CONTENTS

DIAGNOSIS: The Tale Behind this Tale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
PROLOGUE: The Quacks Charter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
A WALK IN THE PARK: Sick Rick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
QUACKERS JUICE BAR-ATLANTA: A healthy gathering . . . . . . . . 21
THE DOCTOR IS IN: All is not well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
WARREN'S WOMBATS: In the word of mouth business all
the time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
WANDA'S CURRENT CURE: Magnet-moving ways keep you
out of the maze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
RICK'S BACK: Scarred and scared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
TALES OF WHAT AILS: Rick's story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
AN IMPATIENT HISTORY: Dissecting the ways medicine
built its maze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
STAGE ONE: The Witch and the Woodcutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
STAGE TWO: The Guard at the Gate and the
Cook Who Couldn't Wait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
STAGE THREE: Garlic for the Gravedigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
STAGE FOUR: The Herb Lady's Potion and the Doctor's Lotion . . . 81
STAGE FIVE: The Bloodletter, the Body Snatcher and
the Knife-grinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
STAGE SIX: The Nurse at the Camp with the Swinging Lamp . . . . .99
STAGE SEVEN: Red as Blood: White as Linen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
STAGE EIGHT: The Water Worker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
STAGE NINE: The Doctor's Rush for a Healthy Constitution . . . . .125
STAGE TEN: Sheila the Wide-eyed Wombat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
THE LAST CUT: Back to the medical maze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
PROGNOSIS: Forecasting a healthier future—three years later . . .149
APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
ORDERING BOOK STACKS AND WELLNESS WOMBATS™
Spreading the word about wellness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171
HEALTHY GAMES FOR KIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

Why does medicine have so much influence on how you manage your health?

    How did it come to be so big and acquire so much pull and power over you?

    What is it that draws you to the emergency room, or to the doctor, and makes you think about medicine first whenever you feel sick? It can't be the drab buildings, the long waits, the short answers the doctor gives you, the side effects of the drugs he prescribes, or the insurance and billing paperwork. It can't be the way you are dehumanized by revealing hospital gowns, busy all-knowing doctors, and technology you don't understand. It can't be the intimidating maze of corridors that all lead to rooms where you, as a patient, will be expected to bare yourself and the personal details of your medical history.

    Oh, yes, medicine wants to know all about your medical history. But, did you ever wonder about its history?

    Who Moved My Magnet? reveals it. It walks you, the health-conscious consumer, through medicine's unhealthy history and uncovers a record of events that just may make you sick.

    Warren and Wanda, two wellness advocates along with Ed, a medical doctor fed up with the ways of the medical maze, meet their sick friend Rick in Quackers Juice Bar. To help Rick see how he fell into the medical trap and how he was conditioned to believe that medicine was the healthiest course for him, Warren dissects its history. To represent those people who took a stand against how that structure was built and fought for the right to manage their own health and not have it managed for them, Warren invents the Wellness Wombats.

    A Wellness Wombat is in the word of mouth business all the time (hence the acronym WOMBAT), and willingly shares the benefits of wellness over sickness and self-care over managed care to anyone who asks. He practices positive health habits and learns how to move his own magnet so that he can avoid being moved like one into the medical maze. He doesn't want to be caught in the flux, or the repetitive cycle of unhealthy patterns he thinks medicine practices.

    Taking care of your health and convincing your children to take care of their health shouldn't be an inconvenience; it should be an enjoyable part of your everyday life that ultimately leads to a more fulfilling and longer life. You can't afford to be sick, and it's swell being well. The Wellness Wombats not only help you pull away from the ways of the maze and practice healthier ways; they make that journey fun.