What should you tell your doctor about?
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| What kind of things should you ask your doctor about? What should you tell your doctor about? |
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| Tell your doctor everything! No matter how small you think it may be. This is what they go to school for, what they're paid for. To help you! Lupus is such a complex disease. The smallest detail to you may be a sign of something more. The point is, you don't know for sure unless you talk to the doctor about it. A lot of people keep diaries of how they are feeling so they can let their doctors read it. I highly recommend a home blood pressure machine. If blood pressure is a big issue with you, who knows, there may be a way to get the hospital to give you one. The important thing to understand is that your family and friends can offer advice and comfort, but you and your doctor should be the ones who make your medical decisions. Take care of YOU! |
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| 1. Be sure to get all the information you can about your medications. What are the side effects? Will any new ones interact with your current ones? What should you look out for that is NOT a normal side effect? Should you take your medications with food? On an empty stomach? If you are going to be putting these things in your body every day, it's best you know too much rather than too little. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2. What tests are you going to need in the future? Will these be regular tests that you do all the time, or do you only need this once? What do those results mean? Be sure to get what the normal ranges are, and what YOURS is. Make them explain your results to you in a way that you understand. Do not ever leave a doctor's office not understanding something about your own health. More doctors need to understand that we didn't all go to medical school, and things need to be explained in terms we can all understand. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. What are the signs that your illness is getting worse? Be sure you know what to look out for and when you should go into the emergency room. It's "normal" for a person with lupus to feel bad, but when is it serious enough to be checked out? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 4. What kind of aid can your doctor arrange for you? They may have information on support groups in your area. Can they get you a handicapped parking tag? Do you need to take name brand medications, or will generic ones do the same thing at a lower cost? What about a pill splitter? Some medications are cheaper in different milligrams, so it may be more cost efficient to get a higher miligram pill and split them in half. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5. What involvment can your spouse or partner have? It's a good idea to keep them involvment in your illness and treatment. It will help mentally and physically to have someone to talk to about how you're feeling, and be able to share things with someone else. There may be support groups or some kind of aid the hospital offers to spouses and partners of chronically ill people. Doesn't hurt to ask. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 6. Pain medication is a very important issue that should be brought up. Don't feel bad asking for it, they are legally OBLIGATED to treat your pain. If anyone makes you feel guilty for asking for pain medications, then it's best to find a new doctor who cares about you. You have a disease, they cannot cure that, but they most certainly can ease your pain. Please don't be afraid to ask. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7. Is there anything you should avoid? Any foods you cannot eat with your medications, anything you should not drink? Certain juices can cancel out some of your medications. Most doctors will say that exercise is good for you, but what kinds are best for you? Make sure you're not doing something that will eventually make you feel worse. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 8. What is your official diagnosis? What type of lupus do you have? Do you have anything else other than the lupus, Fibromyalgia? Raynaud's? Antiphospolipid Antibody? If you do have other conditions, find out the specifics of YOURS. Two people with lupus do not have the same symptoms, so it's important for your doctor to be able to tell you how this is going to affect you, and not how it affects everyone else. Stay informed and get involved! Sometimes you have to be your own advocate. |
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| This is only a guideline of things I have come across that I thought might help someone get the right information from their doctor. Anything you have questions or concerns about should be brought up. Too many patients feel unfulfilled and confused when they leave their doctor's office, and it doesn't have to be that way. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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