2 ms·
I can’t agree with this enough. I deal with daily chronic pain which has rendered me essentially unable to work. My full-time job has been “patient” for almos
by jnovek 5y ago
I can’t agree with this enough.
I deal with daily chronic pain which has rendered me essentially unable to work. My full-time job has been “patient” for almost three years.
What I’ve learned is that you have to do their work for them if you want to make progress.
Sometimes that means showing up with highlighted printouts of studies that they would never get around to reading if you didn’t deliver them — and follow up on them — personally.
Other times that means that means playing dumb and “presenting” (not faking, just highlighting) the right preliminary symptoms to get a key test ordered.
I’m lucky in that I have education. I can read a study. I understand probability and statistics. I can learn terminology and use it (somewhat) correctly in a sentence. I often wonder how people without a STEM background get any care at all. Perhaps they don’t?
It’s a horrible, broken system that amounts to little more than insurance-mandated gatekeeping.
- eitally 5y agoMy wife is a nurse who pivoted into pharma, and when our daughter was diagnosed with a heart tumor, the only thing that ultimately resulted in us finding the right case was my wife's experience and ability to 1) ask the right questions, and 2) conduct her own scientific literature search & meta analyses. I kept thinking throughout that, if we weren't able to do this, our daughter would probably die ... and how many millions of patients receive subpar care because they don't have the skills or knowledge to keep care providers (and insurers) honest.