The old saying 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing' is a double-edged sword. I recall all too well how people with a 'little' knowledge of computers would take a small issue with a 'puter' and turn it into a nightmare. Think the same can be said for medical knowledge... but there is a slight difference. A doctor may know what a disease looks like, what the symptoms are, what the optimal treatment may be..
BUT that is all objective knowledge. I suggested to my latest GI that staff who are
involved in colonoscopies undergo them at least once 'firsthand' as a patient, with periodic updates. Just to put that objective knowledge into true perspective. She laughed nervously at the idea.. BUT I wasn't joking. I came away from my last scope with almost total amnesia of the post procedure process, but no one who has had one will ever truly forget the preparation. Think hospital staff need some first hand exposure to the process themselves. So they could truly see it through our eyes. ... But enuff of that. I think we owe it to ourselves to ask as many questions as we feel we need to ask, from as many reputable sources as we can find... WITHOUT fixating on it (like, do you want your disease to eat up every part of your life? Personally, I don't).. Think it will do a number of very positive things for us. Med staff will treat you more seriously IF you display a serious, informed knowledge of your illness - will stop a lot of their inadvertant condescending ways
that they treat a 'typical' uninformed patient with... For instance, I had an elderly night shift nurse who would wake me periodically from a sound, drug induced sleep to tell me she was just going to put this armband on me to check a 'few' things... she'd go on and on about how it wouldn't hurt, how it would only take a few seconds, etc. etc.. I didn't know which I took more offense to... her waking me up when getting to sleep in a hospital is such a problem anyway OR her modus of talking to me like I was an toddler in the pediatric ward.. I knew she didn't mean to offend, she was just doing her job.. Yet despite repeatedly telling her that it was ok, she'd go thru the whole spiel each & every freaking nite. So, I finally said.. So, you are putting on the sphygomamometer and checking both my systolic & diasstolic pressure by listening to the stop & start of the pulse in my arm
(OK. so maybe my spelling sucks... BUT it stopped her from inadvertantly treating me like a child despite the fact that my little outburst was pretty childish) and from then on she'd come in, wake me for my (as she started calling it) BP check, and we'd talk about the weather, politics, whatever.. have a little pleasant chat w/o a lot of needless explanation. etc.. AND she'd tell me my current vitals.. BP, temp, & heartrate, respiration, etc., (something she'd never confide to me before then) so I knew each day how much better I was getting without waiting for the 'official' word from the doctors... And, there are '****y' traps we can avoid if we do some homework... Whether ill or not, lots of folks pop herbal supplements in themselves without thinking about it.. Nightshade & hemlock are herbal, but you don't want to go eating them.. And you might stumble upon something that can make a difference... want to try it... Well, do your homework, talk to your doctor,
have an informed discussion. It doesn't mean that you wrestle with your doctor over who's in charge of your treatment... and if you feel comfortable (best) with letting your doctor take charge, making all the decisions, fine. Great. If it works for you then God Bless... But, if you'd feel more comfortable taking a more active approach, by all means pursue it. If your doctor is less comfortable with the idea,
then you need to examine WHY. Doctors are only human.. they've been trained, tested, licensed... Have years of experience... But they can make mistakes too. I personally feel the more I know, the more I understand why my doctor offers me such and such as a treatment, suggestion, recommendation.. the more comfort & faith I have in her. And she in me. She knows I'm interested enuff in getting well to follow her advice, follow my treatment plan, stick to my depressing diet... etc..
Why is that important? Welll, she's off now for 6 months maternity leave.. she has tons of patients, most of who are in a 'stable' condition.. approx. 6 dozen+ who aren't yet.. There's a critical shortage of GI specialists here, and an almost overwhelming number of IBD patients. She'd arranged with another GI to have him periodically monitor her 70+ patients who needed attention for her while she was away... Unfortunately, the GI had to suddenly quit practice due to cancer. It meant that those 70+ patients had to take 'pot luck' with other available GI's. My point... GI's volunteered to take her top 40... the rest would have to wait for her return or go the ER route... I made the top 40... Was it because my condition was
worse than 30 others. Or because I showed I was actively participating in my own
treatment? Who knows.. But, if I were the doctor, who would I want to take on as an extra, shortterm patient? Someone who cares enuff about their health to follow treatment, to keep appointments, to follow their diet, or one who doesn't?