"My family has an interesting dynamic when it comes to medical decisions. While my older sister is a trained doctor in western allopathic medicine, my parents are big believers in traditional remedies. Having grown up in a small town in India, I am accustomed to rituals. My dad had a ritual, too. Every time we visited his home village in southern Tamil Nadu, he'd get a bottle of thick, pungent, herb-infused oil from a vaithiyar, a traditional doctor practising Siddha medicine."
"Dad's tumour showed signs of being malignant, so the hospital doctors and my sister strongly recommended surgery. My parents were against the idea, worried it could affect my dad's speech. This is usually where I come in, as the expert mediator in the family. Like any good millennial, I turned to the internet for help in guiding the decision. After days of thorough research, I (as usual) sided with my sister and pushed for surgery."
Family members faced a tongue tumour diagnosis that required weighing surgery against traditional remedies. An older sister trained in western medicine and hospital doctors recommended surgery, while the parents feared speech loss and preferred Siddha treatments. The son mediated, conducted extensive online research, and supported surgery. The father postponed the operation, secretly used a herb-infused Siddha oil, and the tumour shrank and later disappeared. Initial dismissal of the outcome as luck gave way to questioning the dismissal of traditional knowledge. The experience revealed trust tensions between digital medical authority and longstanding traditional practices amid an AI-driven information landscape.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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