Doc Grok

I am not trying to sugarcoat the fact that spousal caregiving is easy. It’s not. It can be physically and mentally exhausting at times. I try to hold my emotions close so as not to upset Akaisha.

We are fortunate to have a very strong support group here in Chapala, Mexico—including numerous doctors, nurses, neighbors, and friends. Still, it’s challenging.

There are many times, while sitting alone quietly, when my mind wanders and I wish I had asked the doctors this or that. Of course, if I had known the question ahead of time, I would have asked it—but it just popped into my head.

My introduction to AI.

It’s a great time to be alive with today’s technological advances, especially my introduction to AI. We’ve always embraced technology. In fact, we believe we produced one of the first CD-ROM books of its kind: The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement in 2005. It featured a short video and user-friendly interactive chapters. We were ahead of our time.

Today, AI is everywhere—including in the medical field. A year or so ago, I went to a local doctor with a skin condition. I followed his instructions and used the cream he prescribed. When I returned a week later with no improvement, he told me to continue and come back in another week. Meanwhile, I started researching the issue by uploading photos of the condition and my symptoms into AI. It told me the prescribed treatment was wrong and suggested a different cream.

Do I trust a trained medical doctor or a machine? Oh boy!

That was the question.

After a couple more days with no change from the original cream, I decided to try the AI’s suggestion. It worked! Since then, AI has been a tremendous help in guiding Akaisha’s care alongside her doctors. When they recommend a treatment, I always check with Doc Grok and ask for outcome percentages and success rates.

If a surgeon says she needs a certain procedure, I ask Grok about the success rate versus length of recovery and level of discomfort. I keep that information in mind when following up with the doctors. If the success rate is less than 80%, the recovery time is measured in months, and she would be in significant pain, the procedure simply isn’t worth it to us.

Surgeons want to cut. Doctors want to doctor. I’ve found they sometimes inflate their success rates a bit. Doc Grok has become my referee.

No question is too trivial.

On Grok, I maintain Akaisha’s ongoing thread where I upload every scan, surgery note, and blood test result. When I ask a question, it knows her complete history and responds with advice tailored specifically to her case. It’s like having a personal doctor available 24/7 with no phone tag, office visits, or extra expenses.

If her pain level increases or new symptoms appear, I enter the information and receive practical suggestions to help relieve them. The results are fast.

There are many AI programs available, but in my opinion, Grok is the best.

The key is this: the better and more accurate your input data, the better your results will be. I’m dealing with a complicated health issue, and I want clear, uncomplicated answers—not medical jargon. Grok delivers exactly that.

We receive scan and blood test results by email, usually as PDFs. I save them to my computer and upload the information into her thread. I can even upload MRI and CT scans (though I sometimes have to copy and paste text if there are many images). Usually, the radiologist’s summary is enough.

Then I ask Doc Grok pointed questions about the findings.

When a new medicine is recommended, I run it through Grok. It already knows everything she is taking and can flag any potential issues with interactions or dosages.

As I mentioned, the better your input, the better the answers. Even if I don’t fully understand the medical details, Grok explains them in plain language I can grasp.

I hope you find this information valuable for your own healthcare journey. It has been for us.

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Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since 1991. They wrote the popular books, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your Retirement Dream IS Possible available on their website bookstore or on Amazon.com.