Knowledge is Power

[cycli]

Becoming informed is so important. The more you know the more confidence you have to advocate for yourself. When we come up against arrogant or prejudiced professionals it gives us confidence to stand our ground. However, no matter how much we read as lay people we have to recognise that we don't have the years of training and experience they have. We have to strike a balance between assertiveness and recognition of their "expertise". It's quite apparent that most consultants have far too many on their books to take a personal interest. We crave for the past time when the family doctor made home visits. They were not perfect even then. As a 13yr old I was feeling unwell and GP came round in morning and said I had gastroenteritis. Prescribed Kaolin/morphine medicine and sent me to school. I came back after school, was very ill and GP came round again. He did more checks and called the ambulance. Acute appendicitis. Had it removed same evening. The moral is that we all know more about our bodies than anyone else can. We need their expertise in diagnosing the problem but they need to listen and believe us when we tell them something is wrong.

[cycli]

Self reply I'm glad a few like and have saved this post. Doesn't really require comment but I just wanted to express the dichotomy we all feel between wanting to assert ourselves and our need of the experts. It shouldn't be about luck as to whether we get a good one or an insensitive arrogant one. Given what the drugs do to us we need to feel confident that we can trust their judgement.