Always ask – So how can we be sure of this Doc?

(written on 15 jan)
Most of us non-doctors know nothing about disease and its treatment. This makes us totally and inescapably dependant on our doctors. Whenever we begin sneezing, coughing, running high fever, seeing two at a time or shitting rocks …we just run to the docs and unconditionally surrender our body and purses to them. Thereafter, we religiously take the pill, apply the ointment, exercise the joint, massage the muscle and restrict the diet as prescribed by the doctor. We then hope that, in return of our blind faith, the doc will deliver us from our suffering and heal our wounds….

Beware…

Personal experience has shown that unless prodded with intelligent questions, the docs tend to be complacent and prone to making mistakes …..This puts your life and limb to danger

I have a lymphoma…so do quite a few other people I know about. One thing common amongst us all, apart from having lymphoma, is that our doctors began our treatment by assuming that we had TB. The TB diagnosis invariably began on a hunch and was never based on evidence. Thus, in almost all cases, precious time was lost before the lymphoma could be diagnosed. This time is the difference between life and death for a scaringly large portion of people. If the doctor had bothered to get the right set of tests and biopsies done, without wasting time, the lymphoma would have been discovered much earlier and would have been far easier to treat.


So why don’t the doctors diagnose the lymphomas earlier? Or for that matter why do doctors start most of their treatment without solid proof pointing to the cause or nature of illness
…..Because its easy, takes less time, is less costly for the patient
…..But mostly because the patient never asks him smart questions like….On what basis are you calling this a TB?… What is the proof that it not something else?

For a doctor each patient is just another case in a day full of many cases. It is upon the patients to keep the docs alert and on their wits ends by asking them insightful questions.

And my recommended question to ask your doctor-

So how can we be sure of this doc????