Speaking out on taking control of your health care by asking for all of the raw data and information in your charts. Watch this and recognize if you are/ have been or know of someone who has been at the mercy of our health care system then this 3 minute video will inform and help with websites and places to get support from other patients.
In January of 2011 my mom was diagnosed with an aggressive uterine cancer and underwent surgery and aggressive post cancer treatment involving chemo and radiation. The treatments were awful - very debilitating. Mom already had advanced Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and had misdiagnosed medications a few years ago which damaged her liver and kidney. Her body/immune system was already so weak. The side affects - weakness, neurosis of the feet and hands - will remain indefinitely.
The lengthy, extreme post treatments did not guarantee total cure.
If mom had refused some or all of the treatment they said "it could come back". If she did all of the treatments they could not guarantee total cure - "it could come back." Health Care here is a business first. Doing all of the treatment means more insurance dollars. I did not hear of any suggestions or action for alternative treatments/medications.
As of today my mom can shuffle walk, has precarious balance, two wigs, a cane, and can only take Tylenol for her RA. She is 72.
I wish my parents had seen this video. Would it have changed their patient behavior? Maybe. They are old fashioned and believe the doctor is Always right, even though it has been pointed out that the family doctor they have had for decades has made some seriously poor decisions/calls. Change is not easy. Gets harder as we age, especially when health is compromised and fatigue is a constant companion. No energy left to protest or research.
But for those of us who are born fighters/Warriors/Rebels, we do not go quietly into the night. We have energy reserves of stubborn defiance. We are always asking Why and listen to our intuition and then ask MORE QUESTIONS. Behavior which governments and institutions such as our health care system find vastly annoying. They try to ignore us, give excuses, then tell us to Go Away. I am so glad there are individuals out there - Rebels - who will speak out and question traditional medicine and demand better answers and care. Patients taking control of their own lives/health.
