Empowering your healthcare
By Jaime
March 25, 2010
A few weeks ago, Liz wrote about being an advocate for your own healthcare and speaking up about what you would like done and what needs to be done. I could not agree more, and though I think the tide is turning and more and more as women are being more proactive in their healthcare. But I also see women biting their tongues and not wanting to “take up the doctor’s time” or not wanting to “question their expertise.”
As the Lance Armstrong Foundation manifesto says, “You are in the fight of your life.” This is no time to be afraid of “not being polite” or not wanting to question someone. Yes, your healthcare team went to medical school, nursing school, graduate school – but you are an expert on your own body and what does and does not feel right. Doctors and nurses are human; they make mistakes, too. You have the right to know what is being done and the rationale behind each test and procedure, and you also have the right to know if standard protocol is being followed, and if not, why. Your healthcare team works for you. If you do not like the way you’re being treated, or if you are not embraced as a participant in your care, you have every right to fire them and find a new treatment team, one that will work with you and welcome your participation.
If you do not like the way you’re being treated, or if you are not embraced as a participant in your care, you have every right to fire them and find a new treatment team.
I saw this first-hand with my grandmother’s mastectomy. Her surgeon was running hours and hours behind schedule, and I was supposed to fly back to Chapel Hill that afternoon. We had been at the hospital since 6:30 a.m. and by 11 a.m. she still had not been taken back. When he stopped in, she asked him when he thought she’d go to surgery, since her granddaughter (me) had to go back to school and I had wanted to see her after surgery. His response? “You were squeezed in to an already tight surgical schedule. I don’t know.” My mouth dropped. I tried to ask him a question about her hormone receptor status and he brushed me off.
It wasn’t until he came out after her surgery and sat down and told us what he saw that he treated any of us with respect. When he realized that I had done my research and had informed questions about her surgery and pathology, his whole tone changed. He was more willing to talk with us, instead of to us. And once he heard I had interned at Memorial, we were suddenly BFFs. All this from a man who brushed us off hours earlier.
The Lesson
Learn about your cancer or your loved one’s cancer. Educate yourself about organizations and resources and what the pathology reports mean. Find out about clinical trials if you’re interested and what the standard treatment protocols are. If you have a question or a side effect, call the doctor’s office instead of suffering until your next appointment. Be an active participant in your treatment and care – you may be pleasantly surprised at the results.
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