ALTHOUGH SHE
WAS TALKING
TO ME, HER
SENTENCES WERE
SHORTENED AND
HER BREATHING
WAS LABORED.
was no longer the type of
doctor I wanted to be. If
I was going to maximize
my satisfaction in medi-
cine, it was going to mean
keeping my patients
healthy, and as far away
from the hospital as pos-
sible. When I returned
to Bermuda, I hung my
shingle and started an
PHOTO SUBMITTED
office-based practice for
preventative medicine and chronic disease management. As
a board-certified Pediatrician and Internist I dedicated my
new practice to optimizing the health of all ages from zero
to 99 and beyond. I care not only about the quantity of one’s
life, or how long you live, but more so the quality of how that
life is spent.
This is an excerpt from Dr. Peets Talbot’s soon
to be released book “ Healing Bermuda: The
Real Solution to Your Health Crisis” co-authored
with Dr. Sabrina Famous and Beth Hollis. Visit
www.healingbermudabook.com, today and
learn more.
“
Holistic Pediatrics uses a mind-body spirit approach to
wellness. Band-aids are still great for 'Boo-Boos', but Band-
aid medicine should be left in the past. Healthy Kids are
Happy Kids - I've developed an integrative holistic
approach to help you get them there! I want to share with
“
passed.... 20 minutes of life-
saving interventions.....and
then 30 long minutes with no
success; it seemed like hours.
My heart sunk. It was agoniz-
ing to call the CODE and have
everyone stop the resuscita-
tion. We notified her next of
kin, and soon after, her family
members were at her bedside.
I recall talking to her son, who
looked to be no more than
20 years old. As I explained
his mother’s passing to him, I
remember seeing the devasta-
tion on his face; it pierced my
heart. It took all of my will
power to fight back my own tears. What had just happened?
How could this have happened? We had intubated many
people before and it had saved their lives. Why God; why
couldn’t she be the same; why was she the exception?
My attending encouraged the family to get an autopsy as
it would help us discover the true cause of death. The family
agreed, and within a couple of weeks I was able to review the
autopsy report. It was anticlimactic. The autopsy revealed
that Debra had the Flu and MRSA pneumonia. Mind you,
these two conditions can be life-threatening on their own,
however, I had surmised that perhaps a heart attack or a
collapsed lung was responsible for Debra’s death, but that
wasn’t the case. What I neglected to mention was that Debra
was relatively young, in her early 50’s, slightly overweight,
and diabetic. At the time I started my ICU rotation, there was
a flu epidemic of the H1N1 virus; a serious and potentially
fatal flu strain. That year, many people fell ill with the virus,
and for some, the virus claimed their lives. The people who
were most vulnerable were the very young or old, pregnant
women, and those with an existing chronic disease like
obesity, diabetes, or high blood pressure. Debra’s previous
diagnoses of diabetes and obesity, in addition to asthma,
made her particularly vulnerable to this flu virus.
After Debra, I received five more calls for consults on
patient’s that needed to transfer to the ICU. Of those five
patients, two more passed away that night, totaling three out
of six for the day; I had lost half the patients I was called on.
There was one man that had been struggling with leukemia
and died of septic shock (a serious infection). His death was
followed by the death of a homeless elderly man who had
suffered a massive stroke. I do not remember much about
the rest. It was a hard call night to say the least. After my 24
hour shift, I was exhausted. As the days and weeks passed, I
reflected on my time in the ICU. I remember thinking that
as exciting as hospital-based medicine is; the death rates are
high, particularly in the ICU. I knew that if I was going to
have the impact that I wanted to have in society, I needed
to keep people like Debra out of the hospital. The ‘super-
woman’ doctor that rushes in to save the day at the last hour
you my Top 5 Immune Boosting Tips to support your child's
immune system.
Visit www.orwkids.com TODAY to get your free copy of
my immune boosting tips.
295-5100
oceanrockwellness. com
Dr. Peets Talbot, Holistic
Pediatrician and Internist
mybermudaparent.com
11