E66: Christian Elliot

If You Give a Woman a Lab Test...

The Quiet Beginning Few People Question

READ THE TRANSCRIPT

Christian Elliot

Hello, everyone. Welcome to episode number 66. I have a shorter show for you today. This one was inspired by one of my recent guests, Dr. Stuart Fischbein. You may remember during the interview, he mentioned that he wrote a book called If You Give a Woman a Pregnancy Test. 

And he wrote it to be a bedtime story format in the vein of if you give a mouse a cookie. And it tells the short but predictable story of the cascade of anxiousness and medical interventions that tend to flow from the moment of a pregnancy test. So it's a fun little read. And you can hear him mention the book and give you more context in episode number 62 if you are interested. 

But his book got me thinking about the parallels to my work and how testing is one of the predictable sources of anxiousness that also tends to let people turn over their power or their agency to the systems. So, in that vein, I wrote my own little bedtime story, I guess you could call it. 

So, truthfully, this may be the worst bedtime story of all time. And this is probably the beginning and end of my career as an author of bedtime stories. So you're forgiven if you don't want to read this to your kids or if you and I don't expect them to clamor for this every night, but in case you do want to read it, I did publish it as a blog post, and I'll have a link for that in the show notes. 

So through the, I guess a non-cynical, just simply through a business lens, medicine is a business after all, you could think of lab tests as the entry point used to justify almost all medical or allopathic interventions. That's where the process starts. And it starts innocently. It's not necessarily an illogical place to start, but there are so many limitations and premises contained in the world of testing that we typically don't think to question. 

And that relatively quiet beginning leads to very predictable outcomes. So I did a deeper dive into this subject of testing in my episode called The Myth of Unbalanced Hormones. That's episode number 59. So I won't repeat all of that here, but if you want some framing questions or concepts to help you examine the premise of testing or the outcomes they lead to, you can check out that episode and it will cover the more logical, ethical, and business realities of the ever-expanding testing world. 

This, uh, I guess you could call bedtime story episode will cover more of the emotional side of what you could reasonably call the testing trap. So we tend to not see testing as a possible emotional trap, but it often ends up being that. And I could write a post like what you are about to hear because I've seen this story so many times. I've lost track of how many times I've helped a person get on the road to better health, only to have lab tests create a swirly amount of anxiousness that pulls him or her back into the fear loop of trusting the so-called experts and consenting to all sorts of pharmaceutical or surgical interventions, they had already vocalized what they don't want. 

So, friends, the system is really good at using stories and emotions as levers of influence. It has had a long time to hone those tools. So this episode isn't meant to scare you out of seeing a doctor or getting a test, but I do hope this short story gives you pause and helps you ask where all of it is going. And for many of you, I imagine this story will sound eerily like your own story or that of someone you know. 

One thing to note, which you can only see in the written form, is that I used bold font for all of the lengthy gaps in a typical story like this. So all the waiting around for appointments, the testing results, and the referrals is often around a two-year process. And what becomes clear as I go along is that it's those two years of root causes not being addressed. So keep that in mind as you listen, and without further ado, here is likely my one and only bedtime story. 

If you give a woman a lab test, her specimen is mailed to a lab run by people she will never meet, analyzing a body they know nothing about. Two weeks later, an email arrives. It's a PDF with charts, numbers, and colored ranges. It looks important, it also makes almost no sense. Her eyes immediately land on the numbers flagged out of range. Her stomach tightens. Is something wrong? She schedules a follow-up, but the next available appointment is two weeks away. So she does what nearly everyone does when uncertainty strikes. 

She searches the internet. Within minutes she is reading worst case scenarios, conflicting advice, and statistics that seem written to frighten rather than clarify. By the time she speaks with her doctor, anxiety has taken root. The recommendation? A medication to bring her numbers back into range. She hesitates, but the doctor describes it as a safe, responsible, preventative measure and a super low dose. So she agrees. Three months later, the original symptom improves, but now there are new symptoms. 

Her doctor suspects that those might be the side effects of the original medication, and she swap it out for a different one. And the doctor adds another prescription for the new side effect, just in case. And without realizing it, she has stepped onto a path millions walk every year. A path that rarely moves backwards, only forward. Phase two. Months pass. She still doesn't feel like herself, so the doctor orders another round of lab tests. These come back inconclusive, which means one thing. A referral to a specialist. After waiting months for the specialist appointment, she undergoes more advanced testing.

The scan reveals a little something, probably nothing, but worth monitoring. The specialist informs her that there is a newly approved medication that shows promise, and so she decides to try it before considering anything more serious. Half a year later, everyday tasks begin feeling harder. Fatigue lingers. Brain fog creeps in. Another test is ordered. This time the language changes. Her chart now includes an area of concern. Soon after, a clinical label appears in her medical record, and something subtle but powerful shifts. 

She is no longer a person with symptoms, she is now a person with a condition. Phase three. The specialist refers her to another specialist. The earliest appointment is months away. To get answers, the new specialist recommends a more invasive screening, which she will have to wait at least two weeks for. While waiting, she researches the procedure, only to discover that the scan itself carries risks and side effects. For the first time she wonders, how did things get so serious? 

A friend suggests a functional doctor, someone who looks deeper. Desperate for clarity, she books a visit. Weeks later, she walks into an office that feels different. This new doctor orders a completely new category of tests. Nutrient levels, food sensitivity, inflammatory markers. The conclusion? Medication side effects may be contributing to her problem. The solution? A more natural prescription medication, a restrictive diet, and a stack of supplements. She leaves carrying a bag full of hope and a protocol that feels like a part-time job. It's overwhelming, but also reassuring. Finally, someone seems thorough. 

Finally, someone is looking deeper. Or so she thinks. Phase four. Two weeks into the diet, she notices small improvements, enough to stay motivated, but the plan is expensive emotionally, socially, and logistically. Meals require strategy. Dining out becomes stressful. Travel feels impossible. Still, she pushes forward. By the end of the first month, strange new symptoms appear. Now she wonders, is it the supplements? The natural medication? The diet? 

Her follow-up appointment with the functional doctor is still two months away. Meanwhile, the invasive test recommended by her second specialist looms in the back of her mind. The challenge is none of her doctors communicate with each other, yet everyone seems confident in their piece of the puzzle. Friends encourage her to rule out anything serious, so she agrees to the invasive screening. This time the scan finds a mass. The specialist, who also happens to be a surgeon who removes masses, recommends trying a new medication combination before considering surgery, but surgery is now officially on the table. As the gravity of a potential surgery sets in, she had the arresting thought. 

Other than the functional doctor suggesting that she was low in magnesium and vitamin D, no one seems to be asking any questions about what might be causing her symptoms. Her small army of doctors has almost exclusively been suggesting testing, more testing, and symptom suppressing treatments. And in one arresting moment a realization cuts through the noise. 

Despite her growing team of experts, no one is actually solving the mystery. A fork in the road. And then she reached a moment that changed everything. Not because her symptoms were suddenly worse, but because a question surfaced that could no longer be ignored. Why is no one looking for the root cause? 

And from that question, two very different paths emerge. Option A continue on the medical merry-go-round. Eager to find the root of the problem, she asks her doctors what might be causing the condition now attached to her name. The answers are familiar genetics, aging, stress. Sometimes the word idiopathic is used, which is doctors speak for we don't know why this is happening. 

Her doctors are not careless, they are not indifferent, but they are working exactly as they were trained, within a system that sees the body as a collection of parts, a system designed to manage risk, respond to symptoms, and intervene. Though it was never built to investigate the unique, interconnected story behind chronic illness. Yet she doesn't know what else to do. 

After a second of her doctors recommends the surgery, she agrees. The mass is removed, pain meds and rehab begin, scar tissue forms, the root causes are not addressed, and life moves forward. Yet months or even years later, new symptoms appear. 

Another specialist is recommended, another test is ordered, another treatment begins, and without ever consciously choosing it, she finds herself inside a cycle that feels strangely familiar. One that starts exactly where the story began. With another lab test. Option B get off the ride altogether. After an honest reflection on two years, she allows herself to step back far enough to see the pattern. 

She pauses, tears up, and feels overwhelmed with the disheartening realization that the system can't help her because it was never designed to. It was designed for endless escalating treatment. This produces a wide range of emotions, from sadness to anger, to fear, to overwhelm, to self-doubt, to feeling inadequate and even defective. She feels like getting well really is up to her, but she doesn't know where to start or who to trust. As the emotions subside, she realizes she has too much to live for, and so she becomes a voracious consumer of everything alternative. 

After a season of cleaning up her diet, reducing her toxic load, and trying a lot of silver bullets, she has learned a lot, made progress, but stalled. Despite her best efforts, her symptoms persist, and those negative emotions start being stirred up again. Addressing her health begins to feel like trying to solve a thousand piece puzzle without the picture of the box. 

But she feels like she has to do something, and for many, doing something eventually leads back to another lab test. Not because it worked the first time, but because they don't see another structured path forward. She almost went that route, but then a friend told her about a conversation that changed everything. Instead of scheduling yet another test, she decided, almost on a whim, to book a complimentary forty-five minute coaching call her friend told her about months ago. 

No grand expectations, just curiosity. Within months, she sensed this conversation was different. Not rushed, not transactional, not checkbox driven. For the first time in years, someone was listening for understanding, not just diagnosis. She was asked questions no one ever asked her before. 

Logical questions, connecting questions, clarifying questions, and as she answered them, something remarkable happened. Dots began connecting. Aspects of her personality, stress response, and life history revealed clues no lab value could capture on its own. Symptoms that once seemed random started forming a pattern, and it made sense why so many past treatments only provided temporary relief. 

For the first time, causes were being investigated, and her health was being viewed as an integrated system, not a collection of isolated problems. Then came the realization she still struggles to put into words. Healing might not be as complicated as she had been led to believe, but it does require the right investigation, the right framework, and healing required the right sequence. She also discovered something unexpectedly comforting. Finding support didn't involve months of waiting or fragmented communication between so-called providers. 

There is a method, a structure, a way forward that actually makes sense. And in that moment, a belief she hadn't noticed she was carrying quietly fell away. That she needed another lab test to figure out how to heal. What she needed was a different lens. Okay, so that is uh my short story of if you give a woman a lab test, and I I guess you could call it a kind of a choose your own adventure ending there, but if parts of that story feel uncomfortably familiar, you're not imagining it, right? 

That progression is extraordinarily common. Like I said, I've been I was able to write that because I have heard it so many times. It is a common story among intelligent, proactive people trying to do the responsible thing for their health. But here is an encouraging truth I'll leave you with. Many of the phases I just described can be shortened or skipped altogether once you understand the treadmill that you're on. 

So knowing where it's all going makes it more compelling to look for other options, which raises a simple but important question. What if the path forward isn't more testing, but better investigation? What if it's not more interventions, but clearer strategy? What if it's not more guessing, but an adaptable sequential method? Friends, that is what I do for people all day. 

So before you schedule another test that you'll probably have to wait at least two weeks for anyway, you can check out my relatively short presentation called How to Reverse Any Chronic Illness in Three Steps. In that short presentation, I cover the simplicity of why we get sick, the three-step framework that helps you identify what other people miss, and how to build health methodically instead of trying to piece together all the shiny objects peddled in today's confusing landscape of health. 

So even if you ultimately choose the path of sticking with the medical path, you will at least walk away from that presentation, seeing your health through a far more informed lens. And once you see it, it becomes very difficult to unsee it. So I'll leave you with this thought. The most life-changing health decisions are rarely the dramatic ones. They are informed ones. There is a calm that comes over you when you feel like you're understanding what's going on in your body. 

So before you consent to another procedure, before you start another medication, before you accept that this is simply how it is now, give yourself the calm that only clarity can provide. So check out that presentation. I'll have a link for it in the show notes. And if this way of thinking about your health makes sense and you want to talk about your scenario, 

I'll give you a link to book that free 45-minute coaching call. So try getting 45 minutes with any medical doctor. Good luck. Uh the call you don't book can't help you. The call you do book might change your life, and your future self will be grateful you did. Okay, I will sign off for now. If you thought of someone while listening to this, send it to them.

The right insight at the right time can change the trajectory of a life, and you could be the one who made it happen. So be bold and share the show. Go make it a great day, and I will catch you in the next episode.