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Friday, June 14, 2013

Always Do Your Own Research...

I've talked about researching your condition & medications before.  No matter what your ill or pill may be, the doctor doesn't know everything about it.  Unless they're a specialist, at best your physician will know the most general points of your concern. 

When you are diagnosed or have something prescribed to you, go online & educate  yourself on the matter.  It's unlikely anyone else will.  Search & see if there are forums or groups addressing your issue, most likely there are.  Type in the name of your drug & find out what all the professionals have to say about it.  Then go to the forums & find out what's it really like from people who actually have experience taking the medication.

Recently my roomie had the rug pulled out from under her on a medical matter.  I won't go into details but I will say it was due to some misinformation she was given.   She needs a procedure that requires a specific type of machine for someone of her size.  There were many points of misinformation:

  • Our machine takes people of X weight.  When really they wanted her to weigh less
  • Imprecise measurement maximums were given
  • She was led to believe a place was no long in business
The 1st point was a serious heart-breaker for her.   She met the weight goal & then was told they wanted more.  They pulled a bait & switch.  If you need a specific thing, you should state it up front.  Not just give some answer, only to give facts later when the need arises.  Bad measurements can kill any project, but this was just an example of seriously bad communication skills.  As for the last point, I don't know what happened there.  The business is still operational, I called them.  Maybe its an insurance problem, I don't know.

Never trust anyone else with your medical information.  It's not their problem, they're most likely not that invested, so they won't do enough.  This is on you.  It's your health were talking about.   Take the initiative, you'll be surprised what turns up.  BTW, if you doctor doesn't like, get a new 1.  Always remember, the only reason the white coats have a job is because of paying patients, even if that $ does come from medicare/medicaid.  If the doc gets too pissy about the matter, report them to whatever board they answer to, your insurance & find a new physician.

Cya...

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