As a child, I heard certain things over and over again. One of those things was the old adage "there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes." I never really saw my parents grow old; my dad died suddenly at the age of 52, and my mother - let's just say that she did age, but I don't recall myself as part of the equation.
But really I'm not here to talk about death or taxes. I want to vent about the junk nobody tells you, like your body is going to catch up with that wild ride you've given it someday and is going to knock you on your backside. Not only does nobody warn you about it, it puts your entire life both mentally and physically into a tailspin when it does happen.
I'll be 61 in 3 days. Oh, I've had my share of "what?" moments sitting in front of the doctor, but usually I can see them coming and be prepared. No, I'm not facing a death sentence. I'm being told that I have some coronary problems. Not just one, but two, to be exact. They can be treated with medication and a steady diet of doctors, I read, but when am I going to be given the information and the tools I need to find out about this stuff?
My father once described himself as a "nosy individual." If something caught his attention, he grabbed it and worried it like a dog with a bone until he had learned all he could about it and could speak to both sides of the problem. Mind you, this was pre-Google.
I guess that apple didn't fall far from the tree. Pique my curiosity and I'm off at a flat run until I learn every bit of minutiae there is to know. If it's a medical problem, all the better. I can reasonably-well decipher jargon used in clinical descriptions and doctor-speak. I know "when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em" in pushing for that little extra bit of insight from a professional. Let's just say I'm a medical professional's worst nightmare when it comes to being my own best advocate.
Who, what, where, when, why and how zip around my brain and the at-first polite requests for answers begin to come out of my mouth. If I think you're avoiding me with medical double-speak, I'm on you like a bird on a worm. I carry a binder nowadays with everything I can find out about my supposed conditions and also all about the medications I am prescribed. Did you know that www.drugs.com will look up your prescription and non-prescription drugs and give you a personalized folio of potential drug interactions? Since my mind's a bit dull these days, it's a godsend for me. Side note: if you are being treated/medicated for conditions not in the current doctor's specialty, go in prepared to fight for what has already been made right in the past. I have been under control with migraine for the best part of 20 years. Somebody didn't get the memo that the meds I take to prevent and abort migraine don't mix well with some of the standard checklist drugs for coronary conditions. You will not bring migraine hell back to me. You will work around it. Oz has spoken.
I'm not one of those who gets a skin rash and, after consulting WebMD, decides I'm on the road to The Big One. No, I call my friends who are still in the medical field, each to their own specialty - sorry, but I do. They often can point me in the right compass position to find what I need to find. I thank God for these friends and am ever-grateful for their listening ears and hard-won knowledge.
I see the cardiac doctor next week for his summation of test results and hopefully a formal diagnosis and action plan. Otherwise, I just listen to my body and follow what it's telling me to do. I have spent too many years of this one shot deal God gives us ignoring things that I know are not right with myself.
Clear the tracks, here comes the train that could. This doesn't just apply to me, but to anyone out there in today's health care system. Be an educated patient. Know your options and be able to discuss them with your provider. If somebody screws up, shake the world in which they live. That's your well-being we're talking about here. Double-check and check again on testing that was ordered, providers who are to follow up with you, you-told-me-this-last-time-why-has-it-changed? Find out what they consider to be your responsibility. Get parameters for those responsibilities. You can't work with a provider when neither of you understand the other.
Don't want that early date with death (we all know too well about taxes)? Don't be a lab rat running a maze for docs as they hem-haw around. Be informed, be assertive, be involved. And never hesitate to loose the Witch of the West's flying monkeys.
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