The Secret to Getting Your Doctor’s Attention When You Are Explaining Your Meniere’s Disease Symptoms
We work a lot with Meniere’s Disease sufferers. The classic symptoms of Meniere’s Disease are vertigo, hearing loss or hearing fluctuation, tinnitus, dizziness and pressure or pain in the ear. It’s tough enough to have these symptoms: let alone trying to get help from doctors who are too busy to listen.
Meniere’s people know that doctors don’t have many satisfactory, long-term answers. So it’s a discouraging visit to start with. There is no cure, and often times…no hope.
The day comes and you get yourself ready to go to your specialist’s office
You finally attend your ten minute appointment after waiting sometimes up to 6 months… so you really value this occasion and want to make the most of it. Normally your appointment would be interrupted by phone calls and knocks on the door.
Usually you are tired and depressed and anxious. But not this time! TODAY YOU ARE PREPARED!
You enter the examination room at last with your CLIPBOARD and QUESTIONS: all of them. And you ask for permission to lead the conversation with these questions that you have so carefully and hopefully put together. And you ask, ” PLEASE, would it be OK to take notes”?
I guarantee you will have your doctor’s complete and careful attention. …no interruptions…no phone calls.
However, I must also warn you that your doctor may choose not to answer your questions or allow you to take notes. But that in itself, is an answer. The bottom line is that this is your body. You have lived with it for years and know it very well.
It takes courage to take back control of your health, but any true health care professional will be glad that you are ready to do so.
Doctors are very busy and they do not always have time to listen. This may help you to work with your doctor and use the knowledge you have gotten from the Internet. You need to create a list of facts for your doctor and you should be completely factual about your symptoms, to help both of you make the appointment go smoother.
It is difficult these days to be a patient or a doctor
Doctors are human, just as you and I are. They have time limitations that we could never dream of, and the stress of having to deal with some patients that cannot be helped.
What we have tried to do is give you some ideas on how to make the visit to the doctors office as quick and informative as possible, for both of you.
We have 2 other articles on how to work with your Doctor to help you both understand what could be causing your Meniere’s Disease symptoms and the different tests and the diagnosis you will be going through, as well as the different treatment options for your symptoms.
- Dealing with the frustration of the short amount of time to talk with your Doctor
- How to research your Meniere’s Disease symptoms online and working with your Doctor
Both of these articles should give you a lot of ideas to work with your doctor to speed up the visit and get the best results possible within the limited time available in the examination room.
- If you would like a copy of our Meniere’s Disease Study Guide, please click here. This guide is a step by step journey exploring your symptoms and what may be causing them.
- If you would like more information on the system that David, and numerous others, have used, please click here; What Finally Worked.
- If you have any health questions or concerns, please feel free to Contact Us and we will be happy to share our knowledge and ideas with you.
Karin Henderson, Retired Nurse
(604) 463-8666 – Pacific Standard Time