Turbulent Tales, Dads On The Air, 9 June, 2009.

Jun 09, 2009

TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2009 AT 10:30AM

With Special Guests:

Ben Peacock and
Dr Ray Seidler.

Being International Men’s Health Week, we’ve decided to talk to two of Australia’s most entertaining characters: author of the new book Lessons From My Left Testicle: A Turbulent Tale to Put Life Into Perspective, survivor of testicular cancer Ben Peacock and the so-called Kings Cross Doctor, a leading expert on men’s health and addiction, Dr Raymond Seidler.

First up Ben Peacock, author of the new book Lessons from My Left Testicle: A Turbulent Tale to Put Life Into Perspective.

Ben describes himself as an ordinary bloke who was out on a buck’s night when at 3am in the morning he decided to check what on earth had been causing him so much pain all day. He found a lump. The rest - well most men simply don’t want to know. But they need to know.

As Ben puts it: my publisher told me to tell you, ‘it’s an uplifting story about everyday people facing big life upheavals, pasting on a smile, kicking on through and learning to regain perspective on what’s important in this world.’

He describes it as a humorous, tumorous, easy to read, hard to handle, scalpel ridden, sometimes scary, mostly reassuring tale of a best friend turned nasty.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation said, ‘We commend your efforts to publish a book that will serve as an important resource to so many people.’

Paul Wilson, author of the best selling Little Book of Calm and The Quiet liked it so much he agreed to write the foreword, saying, ‘In my eyes, it took Ben to make the topic of cancer more approachable’.

Ian Olver, CEO of the Cancer Council, said, ‘This is a captivating story… and for those who have not shared any of these experiences, you can simply read it as a celebration of life.’

You can read more at:

http://lefttesticle.blogspot.com/

http://www.republicofeveryone.com/ben/

Then we move on to an equally entertaining Australian character, Dr Raymond Seidler, who has worked in Sydney’s red light district known as Kings Cross for almost 30 years. He is well known amongst the area’s many addicts, transsexuals and colourful local identities, and perhaps as a result of the location of his practice has become one of the country’s leading experts not just on drugs and alcohol but on men’s health.

Men, as he wryly notes, sometimes spend a great deal more on looking after their cars than looking after themselves, and sometimes only see a doctor after being dragged kicking and screaming by their girlfriends. And as he puts it: they need to take obvious steps to look after themselves, including better diets, losing weight, exercising more and having a common sense approach to alcohol. Unfortunately, blaming men for their own poor health is all too common these days, and it is disappointing to see a respected GP espousing these views. Nevertheless, Dr Seidler’s interview is well worth a listen.

You can read more at:

http://kingscrossdoc.blogspot.com/

Here’s a sample of his writing:

John O’ Connor, the homeless man from Kings Cross known as Pal, who died this week aged 45, was a victim of a fractured health system which failed to deal with his special needs. And there are many more still alive to take his place in the queue for treatment in our over burdened inner city health services.

I saw him everyday rifling through garbage, often in Kellett Street, leaving piles of discarded refuse on the street, and plunging needles into his wasted arms in full view of passersby. He was often inappropriately clad in winter and frequently draped in a St Vincent’s gown and blanket, from a recent admission to the emergency department. He had a total of 800 admissions to St Vincents Hospital.

Suffering a deadly combination of drug dependence and mental illness which caused his chaotic and destructive behaviour, he was frequently begging around the Cross. In a better system he would have been involuntarily held in a secure residential facility where he could be treated and kept safe at a fraction of the cost of his multiple admissions.

In NSW this means only incarceration. Since we have emptied our psychiatric hospitals, there is little hope for people like John to live a dignified existence in safety. He was frequently bashed, injured and mistreated by other street people and miscreants. I took his photograph in Kellett Street near the rear of the Safe injecting Centre where he regularly sought discareded drugs in garbage and when I showed him his image on the screen, he was shocked. So was I.

His frequent flyer status into the Emergency Department at St Vincent’s has cost the taxpayer a fortune. Figures of between $500,000 and $1 million for hospital treatment in the last few years and at the end of he day all the short, well meaning interventions have come to nothing.

John’s legacy should be a more proactive system that addresses needs of our longterm homeless with dual diagnoses like mental illness and drug dependence. They the most vulnerable in our society and are frequent attendees in our hospitals.

As the economy goes to hell in a handbasket, and once comfortable Australians are jettisoned from their societal anchors, you can bet there will be many more like John admitted and rapidly discharged from our public emergency departments to live rough in unforgiving inner city streets.

Reactionary forces have been promoting public hysteria about evil and allegedly violent fathers being awarded custody under the Howard government’s modest family law reforms - reforms which promoted the common sense solution of shared and cooperative care of children by both parents after separation. However unfortunately defenders of the massive family law industry built up around attacking and demonising separated fathers have been making determined efforts to stir up hatred and fear. As a result gender politics in Australia has become even more heated than usual.

With the Rudd government being openly dismissive of men’s concerns and clearly looking at rolling the family law clock back to the dark ages when at least half the men going through the court rarely saw their children again, these are issues of seriious public concern. The Labour Party’s defunding of vital groups such as Dads in Distress and the Lone Fathers Association means once again these are likely to become major politicial issues. If you’re in Sydney, don’t miss the Fellowship of the Round Table event next Tuesday at NSW Parliament House on Macquarie Street - in the beautifully appointed and historic Jubilee Room - where DOTA will be part of those debating the topic: “Family Law: Is The Man The Loser?”. Others to speak include Mr. Mark Youssef LLM - BA MLLP - Master of Law & Legal Practice, specialising in Family Law; Ms Kathleen Swinbourne - Business Analyst, President Sole Parents’ Union and Mr. Warwick Marsh - Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation.

For more information and to find out how to get tickets, go to:

http://www.fortaustralia.com/

Dads on the Air welcomes contributions. If you would like to make suggestions for interviews or have material for broadcast please contact us at feedback@dadsontheair.net or individually through the website.

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I knew Dr Ray Seidler for many years. He was a wonderful man.

Very sadly, he passed away unexpectedly in 2013.

Here is a tribute from his son:

http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/opinions/guest-view/seidler

A son's tribute to Dr Ray Seidler

31 July, 2013 Jonathan Seidler 9 comments

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My father's influence extended far beyond general practice, but it is for his work in the field of addiction medicine that he will perhaps be best remembered: as a champion for the disenfranchised, a firm believer in harm minimisation and a genuinely empathetic doctor and friend to hundreds of Kings Cross denizens who literally had nowhere else to go.

Many of Dad's friends were doctors and, as a result, I've seen the inside of many waiting rooms. But none were ever as vibrant as Dad's, chock full of everyone from elderly Potts Point aristocrats through to heroin users, movie stars, café owners, police, local politicians and the occasional regular patient.

It was often a madhouse and would have frightened the living daylights out of lesser men, but I know my Dad genuinely enjoyed the challenge.

Related News: Death of GP a 'great loss'

As the area he worked in for over three decades began to change for the worse, he remained steadfast in his commitment to those who lived there, warts and all.

Even as the heroin supply dried up in the late ‘90s, giving way to a new breed of even more dangerous drugs, he did not give up hope that with the right approach and effective strategies, the suffering of those less fortunate could be somewhat alleviated over time.

Doctors are often called upon to give unsolicited advice, but my father gave it freely and was usually the first to offer it to anyone who asked.

His name was well-known throughout the medical and wider communities, thanks to his countless articles, opinion pieces, letters to the editor and radio and television appearances. Not to mention his public speaking appearances at conferences for other health professionals, which took him across the country and the world, performing the admirable task of teaching other doctors to look after themselves as well as their patients.

I have spent many years of my life reading Australian Doctor without even trying. Having resigned himself early on to the fact that I would not be a doctor, my father left the magazine on our kitchen counter every week in what must have been latent attempt to foster my love of the written word.

It worked. There was nothing that gave me a bigger kick than seeing my Dad's byline and dinkus in front of a mass of words about some topic I hitherto had not even known existed.

There is no better testament to my father than the people whose lives he enriched. They have not stopped calling, texting or emailing us since his passing, expressing the kind of deep gratitude for a man who was not only their doctor, but in many cases, the saviour of their lives.

On Dad's favourite new medium, Twitter, his ex-students are clamouring to hashtag their respects.

Though the Kings Cross Clinic was registered in his name, the doors will always remain open. After all, my Dad would never have let a funeral get in the way of seeing some more patients after lunch.

A Sense of Place Magazine

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