Re: Re: HaHa! (Hormone test...)

[Guest guest]

Excellent post ,

So well articulated and is just how I 'work' with my doctors too. A little honey works far better than vinegar, but as you said it has to be a mutual respect and if you don't back yourself up with some sound knowledge, they have no idea of where one might be coming from. It may take time but usually it works, if a physician is adamant or says absolutely not or won't even discuss it, I would just move on till I find one I could work with. (women physicians were the worst with me for some reason)

I too want to be 'satisfied' with showing me some physical results and hard evidence such as the various tests even if it is only for peace of mind and even if "I' have to pay for some of them. (usually a doc will then, most definitely) They're usually not that expensive and I've found it good to have for baseline comparisons down the road even if nothing is wrong.

Good post.

Dee~

----- Original Message ----- From: tarnalberry

.......I'm pretty pushy with my doctors. And at the end of the day, what it comes down to is that I am the customer, and they are the one providing the service. If nothing else, the peace of mind of knowing if something is wrong or not is fairly valuable in and of itself. So I end up making these requests with the full confidence that they will follow through, or I will find a doctor who will (I _don't_ have that attitude about treatments to the same degree, because they are the ones trained to fix what is wrong, which is different from just testing something...) but being polite and as reasonable as possible about the request.

Sometimes I really think it is all in the delivery and the relationship you build with the doctor. Over the time I've had my doctors, I've had to walk to cautious line, asking questions and challenging and so forth only when I had sufficient knowledge, so that we come to a "mutual respect" sort of understanding.

I really can't emphasize enough how much I think that helps my case when I go in an ask for something. (It's hard when your worried about being a hypochondriac, but it turns out there really IS something always wrong with you. ;-) ) Not to mention the time I spend thinking about how I'm going to bring it up! ;-)If you want this done, I hope you can get it done. Try backing up as much of your reasoning for the test as possible. Besides my sex drive wackiness, if the doc had wanted me to point out circumstantial evidence, I would have mentioned the problems I've had maintaining muscle mass and strenth (as evidenced by knee problems and attested to by my physical therapists and orthopaedist), have WAY less acne than I used too, and that it would help the pyschological therapy aspect of it if I could be comfortable that I wasn't overlooking a physical problem. Circumstantial, definitely, but every last bit of support I can carry around in my head makes me that much more confident.Good luck! Let us know if you get through to your doctor! ;-)