A writer here in Birmingham, Lanier Isom, a cancer survivor, has written a very helpful guide and analysis about the steps needed to be taken after a cancer diagnosis.
This, of course, struck home as I am facing a shortened lifespan due to a diagnosis more than 2 years ago of Lewy body dementia.
Lanier, here, tells it like it is. How you see the best and worst sides of health care delivery in this county.
She writes:
Doctors are guides, not gods. You will witness some of the best the medical profession has to offer, and you will be stunned by the worst of the American healthcare system. Doctors are doing the best they can, but they’re handicapped by a system which has overloaded them with too many patients, too much profit motive, and too much meddlesome oversight by heartless insurance companies.
Question everything. Your life is at stake. Despite the queasy stomach and sweaty palms, when you find yourself in yet another doctor’s office, don’t let the doctor dismiss your questions or diminish your right to know and your right to choose what you do. Often the dismissal is simply a product of the doctor’s need to limit time spent with any given patient, so as to see to the backlog in the waiting room; however, you will encounter narcissists in white coats who view any question as an indictment of his/her ability and protocol.