I visited my Chinese herbalist today. He created a formula for me, specifically for me, with 27 different herbs. To meet my needs, today.
Yesterday, my acupuncturist gave me a custom treatment. Every treatment meets the needs of the day in precisely the way that day's needs require treatment.
One of my former students, a few months ago, suffered a heart attack, and the lack of oxygen to his brain caused a rather serious brain injury. He is currently in a superb care facility, where he is getting customized care, precisely tailored to what he needs. His caregivers meet him precisely at his point of need.
My caregivers meet me precisely at my point of need. At whatever point, and whatever need, is presented on the day that I present myself for treatment.
How different would the MS world be, if there were no "disease-modifying drugs" that may, or may not, modify the disease (but 100% of the time come with wracking side effects), whose effectiveness has only been judged in the aggregate but is completely undeterminable at the individual level; and instead, each patient received completely customized treatment, designed to best address their individual challenges, as they were presented on the day of treatment?
How different would the entire world be, if we met each person who needed assistance precisely at their point of need? Yes, our experience with the aggregate suggests where and how we might begin to render aid, but by observing carefully, we could adjust what we offer to accommodate precisely the needs of the moment?
Efficient? Well, probably not... but if you're "efficiently" rendering inappropriate care, what good is efficiency? You're "efficiently" not helping people properly. Great. That's a great use of everyone's time. "Well, I didn't give him what he really needed, but at least it didn't take very long or cost very much."
If there's any single sentence I wouldn't want on my gravestone, it would be that one.
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