BOOKS FOR THE PUBLIC

More Than 500 Questions You’ve Always

Been Afraid to Ask Your Doctor

Some patients just can’t bring themselves to ask their doctor certain confidential, embarrassing, confusing or emotional questions.

This book covers the REAL questions that REAL people REALLY want to ask their doctor, but are afraid to.

The questions are taken from Dr. Carter’s experiences as both an anonymous radio talk-back doctor (Dr. Wickham on 4QR Brisbane and 2CN Canberra) and from writing medical question and answer columns for fifteen different newspapers around Australia.

The newspaper columns have been written under a number of pseudonyms (Dr. Wickham, Dr. George, Dr. Mac, Dr. John, Dr. Collins) and in newspapers from the Cairns Post to the Hobart Mercury, and the Perth Sunday Times to the Sydney Sunday Telegraph.

The calls and letters received are at times truly incredible. Amazingly, people will confide their innermost secrets to an anonymous doctor, while tens of thousands of other voyeurs listen in to the details, glued to their radio sets to hear the misfortunes and problems of others; or pour over the details of another’s disease outlined in their morning paper, as they pour their milk onto their cornflakes.

Radio talk-back and newspaper doctors receive the respect and confidence that patients would give to their own general practitioner, but because both patient and doctor are anonymous, the patient will ask questions that s/he would be embarrassed or ashamed to ask someone that they may see at a later consultation, or in the local shopping centre.

While on air, Dr. Carter scribbled quick notes on the questions he was asked, and these notes have now been combined with a selection of the newspaper columns and organised into a book that everyone will find useful, amusing, informative and sometimes sad.

None of the questions are invented, all are genuine. In fact, no doctor could really imagine some of the improbable questions that have been asked.

The questions are organised under logical headings, and the topics are indexed at the back of the book, so that it may be used for reference purposes.

The book has been translated into Bahasa Indonesie and published in Indonesia.

The data this book contains is available to be used in print or electronically.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q.     My little boy is nearly 3 and is a real "boy" in that he likes to play with his toy cars and with his dad's tools. He is also very loving and affectionate, and climbs onto my lap for a kiss and cuddle. His father does not approve of this, and says he hates to see this trait in a boy, and I am turning him into a sissy. I would appreciate your opinion on the matter.

A.     All humans, male and female, young and old, require affection and love, and if this is denied, particularly in their early life, it can adversely affect their adult attitudes.

    Showing normal motherly affection and love is in no way going to turn your son into a "sissy", in fact it will probably make him a more stable and caring person, who will be able to relate well to both sexes in his adult years.

    Many studies have been undertaken by psychologists and psychiatrists into abnormal behaviour, and many of these have found that an unstable family environment, or an emotionally deprived childhood are common in these people.

    Conversely, no evidence has been found, even in extreme cases where a child has been raised as though they are the opposite sex for some years, that affection has any adverse effect on the adult. Over protection of a child from the normal consequences of life may cause later problems.

    Don't use this article as a cause for confrontation with your husband, but demonstrate how other mothers treat their sons, urge him to also show some affection for your son, and gently explain that you are acting in his long term best interests.

Q.     I am a 47 year old man who has never married. I am starting to see my life slip by now, and feel as though I would like to settle down with a younger woman and have a child. I have not had success in meeting the ideal partner as yet. Do you think I have left my run too late in life to settle down and have a child?

A.     At 47 years of age you are still capable of fathering a child - men into their early seventies have achieved this - and from this biological point of view, you have not left your run too late.

    When it comes to finding and choosing a mate for life, I am in no position to offer any constructive comment, as this is a matter of individual chemistry.

    You will probably need to find a woman considerably younger than yourself. Women are incapable of child bearing after the menopause (the change of life), and this occurs between the mid-forties and early fifties, but the risks of child bearing increase steadily with each year over forty. I have abbreviated your letter here, but the full version gives me the feeling that you are a sincere and sensitive person, and I wish you luck in your endeavour.