I could confuse you further with more discussion of getting involved in your own care, but sometimes nothing educates better than example. The Seasoned Cooking editor eagerly agreed to post my notes, questions, case data, etc. on this website to give you a first-hand look at my examples of all this. You’ll notice the questions are detailed and full of jargon. That’s not due to prior knowledge; it comes specifically from bookstore and the Internet (be careful!) research focused on this problem. I’ve omitted some details for privacy, but most of it is right out there in the open in case it helps you wage the good fight against the next big medical challenge your family faces.
Think most problems are too small for your involvement? I once noticed that a nurse was using a bigger syringe than usual for my hundred-and-somethingth hay fever allergy shot. She was about to inject ten times the proper amount, which could have put me in life-threatening anaphylactic shock.
Get involved. If your doctor resents it, change doctors. If two or three resent it, you probably are getting too pushy.
Example: One of my early surgeons hadn’t planned to test for metastasis of my colon tumor before removal of my prostate. I knew that aggressive colon tumors often kill us much more quickly than prostate cancer usually does, rendering prostate surgery a waste of time, money, and pain. That test was on my list of questions for my next surgeon, and I quietly crossed it off the list when he suggested it on his own. No point in letting them know we’re watching them. (My surgeon called across the state as I was typing this to tell me that test cleared me of any metastasis.)
If you’re still with us, you may wish to see examples of all this at this link.
