Managing Our Own Patient
Expectations
(as aired on
HealthLink on
Air -- January through March
2008)
This is the 8th (and
last) tip in a
series about communicating
better with our doctors.
.................................
I’ve got two small
pieces of advice to
conclude this discussion
with, both of which may
take some practice, but
both of which will be
very empowering once you
get comfortable with
them.
One is
– no matter who your doctor is,
and no matter what is wrong with
you – do not be intimidated
by your doctor or the healthcare
process!
Now –
I’ll admit – before I started my
patient empowerment work, I was
as intimidated as anyone was.
But by the time I got through my
cancer misdiagnosis – I had
learned not only that there was
nothing to be intimidated about,
but that the good doctors I
worked with did NOT want me to
be intimidated!
It’s
tough – I know – we are asking
for advice and counsel from
people who are superior to us in
education and experience about
something we know little about.
That’s absolutely true. But
guess what? You could probably
say the same thing about your
auto mechanic, or your hair
dresser, about your child’s
teacher, your lawyer or CPA, or
at least a dozen other people
you talk to on a regular basis
who do not intimidate you!
Doctors are people, too. And
most of them – the best ones –
want you to approach them as
human beings first, and human
beings with knowledge and
experience you need second.
Think of them as part of your
team, not as someone on a
pedestal. Once you get the hang
of that, you’ll see that all
your conversations and visits
are so much easier than they
were when you were feeling most
intimidated.
The
second piece of advice actually
makes the first piece easier,
too…. And it might be a first
step toward no longer feeling
intimidated.
One of
the reasons we feel inferior to
our doctors is because so many
use a language we don’t
understand – what I call
medspeak. It’s all those medical
terms, based in latin or greek,
or those acronyms – all those
words we hear on TV medical
shows – but now they apply to
us. We are used to hearing them
– but how often are we perplexed
by their meanings?
And
yes – you know what I’m going to
say – if you don’t understand a
word, then ask! Ask for an
explanation. Once you get the
hang of doing that, you’ll find
your level of intimidation may
go away, too.
Link here for a master list
of tips in this series.
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Trisha Torrey is Every Patient’s
AdvocateTM.
She offers no medical advice,
but empowers those who
want to learn more about
diagnosis and treatment options
by
providing useful tools and
resources.
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