I just felt like I had to add this.
Being a good patient means being knowledgable, asking questions and remembering that doctors are not gods. Doctors are in a SERVICE industry. They are there to serve you. The higher education they have received which gives them that diploma on the wall does not mean that they have become infalliable. It does not mean that they always know what is best for each person (or really give a darn for that matter).
How many women go to a hairdresser and say, "Do whatever you want, whatever the cost!" and let someone just go wild on them, without giving them prior information...like what color is it going to be, how short, etc? None that I know of. (Although I might be tempted to let Nick Aroja have at it - I think I'd still ask plenty of questions and make sure he wasn't doing something outrageous).
How many people go out and buy a car without looking at it, taking it for a test drive, checking the engine (or at least having their mechanic look at it)? Only idiots.
How many people hire a babysitter without checking references? (Ugh, don't tell me if you don't, I'll probably flip out on you).
So why, oh why, would anyone go to a doctor and just blindly nod their head and do anything that the doctor says? Sure, doc, let me give my kid the HPV vaccine that only protects against 4 out of 36 strains of the virus, that has already killed 17 children and has a possible side effect of infertility. Sure, doc, because I'm just dumb and your degree has made you almighty. I don't think so!
I was very sick with Graves' disease in 1993. There were three choices of treatment 1) anti-thyroid drug therapy 2) surgery to remove the thyroid gland or 3) radioactive iodine to ablate the gland. In the United States of America choice #3 is pushed on almost every single Graves' Disease patient and they are told that chances of remission with choice #1 are slim at best. WELL, in Europe and Japan where #3 is NOT considered the best option, the remission rates ARE HIGH. Why do American doctors push #3? BECAUSE IT IS EASIER FOR THEM. Not for the patient - no way is it for the patient. You would not believe the people that were never obese and suddenly have to deal with 50+ pounds because they chose #3 - or their skin is dry, their eyes are bugging out of their heads (because #3 seems to effect the antibodies that attack the tissue behind the eyes, activating them). I know so many people who have suffered horribly because "The doctor said to do #3 and well, he's the doctor so I did what he said." Yes, I even know a couple of RNs who blindly like dumb sheep did what they were told without researching. One of them gained well over 100 lbs and endured 3 years of hell on earth until I showed her that her doctor wasn't even using the latest TSH guidelines and was under-treating the hypothyroidism he caused by having her gland killed off.
I've had people say to me "Well, I had my thyroid nuked because the doctor said my thyroid was too far gone, I was way too hyper, there was no chance at all." When I've gotten them to tell me lab numbers - lo and behold, they were never even as sick as me or some of the other remission success stories I know. They simply had LAZY doctors who know that option #1 means more work - and having to patiently care during a long, healing process. (One that I felt was well worth it, as did my two super-incredible Florida doctors who did not send people off to kill off good flesh if it wasn't beyond-a-shad0w-of-a-doubt necessary. This is not the norm in America - and if it's not the norm for Graves', what other short cuts are being taken that are not in the patients best interest? Makes you go "hmmmm").
When any of us go to a doctor and act like pansy-assed wimps, we are not guaranteeing ourselves the best possible treatment - for ourselves or our children. I certainly don't want to find out that my kid's life has been screwed up because I numbly nodded my head and said, "Yes, sir, yes m'am" without doing any fact finding myself.
So, with that said - I'm no brave soul for telling my doctor we're not just getting new vaccines until I research them. I am a consumer - a consumer who is striving to be educated. And heck, I'm freaking paying them! Why on earth shouldn't I ask questions and demand darned good reasons for procedures which may be unnecessary?
Disclaimer: I am not saying that I think all doctors are idiots. (I have some awesome, fantastic doctors in my life and my childrens' lives. Doctors who respect and appreciate the fact that I'm not asking them to pretend to be gods). I adovcate educated consumerism. Period.
