Thursday, May 6, 2010

My daughter spent much of the week suffering from an E. Coli intestinal infection. Two phone calls with the doctor's office, three visits to the doctor and one emergency room visit later, I was amazed by how much conflicting information we received. The advice of each healthcare provider was invariably contradicted by the advice of the next healthcare provider. I was able to filter the advice and make sense of it but it was truly amazing to see the extent of the variation on something as simple as dietary treatment for diarrhea.

My daughter survived the chaos just fine but it left an impression on me. There is a quote over my desk that states "People don't want more information. They are up to their eyeballs in information. They want faith - faith in you, your goals, your success, in the story you tell"*. That quote came to mind when I realized that where I thought I was filtering the advice based on my nutrition expertise, I was really having a gut reaction of "do I trust this person?" "Do I have faith in them?" I was probably listening for an indication that they understood my daughter's situation and that my description of symptoms had truly been heard. If I didn't think that the provider had listened then it was easy to decide not to hold on to their advice.

Just something I figured I should pay attention to as I work my weight-management clients. Although I have a lot of information at my finger tips, it is humbling to acknowledge I can blow it all if I don't really listen and understand first.

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