Life As A Medical Anomaly Part 3

I am grateful for the doctors I have been seeing, when I was without insurance I dreamed of having decent doctors that seemed to truly care and engage me the way that the doctors I have come to know.  My primary care doctor is funny, sweet, is very upfront, and honest.  When I started having the pain issues and then later start having my asthma getting worse again she was more than happy to get me connected to the two different specialists that could help me and she has done an amazing job.  My pain specialist is informative, easy going, easy to talk to, and makes sure I understand everything, is always impressed on how much I am involved in my health care, and always enjoys that I put so much thoughts within my care.  Recently, I gained a new lung specialist that seems to be very interested to try new things, test new things, and interested in trying to figure out what will help my asthma be more manageable.  Since the loss of Dr. Hahn, who was my old lung specialist, for a while my asthma was somewhat less or at least easier to deal with, it seemed by not working my asthma although still annoying, was a little more manageable.  This has changed in the last few months I started seeing another downhill process and started to worry about having to deal with urgent care again.

           

            Having understanding and helpful doctors is very important when you deal with medical issues especially when they are difficult ones that others might not always understand.  Having a supportive support system even if that is just a few people is of huge importance and can be a help for one dealing with difficult health issues.  In my life I was gratefully blessed and given a husband that is there every single step of this life and although explaining certain medical issues, prescriptions, or what the doctors want me to try or do now can be difficult as I can usually tell some issues are harder to fully understand.  When you are the one living the life you would think it would get easier to explain certain things, but at least in my life I have seen the opposite.  I believe though with knowledge even with questions can help not only those living the life of medical issues, but their loved ones being able to help be an advocate for the person with the health issues.

            One of the things that people with medical issues get used to, even with good doctors is many medical appointments, which even if there are good appointments or progress can feel tiring and draining.  There are always the main points of most appointments:  weight check, blood pressure, oxygen level, and if dealing with pain doctors especially what is the current pain level you are experiencing.  Pain level charts though have better than just for if you have a chronic pain condition; there are many health issues that can use a pain chart or something with a similar format depending on what the condition might be.  There are many different things that doctors might have you do that can be useful for other health issues, including making daily journals about particular health issues and how it is affecting your daily life.

            Whatever you do use that doctors ask you do for a particular health issue and want to use it for another, make sure if you do use it for a different health issue to have it work for you.  What is most important is not only giving information for your doctor, but to have it in a way that will be easy for you to track, to keep you from being frustrated, and something that will work with your daily life.  It is important to let doctors know or specialists if you believe certain things will not work:  be medications, specific exercises, or even tests that they want you to do, it is important to always be proactive.  It is your life and make sure that doctor’s understand all that is going on with you, what makes any health issue worse, what if anything has made it better, any future plans on any major changes, and what medications you are currently taking. 

            Depending on your health issues do be sure to not let doctors set you up with so many appointments that you feel worn out or exhausted, it is important to keep up on any doctor related stuff that can help your life, but you need to remember to rest.  It is very important to tell your doctors if you are having more or less issues with certain health conditions as you may need to increase or decrease your medications or try something else.  It is important in the role of being proactive to continue reading articles, books, and whatever you can get your hands on to keep yourself informed.  Let your reading help you be your own advocate, tell doctors if you ever feel uncomfortable with any type of procedure or medication, make a list of medications and questions you have, and tell them whatever you need to even if it feels embarrassing as it is important your doctors have all the information you can provide to them.  Keep positive, stay strong, and remember you are not alone.