What I Wish My Doctors Would Have Known When I Was A Patient and Caregiver – Part 3
This is part 3 of a 5-part series. To read the other posts follow the links at the bottom.
We Don’t Understand All the Medical Terms — Please Dumb it Down for Us
Keep in mind you have been trained in medical jargon. We have not. It may intimidate us, or we may feel like you’re trying to impress us. When we have a fuller understanding of our condition it can help with our compliance with your instructions and create better outcomes. Isn’t that what we all want?
I would say I have a decided advantage with this one. Growing up as the doctor’s daughter I heard some of these terms. Dad had a lot of medical students and when they were together, they would talk. I also talked a lot with veterinarians and even though they worked on different species some of the terminologies are the same.
These young horses are figuring out communications in the herd.
I remember one day when talking with the pulmonologist and he asked if Mike had been febrile. I don’t know if I gave him the deer-in-the-headlights look or asked what that meant. In layman’s terms that means feverish.
There are also times when doctors explain things in a way we may understand, and it is like rapid fire coming at us. I had just gotten test results from my lumpectomy showing that I had cancer in three out of four lymph nodes. I was now stage three instead of one. After that, we had an appointment with one of Mike’s surgeons about his feeding tube. They decided to remove it – right there in the office. Then I went to my medical oncologist for an appointment about treatment. We had gone from possibly having chemo to a strong regimen of chemo. She told me we’d have to be more aggressive, handed me some papers about the new chemo, asked if I had any questions, and dismissed us. I attribute part of this to it being the afternoon of Friday, December 22 and her wanting to be done working. And it didn’t help that I was in shock from earlier.
Another of my oncologists explained a bump that I asked about starting out by apologizing for not having a better way to say this – it was as we age. Then he explained how these bumps formed and that they were harmless. It was later I realized it was the same type of bump I had asked my vet about earlier and she had explained them as “old dog bumps”. He had been much more diplomatic.
There was also the rheumatologist who I asked more than once if Mike was diagnosed correctly. I felt like the doctor who had made the diagnosis was too pleased with himself for diagnosing such a rare disease. After all, it was not a diagnosis that had a definitive test. He patiently explained to me (more than once) that he thought it was correct and that there may be others as well.
These are a few of my experiences with doctors listening and explaining. The experience was either good in terms I understood or completely missed the mark by rushing. What kind of experiences have you had communicating with doctors as a patient or caregiver? Share your stories below or send them to me here.
Connecting with your patients is more than Takin’ Care Of Business.
Make a Connection in the comments below.
Onward!
