This week I read a post from Sue Ingbretson asking what you expect when you visit your doctor, more specifically What Rx Do you Expect from a Doctor? As her posts often do, this question got me thinking and I decided I would share my thoughts here (because that's what Sunday Inspiration is … [Read more...]
The Pain Scale is a Chronic Pain
I hate when doctors ask me to rate my pain. It's probably my biggest pet peeve when visiting the doctor (right up there with being weighed - who needs that stress?) How am I supposed to rate my pain? They say it's on a scale of 1 to 10, but what am I comparing it to? Recently, I had a … [Read more...]
5 Reasons why I am a terrible patient
I admit it, I'm probably the world's worst patient. If I look at all the advice online of things I should be doing as a patient, I can easily come to the conclusion that I am a terrible patient. What makes me a terrible patient? 1 . I have made no effort to get contact info for my … [Read more...]
Why are Doctors Reluctant to Treat Fibromyalgia Patients
We've all been there, struggling to understand why a doctor seems unwilling to treat us, and it feels like the only reason is because we have fibromyalgia. Why does it often feel like doctors discriminate against us because we have this illness? The easy answer is to believe that it's because … [Read more...]
How to Be Your Own Health Advocate
As patients we often hear that we need to be our own health advocate, but what does that even mean? And how do you do it? What does it mean to be a health advocate? The very basic meaning of advocate is "a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person, cause, etc" or "a person … [Read more...]
3 Things that Affect Our Communication with Doctors
3 Things That Affect Our Communication with Doctors Reading 3 Reasons Doctors Need to Understand Their Patients Health Beliefs and it struck me how important it is for us to have a good relationship with our doctor. We need to have communication with our doctor almost at the same level we have with … [Read more...]
Dismissive Doctors and the Death of Compassion for Invisible Illness
Hey Doctor, remember me? I'm the one you dismissed. You said I was faking it or it was all in my head. Well, guess what... you were wrong. We've all been there at least once with a dismissive doctor and oh how we long to be able to go back to them the way that Dorothy did on Golden … [Read more...]
Customer Service and Communication: Part 2
Customer Service and Communication Last week I wrote about the doctor that regularly has the two-hour wait and how she'd told me to call for test results, only for me to do so and have her staff tell me I had to come in to have the results read to me. After I made the appointment to come in … [Read more...]
Customer Service and Communication: My Pet Peeve
This post is going to be a little more negative than I like to be, because it deals with one of my greatest pet peeves - Poor Communication and Customer Service, especially in the health industry We've all had he experience where we go to the doctor and wait two hours for a five-minute … [Read more...]
7 Tips For Better Doctor Visits
I originally posted this back in May of 2010, but I thought my current readers may enjoy seeing it. After changing GPs in 2010, I realized that there were a few ways that I could help make sure that the transition went well, and take those same things into other doctors to make things easier for … [Read more...]
