Doctors Willing to Listen

I am an unusually driven and stubborn man. It’s not easy to be around me. I get that. I know what I want and I go after it. My wife is an angel, trust me! Outside of my work, I compete in one of the most competitive classes in all of SCCA club racing, Spec Miata. This class is comprised mainly of young teenagers, some as young as 14, all seeking to make a name for themselves and hopefully eventually get a major sponsor and become a professional racing driver. This class has been the springboard for many sports car racers' professional career. But what makes my situation so special, is that I am no teenager myself, those days are long gone, and I am in fact 65 years old, and despite my age, I regularly race at the front of our young class, and I do not want to give that top step away to anyone. But at 65, I am definitely aging. And I do a staggering amount of international travel that complicates things. Some parts of me do not work the way they are supposed to, and I need understanding medical help. Over the past few years, I have been on, at times, a very frustrating journey to find a doctor willing to listen to me, to understand my particular situation, and be prepared to justify and discuss their treatment choices. I am definitely not the type of person to just take a pill. My preference is to always seek the remedy through nutrition and exercise first, but I do know there are some ailments that will require medication. So, when my doctor prescribes something, I need the full rundown: what the active ingredients are, what the mechanism of action is, the half-life of the ingredient in my body, the potential side-effects and most importantly how it will affect my long-term ability to perform at my best, both on and off the track. And not every doctor likes to be questioned, trust me on this! So, to find a gem of a person like Dr Scarlett Benson at MDVIP in Fort Lauderdale has been a total game changer for me. Scarlett has always been there for me, and most importantly always keen to discuss her choices, and to hear my ideas and concerns. And this past year was my most successful year in racing. I clinched two National Championships and two Regional Championships all in the same year competing with kids less than a third of my age, and I attribute much of my success to having an understanding medical professional at my side. Thank you, Scarlett!