A bit more than two weeks ago, the Maxwells posted a weirdly cryptic blog post about a medical condition that Steven Maxwell had and that he'd discussed in his email newsletter "Seriously Dad". The Maxwells are serious about keeping gender roles separate and protecting their unmarried daughters from male attention so I assumed that Steven Maxwell must have had something happen that involved his urogenital system that was important for men to know about but of less importance to women.
I don't have any of the Maxwells' taboos around gender roles so I clicked on Steven's email.
Steven Maxwell had two blocked coronary arteries. He has been showing exercise intolerance off-and-on for over a year. He's had two stents placed successfully. Most frighteningly for me, he was unaware that 1) family history of cardiac disease is a MAJOR risk factor, 2) cholesterol levels need to be checked regularly in all adults - but especially so in people with a history of heart disease and 3) exercise can't undo the risk posed by the first two facts.
Unlike prostate cancer or ovarian torsion, cardiac disease affects both men AND women. In fact, the American Heart Association has been working at raising women's awareness of the symptoms of heart attacks for over ten years. This awareness campaign has been aimed at both letting women know about the differences in symptoms like the fact that women are more likely to have fatigue and nausea as symptoms of a heart attack than men - and getting medical professionals to think of cardiac problems in women since women are much more likely to have heart problems misdiagnosed. This lowered level of suspicion in medical professionals has dire consequences since a delay in diagnosis leads to more heart damage in women.
Good news: at least some readers of the Maxwells' blog know that women are at risk and gently childe the Maxwells. The Maxwells' responses are illuminating.
My first thought when I read Sarah's response was "Yes, the email was for the 'guys' but cut-and-paste would have made the same information available to the mainly female readers of the blog".
My second observation is that Ms. Maxwell doesn't seem to have any sense of obligation to her blog readers. Sarah mentions that her mom is all set - but the original poster started her response by pointing out that ALL women should be aware of cardiac issues. The Maxwells change blog posts fairly frequently. They removed all traces of Joseph Maxwell's first engagement from their blog. Sarah Maxwell rewrote the catty and ungracious post penned by a disgruntled Steven Maxwell that his now-daughter-in-law Chelsy's family had announced her engagement with John Maxwell publically prior to the wedding. (I wish I had taken a screenshot of the first post; it was gloriously petty!) Since the Maxwells have rewritten posts in the past, I assume that their failure to do so on this post means that they don't feel that the Maxwells have any responsibility to inform their readers on women's risk of cardiac problems.
Sarah's non-response triggers a second concerned reader to chime in:
Yup, in response to a direct request to write a post about cardiac issues for all readers, Teri Maxwell doubles down on the family response of "Nah. The readers will be fine."
Hint: Not everyone reads the blog comments. I rarely do - and only when the Maxwells are being especially wacky....like this post.
Equally oddly, I have no idea why Steven's experience of cardiac problems would automatically be filed under "share with male readers only". Lots of CP/QF bloggers tag, flag or separate items that involve reproduction in areas that are primarily read by female readers - but I've never seen them flag health issues that involved other bodily systems by gender.
There are a wide range of ways that doctors can test the cardiac function of their patients - and each test has certain benefits and drawbacks. Teri Maxwell hopefully had discussed with her doctor her personal risk factors for cardiac disease before her first coronary artery scan 8 years ago. I also hope she called her doctor and had an appointment to discuss if her risk factors had changed enough to make a second scan worthwhile now. "The test only cost $40" is a very poor reason to get it again - and a waste of money if her risks of cardiac disease are low to start with.
I feel like some of the blame for this needs to be placed on the cost-sharing ministry used by the Maxwells and other CP/QF Christians to avoid using medical insurance. There are a lot of issues with cost-sharing plans, but the most obvious issue is that the plans do nothing to cover the costs of preventative medicine. I hope the Maxwells are getting yearly physicals - but I cannot imagine my doctor letting me get away with not having a cholesterol test done! I'm 37 with no history of family cardiac disease prior to age 75, but I am obese. Steven Maxwell is a few decades older than me and has a family history so my doctor would be all over him to have a cholesterol test and additional screenings done.
These folks scare me sometimes....
On a personal note, thank you for all the good thoughts, prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery! Laparoscopic surgery is amazing. Four of my five small incisions are firmly healed. The fifth is making excellent progress but will take slightly longer because the resident decided to leave the incision where the drain was placed open without a stitch. The attending surgeon was not happy with that when found that out at my follow-up appointment, but it's healed enough that I can go swimming again. At 16 days out, I can carry my at-least-26-pound son without pain and do all of my daily activities. I tire out much more quickly than I did before the surgery and my exercise endurance is shot to hell - but I walked at least 2 miles at the mall with my son today and that took me 6 weeks to do after my son was born so I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll be back to my 6-7 miles of walking or 90-120 minutes of vigorous water exercise within a month or two.
So glad you're doing well! You've been through the ringer.
ReplyDeleteThe Maxwells have a strange plethora of issues they're blind in and the same resistance to learning or being instructed in each one. Hoping the kids turn out better with at least a dilution in illogical weirdness. How strong are genetic factors in that, I wonder.
Thank you! I wonder if many of their blind-spots are self-protective. I mean, Steven Maxwell has to be at least a bit worried about the fact he has four adults who are currently dependent on his income/pension/business. Unless he's been doing hard-core financial planning, his wife and daughters are facing financial hardship when he died.
DeletePlus, half of my blog is about Steven Maxwell's control issues. Major illness and death are the ultimate loss of control - so why tempt fate by thinking about your personal risk factors?
I sort of wonder if Steven feels like the only people he can show his mortality to is other men. Since heart trouble isn't a typically embarrassing ailment, and he did post it on the internet... that's all I can figure. Especially when the women double down about not sharing it with everyone.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of sort of like that Promisekeepers or some kind of "men need accountability, and only other men are appropriate for that" type of thing.
All it says to me is "i'm too insecure to admit to women that I consider them equals."
I had not thought of that angle, Shelflife. That's intriguing.
DeleteMy assumption was that everyone was working on status quo. Steven wrote his email and posted it. Sarah linked it to drive more traffic to interested males. When questioned by outsiders, the Maxwells double down. It's kind of how they work...albeit sadly.