The last thing on her mind should be a brain tumor
Working today for a brighter tomorrow

Lesson 2: Communicate Better with Your Doctor

Saturday, 29 August 2009 15:22
E-mail PDF
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
At the Oklahoma Brain Tumor Foundation I spend quite a bit of time with our patients and caregivers addressing problems they have talking with their doctors. Especially when dealing with a brain tumor you have vocabulary barriers that sometimes make it difficult to understand what your doctor is telling you. Sometimes your physician may talk over your head without realizing it. However, there are things you can do to improve your relationship with your doctor and medical staff that will help them communicate with you more effectively. The following are some tips:


  • If you have several health concerns to discuss, let the receptionist know ahead of time when booking the appointment so they can allow more time in the doctor's schedule for you.
  • Be sure to tell your doctor about any current and past health care issues or concerns. It's important to share any information you can, even if you're embarrassed.
  • Create a “health journal” for yourself on paper or in a notebook, and bring it to your appointments. Keep track of problems you are having, the time of day they occur, did you eat before and what did you eat, etc. This will help your doctor when making a diagnosis.
  • Bring any medicines you are taking with you or create a list of all your medicines. Include information about when and how often you take the medicine and the strength. If you are experiencing side effects from your medicine(s), especially if it makes you feel sick or if you think you may be allergic to it. Be sure to include any vitamins or supplements you take.
  • If you are being seen for a life threatening illness it is always recommended that you never attend an appointment alone. You should always take a family member or friend along with you.
  • Take notes at your appointment or have your family member/friend take notes for you.
  • If you have to go alone to an appointment, take a tape recorder to record the conversation with your doctor so you can listen to it as many times as necessary for instructions and information.
  • If you are having problems understanding your doctor, let them know that you need further clarification. Tell them you don't understand what they are talking about.
  • Never ever leave an appointment feeling lost and not understanding what was said and what the next steps are in your health care.
Posted by Nancy Thomason
 
More Articles...


Page 8 of 17

Upcoming Events

Mon May 20 @08:00AM - 10:00PM
Chili's Fundraiser
Mon Jun 10 @11:00AM - 05:00PM
Swing for Hope

Newsletter



Receive HTML?


Login

Twitter Be a Fan on Facebook RSS Feed You Tube


Profile Information

Application afterLoad: 0.000 seconds, 0.36 MB
Application afterInitialise: 0.033 seconds, 4.11 MB
Application afterRoute: 0.038 seconds, 4.90 MB
Application afterDispatch: 0.105 seconds, 9.22 MB
Application afterRender: 0.267 seconds, 22.51 MB

Memory Usage

23650760

21 queries logged

  1. SELECT *
      FROM obtf_session
      WHERE session_id = '4f15558aa53d758d36aff1dd6ba86b8b'
  2. DELETE
      FROM obtf_session
      WHERE ( TIME < '1369065089' )
  3. SELECT *
      FROM obtf_session
      WHERE session_id = '4f15558aa53d758d36aff1dd6ba86b8b'
  4. INSERT INTO `obtf_session` ( `session_id`,`time`,`username`,`gid`,`guest`,`client_id` )
      VALUES ( '4f15558aa53d758d36aff1dd6ba86b8b','1369065989','','0','1','0' )
  5. SELECT *
      FROM obtf_components
      WHERE parent = 0
  6. SELECT folder AS TYPE, element AS name, params
      FROM obtf_plugins
      WHERE published >= 1
      AND access <= 0
      ORDER BY ordering
  7. SELECT template
      FROM obtf_templates_menu
      WHERE client_id = 0
      AND (menuid = 0 OR menuid = 1)
      ORDER BY menuid DESC
      LIMIT 0, 1
  8. SELECT c.*, s.id AS sectionid, s.title AS sectiontitle, CASE WHEN CHAR_LENGTH(c.alias) THEN CONCAT_WS(":", c.id, c.alias) ELSE c.id END AS slug
      FROM obtf_categories AS c
      INNER JOIN obtf_sections AS s
      ON s.id = c.SECTION
      WHERE c.id = 13
      LIMIT 0, 1
  9. SELECT cc.title AS category, a.id, a.title, a.alias, a.title_alias, a.introtext, a.fulltext, a.sectionid, a.state, a.catid, a.created, a.created_by, a.created_by_alias, a.modified, a.modified_by, a.checked_out, a.checked_out_time, a.publish_up, a.publish_down, a.attribs, a.hits, a.images, a.urls, a.ordering, a.metakey, a.metadesc, a.access, CASE WHEN CHAR_LENGTH(a.alias) THEN CONCAT_WS(":", a.id, a.alias) ELSE a.id END AS slug, CASE WHEN CHAR_LENGTH(cc.alias) THEN CONCAT_WS(":", cc.id, cc.alias) ELSE cc.id END AS catslug, CHAR_LENGTH( a.`fulltext` ) AS readmore, u.name AS author, u.usertype, g.name AS groups, u.email AS author_email
      FROM obtf_content AS a
      LEFT JOIN obtf_categories AS cc
      ON a.catid = cc.id
      LEFT JOIN obtf_users AS u
      ON u.id = a.created_by
      LEFT JOIN obtf_groups AS g
      ON a.access = g.id
      WHERE 1
      AND a.access <= 0
      AND a.catid = 13
      AND a.state = 1
      AND ( publish_up = '0000-00-00 00:00:00' OR publish_up <= '2013-05-20 16:06:29' )
      AND ( publish_down = '0000-00-00 00:00:00' OR publish_down >= '2013-05-20 16:06:29' )
      ORDER BY  a.created DESC,  a.created DESC
      LIMIT 7, 5
  10. SELECT cc.title AS category, a.id, a.title, a.alias, a.title_alias, a.introtext, a.fulltext, a.sectionid, a.state, a.catid, a.created, a.created_by, a.created_by_alias, a.modified, a.modified_by, a.checked_out, a.checked_out_time, a.publish_up, a.publish_down, a.attribs, a.hits, a.images, a.urls, a.ordering, a.metakey, a.metadesc, a.access, CASE WHEN CHAR_LENGTH(a.alias) THEN CONCAT_WS(":", a.id, a.alias) ELSE a.id END AS slug, CASE WHEN CHAR_LENGTH(cc.alias) THEN CONCAT_WS(":", cc.id, cc.alias) ELSE cc.id END AS catslug, CHAR_LENGTH( a.`fulltext` ) AS readmore, u.name AS author, u.usertype, g.name AS groups, u.email AS author_email
      FROM obtf_content AS a
      LEFT JOIN obtf_categories AS cc
      ON a.catid = cc.id
      LEFT JOIN obtf_users AS u
      ON u.id = a.created_by
      LEFT JOIN obtf_groups AS g
      ON a.access = g.id
      WHERE 1
      AND a.access <= 0
      AND a.catid = 13
      AND a.state = 1
      AND ( publish_up = '0000-00-00 00:00:00' OR publish_up <= '2013-05-20 16:06:29' )
      AND ( publish_down = '0000-00-00 00:00:00' OR publish_down >= '2013-05-20 16:06:29' )
      ORDER BY  a.created DESC,  a.created DESC
  11. SELECT created_by, sectionid, catid
      FROM obtf_content
      WHERE id='36'
  12. SELECT id, title, module, POSITION, content, showtitle, control, params
      FROM obtf_modules AS m
      LEFT JOIN obtf_modules_menu AS mm
      ON mm.moduleid = m.id
      WHERE m.published = 1
      AND m.access <= 0
      AND m.client_id = 0
      AND ( mm.menuid = 1 OR mm.menuid = 0 )
      ORDER BY POSITION, ordering
  13. SELECT parent, menutype, ordering
      FROM obtf_menu
      WHERE id = 1
      LIMIT 1
  14. SELECT COUNT(*)
      FROM obtf_menu AS m

      WHERE menutype='mainmenu'
      AND published='1'
      AND access <= '0'
      AND parent=0
      AND ordering < 11
  15. SELECT id, folder, element, published, TYPE, params, CONCAT_WS('/',folder,element) AS lookup, name
     
      FROM obtf_comprofiler_plugin
     
      WHERE published = 1
      AND access <= 0
      AND TYPE = 'user'
     
      ORDER BY ordering
  16. SELECT c.id
     
      FROM obtf_categories AS c
      LEFT JOIN obtf_categories AS p
      ON p.id=c.parent_id
      LEFT JOIN obtf_categories AS gp
      ON gp.id=p.parent_id  
      LEFT JOIN obtf_categories AS ggp
      ON ggp.id=gp.parent_id
     
      WHERE c.access <= 0
     
      AND c.published = 1
     
      AND c.SECTION = 'com_jevents'
  17. SELECT c.id
     
      FROM obtf_categories AS c
      LEFT JOIN obtf_categories AS p
      ON p.id=c.parent_id
      LEFT JOIN obtf_categories AS gp
      ON gp.id=p.parent_id  
      LEFT JOIN obtf_categories AS ggp
      ON ggp.id=gp.parent_id
     
      WHERE c.access <= 0
     
      AND c.published = 1
     
      AND c.SECTION = 'com_jevents'
     
      AND (c.id IN (15) OR p.id IN (15)  OR gp.id IN (15) OR ggp.id IN (15))
  18. SELECT *
      FROM `obtf_acajoom_xonfig`
  19. SELECT *
      FROM `obtf_acajoom_lists`
      WHERE `id` IN ( 1 )
      AND `published` = 1
  20. SELECT *
      FROM obtf_blog_postings
      WHERE published  = 1
      ORDER BY post_date DESC
      LIMIT  5
  21. SELECT `value`
      FROM `obtf_admintools_storage`
      WHERE `key` = 'cparams'

Language Files Loaded

Untranslated Strings Diagnostic

None

Untranslated Strings Designer

None