVER FIND yourself leaving your doctor's office more confused and apprehensive than when you came in? The doctor has diagnosed what he believes may be wrong with you and has ordered a barrage of tests. Trouble is, you didn't understand what he was talking about and you're wondering if all those laboratory tests are really needed. How accurate are they? What are the chances that you really have what the doctor suspects? You would have liked to ask the doctor questions that are running through your head, but he seemed so busy. And, after all, he a doctor and knows a lot more about these things than you do, you think to yourself. Maybe it's time for you to become an active participant in your health care.

Perhaps you should become an aggressive, questioning customer in the doctor's office, not a zombie who accepts everything the doctor tells you. Most doctors would appreciate patients taking more of a role in their health care decisions, says Dr. Robert Keet of Aptos, who has written a book with Mary Nelson "The Medical Marketplace A Handbook for the Medical Consumer." The easy-to-read paperback is filled with helpful tips on how to play a greater role when visiting your physician, choosing medication, dealing with intensive i 1 ft 1 hearsal at the Dominican Hospital Education Center. Wagman took on the role of concerned consumer. "What do you think it is, Ellen, that keeps consumers from getting more Keet asked.

"It's the feeling that the doctor has a lot more power, is more educated, busier than I am. I feel pretty presumptuous asking too many questions. I feel like I'm taking too much of his time." To dramatize this consumer dilemma, the actors went to work. "Miss Petri" enters the doctor's office and a booming voice comes over the loudspeaker. "I am the great and powerful doctor.

You have IS seconds to state your problems." Holding all the responsibility, the doctor then may order every screening test in the book, fearing if he doesn't and misses something, he'll be hit with a malpractice suit, Keet said. The trouble with ordering a lot of medical tests, stated Keet, is that many tests are unreliable. "Today, it is not unusual for a physical exam to include 20 or more tests. But screening tests can give misleading results. Because of laboratory variation and error, those 20 tests will show abnormal results in a normal person 72 percent of the time," according to his book.

The aggressive consumer should ask what the screening is for, how likely it if At; i 7 -VJK Pete AmosSentinel Ken Newman, Gino Scandur and Jenny Sternling Currents Teens craved advice on sex Ann Landers DEAR ANN LANDERS: You often print letters from people who speak on behalf of certain groups such as "the other woman." I feel it is time someone spoke on behalf of teenagers. There are some things that need to be said BY a member of my generation ABOUT my generation. I'm not a teenager going nowhere. I am a 16-year-old high school junior. I'm not a tramp, but I'm not a virgin either.

My boyfriend and I have been going together for a year and a half and sleeping together for four months. We are careful and use birth control. My parents found out we were into sex and prohibited us from seeing each other. That was not a smart move. No way can they keep us apart.

They should have talked to me about sex at an early age instead of acting like it was an embarrassing subject. My advice to all parents is to be open with their children about everything from the minute the kids learn to talk. Sooner or later, most kids are going to be tempted to experiment with drugs and sex. Parents should be aware of it. Talking about these subjects is not giving them permission.

Kids need all the information they can get. They should be told what the risks are. If they get straight talk without screaming and yelling they will be in a position to make better decisions. I hope the next generation is better informed than we were. I can't believe how dumb I was and lucky, too.

Thank heavens I sent for your booklet "Sex and the Teenager." It kept me out of the maternity ward. Grateful In Miami Dear Teen: Here's your letter. Thanks for having written it. For those who want the booklet, please send $2 and a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope (39 cents postage) to Ann Landers, Box 11995, Chicago, 111. 60611.

Dear Ann Landers: That was a lovely letter you printed in praise of the commercial pilots who bring millions of passengers safely to their destinations. They couldn't do it alone. Please print this verse in praise of another group: Pilots are highly trained people. Their wings are not easily won. But without the work of the maintenance man Our pilots would be on the run.

So when you see mighty jet aircraft As they make their way through the air. The grease-stained man with the wrench in his hand Is the person who put him there. A Fan In Eagle River, Alaska Dear Eagle: Well said. Some readers will surely complain that the verse is sexist. I know that women work on maintenance crews, along with men, so save your stamps, folks.

Chinese tunnel workers were killed in explosion of this Santa Cruz mountain project around 1 885. Cabrillo College and author, will give a slide presentation and talk on the Chinese, bringing the subject to modern times by taking about the role of George Ow Sr. in development of the Scotts Valley area. Newj America Syndicate Society's spring seminar will be from 10 a.m. to noon and Thursday at Branciforte Library.

Liz Monroz and Dorothy Clark will instruct, the topic being "Census 1790-1910." The society has scheduled a bus trip to the Sutro Genealogy Library in San Francisco April 25. Details are available at the library. Chinese as labor A program on the role of Chinese in logging and agriculture in the Santa Cruz mountains will be given for Scotts Valley Historical Society following 6 p.m. social hour and dinner Saturday at Pasatiempo Inn. Sandy Lydon, history instructor at PROM '85 The public is welcome.

For dinner reservations, call 438-1352. Exploring religions Six discussions entitled "Exploring Religious Perspectives and Faith Communities in Santa Cruz County" begin at 7:30 tonight at Cabrillo College's Sesnon House, Soquel Drive, Aptos, with a talk on the Baptists by the Rev. Roger Moore of Twin Lakes Baptist Church. The talks, sponsored by Cabrillo College and the Dirks Lay Academy for Tehological and Biblical Studies, will continue for the next five Tuesdays with talks on the Methodist, Greek Orthodox, Unitarian-Universalist, Roman Catholic and Jewish faiths. There will be no attempts to convert or preach, only to inform.

Cost for the series is $30 and for individual lectures, $5 on a space-available basis. For more information, call 4254331 or 688-6466. Volunteers needed The Parental Stress Hotline of Santa Cruz is seeking volunteer telephone counselors for the coming year. Training classes will begin in May and will cover listening and communication skills, family dynamics and family related problems. No prior counseling experience is necessary.

To apply, call 426-7322. Son Lorenzo reunion The San Lorenzo Valley High School Class of 1965 will have its 20-year reunion on July 27. Help in locating some members of the class is requested. For more information, call 335-3534. Rosie Riveter, et al "The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter," a history of young women who worked in World War II defense plants in the U.S., will be shown at the Santa Cruz Public Library Thursday film program at 2 p.m.

Thursday at the upstairs meeting room of the library, 224 Church St. The film, done a generation later, includes interviews with former "Rosies." Drop of a ve7 Marianne Alrieza, who is, as far as she knows, the first Christian woman to live in a Saudi Arab harem, will speak to the American Association of University Women of Watsonville at noon Saturday at the Elks Club, 121 Martinelli Watsonville. Alrieza is author of "At the Drop of a Veil." She met and married Ali Alireza while they were students at UC-Berkeley and lived in his country. Now she gives talks about her experiences in Saudi Arabia and about changes taking place with the women there. Lunch will precede the talk.

Cost is $9. For reservations, contact Ellen Mclnnis, 960 Cole Road, Aromas 95004. Co well Park hike John Nesmith will lead a Sierra Club hike in Cowell Park and UCSC campus, covering about seven miles, Saturday. Hikers will meet to form carpools at 10 a.m. at the County Center.

Any interested hikers are invited. For more information, call 438-0602. Events at Montessori Santa Cruz Montessori School will have its fifth annual Track and Field Day Saturday at Cabrillo College track. Children ages 3-12 will take part in events such as the sack race, three-legged race, suitcase relay and tug-o-war. Genealogy seminar The sixth class of the Genealogical IB Secretary's Week Begins April 22.

by Thomas A. Lemmer, D.RM. Your Family Styling Centers SAY. I lHMj(HJ ill I mill AMMO ECONO PERM BABY'S FIRST SHOES Babies ran Icam to walk without shoes. The question is whether or not they can develop stability as rapidly.

Additional lateral stability and shock absorbing qualities are provided by properly constructed and fitted baby shoes. They can be a contributing influence to better balance during Initial gait development As the baby begins to walk, he grips with his toes to help maintain balance. A shoe with a resistive insole will best respond to this natural toe-gripping motion. It is important that the sole be constructed to flex easily yet return to its original shape after flexing. When the little walker begins to move from one surface to another, shoes will help even out the walking surfaces and further aid balance and gait development A baby's shoes should concentrate weight to the outer borders.

This fosters proper arch development THOMAS A. LEMMER, D. P.M. Family oot Specialist $095 Mtf WET A. Secretary Desk Top Planter handsome simulated books with book-ends.

$8.99 B. FTD Desk Top Bud Vase a lovely white bud vase with spring flower accents filled with sweetheart roses and Baby's Breath. $10.00 C. Coffee Mug Arrangement a ceramic coffee mug filled with long lasting carnations, mini's daisies. $15.00 D.

FTD Picture Frame Bouquet a reuseable desk top picture frame filled with spring flowers. l17.50 selected stylists Golden Comb Hair Care Salon 351 Soquel Ave. (a! Ocean Si 423-2300 Doll House Hair Care Salon 1390 Pacific Ave. 2 Ooo'i Dow Ifom Coopt'fiousti 426-4021 PERRl'S FLORAL Tfee Scarlet Fox otAiny and 22 4 "Mew, Gantaa laza Corrective Foot Care 5275 Scotts Valley Drive Deliveries Available 438-2758 EASY CRCOII CARD ORDERING OVER THE PHONE 4767 Soquel Soquel 462-2132.