vickythecat
Senior member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2017
- Messages
- 366
- Reason
- DX FIBRO
- Diagnosis
- 01/2013
- Country
- EU
- State
- Earth
Hi,
Yesterday I went to a doctor after 3 years of avoiding doctors. (had lost all my trust in doctors and hospitals, after they managed to mess up the basic/common injuries I had sustained after a fall. I now suffer even more thanks to their mistakes.)
I guess I am lucky that I live in a country where I can choose to go to any doctor that I like. So I went for the neurologist to talk about the tingling/numbness in my feet and extreme fatigue (and much much more). I had my 15 minutes in there, and as always I could not manage to tell my story, even though I had it written down in front of me!
So how are we, as patients, supposed to make the best of an appointment?
We all have a loooonnnnggg history and list of complaints, our own unique journey of diagnosis/misdiagnosis, related surgeries, accidents, new symptoms, old symptoms etc. But we only have 10-15 minutes with a doctor and giving them our whole history would be like information overload for them.
But on the other hand, I do think they should hear the whole story. I mean, for example, 'painful intercourse' seems like an unrelated complaint when talking to a neurologist, but what if it is that missing puzzle piece?
I also find it so hard to talk about myself face-to-face with another human being. On one hand, my mind goes 'never mind, I am not that important', but on the other hand what I really want to do is to beg for their help and that they take me seriously.
Yesterday I went to a doctor after 3 years of avoiding doctors. (had lost all my trust in doctors and hospitals, after they managed to mess up the basic/common injuries I had sustained after a fall. I now suffer even more thanks to their mistakes.)
I guess I am lucky that I live in a country where I can choose to go to any doctor that I like. So I went for the neurologist to talk about the tingling/numbness in my feet and extreme fatigue (and much much more). I had my 15 minutes in there, and as always I could not manage to tell my story, even though I had it written down in front of me!
So how are we, as patients, supposed to make the best of an appointment?
We all have a loooonnnnggg history and list of complaints, our own unique journey of diagnosis/misdiagnosis, related surgeries, accidents, new symptoms, old symptoms etc. But we only have 10-15 minutes with a doctor and giving them our whole history would be like information overload for them.
But on the other hand, I do think they should hear the whole story. I mean, for example, 'painful intercourse' seems like an unrelated complaint when talking to a neurologist, but what if it is that missing puzzle piece?
I also find it so hard to talk about myself face-to-face with another human being. On one hand, my mind goes 'never mind, I am not that important', but on the other hand what I really want to do is to beg for their help and that they take me seriously.