advocate

these days more than ever, i feel like it's crucial for a patient to be his/her own advocate.  even as someone who's worked in the healthcare industry for nearly a decade, i've come across my own share of struggles navigating the system, understanding my medical history, and making sound decisions about my treatment plans.

i am undergoing some outpatient surgery today, and without going into too much detail, am having a number of procedures done.  starting from the last time i visited my doctor, to meeting with the surgical coordinator, and being scheduled and then confirmed for my surgery, not once did anyone offer me a clear picture of what i was having done or the risks associated with any of my upcoming procedures.  at my doctor's office, i was given a basic description about what would happen and then i was handed 3 pamphlets.  the first 2 pamphlets described in detail the procedures that had briefly been explained to me.  the third pamphlet detailed a procedure i don't remember being discussed, but it seemed fairly straightforward and my doctor may have mentioned it, but if he had then it had been lost on me (probably due to the shock of hearing i needed to have surgery in general).  when i met with the surgical coordinator, i was surprised to see not 3, but 5 procedures listed on my consent form, most of them with names i couldn't pronounce.  she went through some general information about the labs i needed to have done and what to do/what not to do prior to surgery, put together my packet, and asked if i had any questions.  i certainly did have questions!  the first of which was: what am i having done??  she patiently went over this with me, which helped some, but i really wasn't given much more information than what i had already read in my pamphlets.  is this why the information wasn't offered to me in the first place?  if i hadn't asked, would i have had any idea what would be done with my body today?

it's scary.  it's scary to think of having surgery in the first place, considering i've never broken a bone or suffered any major damage.  the closest would probably have to be my wisdom teeth extraction, but i still don't think that's anywhere near going under the knife.  and when things scare me, i want to understand and question them.  so it's terrifying when the people involved in my medical care seemingly assume that i'm armed with everything i need to know.  why should i have to ask?  shouldn't those things have been discussed with me in the first place?  it can be nervewracking, to say the least.

i want to be clear that i am not trying to criticize my doctor and surgical team.  in fact, i do trust that they will take care of me and the practice i'm currently with has truly listened to me when others didn't.  but i just think that it's important as a patient to go after all those answers -- as stupid or as silly as the questions may seem -- if not for anything but peace of mind.  after all, we're the ones who will have to live with the results.