Dr. Danny Lee’s Blog

Flu season is going to be here in no time. The flu season is generally from late Dec through Early March. I encourage both young and old to get the flu shot. Its availability is widespread. You can even get one while shopping for groceries. One myth I’d like to dispell is that you cannot get the flu from getting the flu shot. The vaccine contains several dead strains of the flu and is helpful in preventing getting the flu. Some people will feel tired and achy after recieving the vaccination. That is due to our body immune response to the vaccine and building an immune defense to the flu. Taking ibuprofen or Tylenol for the symptoms and usually passes in a day.

Not everyone is eligible to get the flu shot but that is a very small percentage of people. The main contradiction are those individuals who have allergies to eggs. That because some manufacturers still use an old method manufacturing the vaccine that utilizes chicken eggs.

Getting the flu shot is easy and relatively painless. Getting the flu is 1-2 weeks of pain and suffering. The decision is easy. Get the flu shot.

This is a short synopsis of a topic I covered in and interview for the Jumping Monkeys podcast ep. 65.

1. Diets alone never work. I am often amazed at how people will readily fall into the trap of the newest fad diet. Sure they lose weight but it almost always comes back and you put a few more pounds than when you started. So instead of dieting try EXERCISING first. Incorporating even moderate exercise to your daily routine will do more take away the pounds permanently.

2. Don’t weigh yourself. Instead get out a tape measure and measure your shoulders, arms circumference, waist, hips and thighs. When you are trying to lose the pounds it can be frustrating to see your scale show the same number even though your are losing fat. However if you are exercising you will be converting those fat cells into muscles cells and that will be reflected in a tape measure. Remember you are trying to lose FAT not pounds.

3. Keep a calorie count. Weight loss is simple. Calories going out has to be greater than calories going in. Recording what you eat and how many calories can be very illuminiating. Finding out where your short comings can help you stay on track. It will force you to learn to read labels and avoid those foods that are high in calories (and not necessarily filling). Own up to what you are eating. If you cheat on the diary then the only person you are cheating is yourself. This is not a test you will be handing in to your doctor. Be honest.

4. Find a friend. Medical reseach has found that people who start a weight loss program with a friend (or friends) are 3-5 times more likely to achieve significant weight loss. Misery loves company so why not find a companion.

5. Be patient. You did not put all your extra weight overnight so don’t expect to lose overnight either. Weight loss is a long term program. Even when you reach your goals that does NOT mean you go back to your old ways (lest your suffer the curse of the yo-yo). Find exercises you like doing. Find a diet plan containing a well rounded meal plan. This will help aid long term sucess.

Good Luck.

I just completed an interiew to be aired on the Jumping Monkeys Podcast on the TWiT network. The podcast is available on iTunes and at twit.tv. The topic of discussion was adolescent obesity. I think the episode number will be #65. I was pretty nervous and hope it comes off OK.

Summer vacations are running rampant in the office so we are short staffed most of the time. My schedule has been blocked to accomodate same day appointments. So if you are having a tough time getting an appointment, try calling in the morning at 8 AM and they should be able to put you into the schedule. Sorry no physicals/check ups will be done for the next week until we are staffed a bit better.

One of the differences from my old office is the presence of a nurse triage fro phone calls. I know many of you following me from the old practice are used to dealing only my receptionist, a medical assitant, and the doctor. Well this is fundamentally the except for the fact the nurse at my new office is actual RN and in many cases is able to answer questions before it reaches me. This is a great help to me and helps to diffuse my work load.  I still have to review the recommendations of every call pertaining to my patients and I have to sign off on their recommendations. I am fully aware of any issues that come up. What has become surprising me is that there has been some rather belligerant behavior by some of my patients. The phone triage is designed to give patients a faster answers to their questions and to facilitate health care delivery. This is a better solution that having to wait until the end of my day waiting for me to call everyone back.

This was my old system because I was so busy in the office I simply could not return call (except for emergencies) until I had completed all of my office visits. I know there are some of you who feel the phone triage system creates a barrier between you and your doctor. Your messages can still be passed onto me if you are not happy with the answers you recieve from the triage nurse. Some of you have found email a more direct way of communicating and I will answer all of those questions myself. I may not get answer all of my email right away, but I will definitely answer them by the end of the working day.

The rising cost of gas prices is affecting us all.  Many of our staff are feeling the pinch at the pump and Hopkins is sensitive to this issue. Therefore, there is an idea floating around the office to change each healthcare providers’ hours to 10 hours per day for 4 days. Instead of working 9 hours per day for 4.5 days per week. This would give our employees one fewer day they have to commute into the office and hopefully help them save fuel costs. This is just an idea/optional but one I am seriously considering for myself. If you any of you have any serious concerns or reservations of having me not available one less day per week, please e-mail me and let me know.

I am sorry if some of you having trouble getting in to see me. There are a bunch of doctors out of the office on vacation so I have been fairly busy. On an informal head count I think a third of the doctors are out on summer vacation and more will be away next week. The staff is delaying routine visits until after the July 4th holiday if possible and more acute visits are being placed in earlier. So appointment can be had but you must insist that you have to be seen. 

One question I get asked at least once a day [by my staff] is: “Mr./ Ms. [blank] is here and >30 min late for his/her appointment. Can you still see him/her?” This, more than anything else I face all day, really puts a monkey wrench into my day. My schedule is usually booked pretty solid everyday, so seeing a late arriving patient is no different than seeing a ‘fit in’ (AKA the walk in) patient. Before I answer, I try to look to see where I am in my day and who is going to impacted. A late show means someone else has to spend more time in the waiting room waiting for their turn to come back. I do try to accomodate everyone but I do try to draw a line somewhere. It also depends on the day of the week. Mondays and Fridays are by far my busiest days and I will not have wiggle room in my day to accomodate late arrivers. Most other times I do make every effort to get everyone seen. If I am running late, it’s most often due to trying to accomodate a person who has arrived late. So please, for my sanity and to be considerate of my other patients’ time, please arrive on time. Facing a sequential row of unhappy patients due long waits is not how I want to face my day.

As many of you know for the past several years, I have been a clinical instructor for the University of Maryland School of Nursing. You may have even had the pleasure of meeting my students in the office on one of your visits. I enjoy teaching and even though it is extra work for me I enjoy the intellectual challenge of teaching and sharing my knowledge with my students. Now that I have joined Johns Hopkins, I will teaching for both the school of medicine and the school of nursing. This summer, I will have a nurse practioner student working with me every Tuesday and Wednesday. So I will be seeing fewer patients (although not by much) on those days so I can have some time for instruction. You may even be asked if it would be alright if my student can start the visit and have me join in later on.  I will closely supervise everything my student does and nothing will be prescribed or ordered without my approval. I will, of course still see every patient that has an encounter with my student.

So if you need to come in please plan ahead and call for an appointment at least a week in advance.