Aanchal Bhatia - Your Doctor is not God: How to Be the CEO of your Own Health

YOUR DOCTOR IS NOT GOD

YOUR DOCTOR IS NOT GOD

How to be the CEO of your Health?

Aanchal Bhatia

First published in India 2016

2016 by Aanchal Bhatia

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Dedicated to Nana Ji

Late Shree Raj Narain Kapoor

The Author has pledged her complete proceeds from this book to the charity Breathe Easy India.

Authors Note

Life is simple if we reflect upon nature and learn from it. People will remain healthy if they live in harmony with the healing energies of Mother Nature. The doctor of the future will hopefully be scientifically sound while being intuitively alert to the signals of nature.

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. Modern medical science is marvelous but is limited by its focus on physical means and methods of treatment. Methods imposed from outside whether they are biochemical, mechanical or surgical, they drastically disrupt the bodys self-regulatory functions and make it vulnerable to toxins and debilitations. By focusing on relieving short-term symptoms, one ignores the underlying root of the illness, which is exponentially detrimental to curing oneself of ones illness.

We humans are an integrated product of mind, body, intellect and soul imbued with consciousness and a potential to transcend physical limitations. Modern medicine thus shall have to be reinvented and realigned to this fact of nature.

Late Shree R.N. Kapoor

I remember my Grandfather (Nanaji) making me type this letter, which he was writing to Narendra Modi, who was then the Chief Minister of Gujarat. It was Nanajis dream to set up an integrated centre of excellence based on ancient wisdom and cutting edge medical technology.

Nanaji had a similar vision when he laid the foundation for the University at Chitrakoot. His words still echo in my mind, as fresh and clear as the first morning dew. Those scenes come to me in bits and pieces: the huge room filled with books and sunlight, a large oval teakwood table at the center, memories of the days when the Ayurveda department used to discuss critical cases in a round table format where specialists from all branches of modern and alternative medicine were present. He was not only an educator but also a visionary whose purpose was to bring all those specialists together and integrate them into a harmonious team. For me, this was how things were supposed to be. Life was simple until I grew up and faced the harsh realities of healthcare in India.

Along the way as I dealt with my own illness and that of my family, I realized that the path to quality healthcare in India has become blocked at worst and rocky at best. Doctors are too frequently looking after diseases rather than the patients health. People are confused and hence they keep jumping from one specialist to another with a scattergun approach. My education as a clinical psychologist, experience in the business of healthcare, nativity to the land of Karma and Kamasutra and decision to follow Mahatma Gandhis philosophy became the seeds for the change I want to see in the world.

In establishing Texas Medical Concierge (TMC), I pioneered a new vision of concierge medicine with telemedicine and integrative medicine at the core. I would no longer tolerate what I perceived as corruption in the medical field. Rather, I dedicated myself to following the core values represented by our family business, the Uttam group, a company that was started in 1900. These values are known as the five Cs and include courage, competence, compatibility, communication and commitment. I created a professional medical team whose aim is to keep patients healthy, and when ill, to become their advocates in acquiring the best care, regardless of where in the world this care is required.

Awareness is the first and foremost step. Sadly, sublime surrender seems to be in our collective subconscious. But its time to change and question the meaning of health and the process of recovering from illness. In the words of Dr Gershom Zajicek, whose work deeply inspires me, The proof of the pudding lies in eating. So too does the proof of well-being lies in treating.

Acknowledgements

I thank the Indian healthcare industry which disgusted me and angered me so much that I had to step up and write this book. The first seed of confidence was planted by Adam Kaufman, who expressed his trust in my capability and passion for patient advocacy. Many thanks to him. I express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Mark Tager as a successful author himself, he was my backbone and mentor.

I thank Harsh Agarwal, without whom this book would not have been possible. He structured my vision into concrete thoughts and supported me word by word, and chapter by chapter. I will never forget those sleepless nights and festivals that we sacrificed together to make this book a reality. I also thank Nilofar Currimbhoy who kept guiding me at every step of this journey. My deepest regards to my spiritual Guru Shree Shivendra Nagar and his wife Shree Prem Lata Nagar.

My deep appreciation goes to members of the Texas Medical Concierge team. Dr. Sneha Krishnan, for all her medical expertise and inputs. Dr. Anwar Taqveem, Dr. Himanshu Mahajan, Dr. Naveen Sanghwan for being my medical detectives. Akant Kumar and Karen Duarte for the research. Anupam Kumar and Sunil Rampore for the illustrations and graphics. Dicky M Eric for taking on the entire extra load at work while I was obsessed with this book. Manjeet Kaur and Yogita Gauba for all the administrative support.

I am grateful to Aditi and Niren Choudhary for introducing me to Bloomsbury, a publishing house with a soul. I will never forget the day I met Praveen Tiwari. We both had tears in our eyes in memory of Aisha.