Doctors Talk, But They Don't Often Communicate
13 comments
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My family and I have had many terrifying and disheartening doctor and hospital visits over the years, too. Just recently, my son was the patient. It took the ER two days to realize he had pneumonia, in spite of so many ‘red flags,’ that I later realized from researching it on the internet afterward. I was with him most of the visits. I finally noticed his cough sounded different, and his skin under his fingernails was blue! [Add to that a test result of ‘elevated white cell count,’ mental confusion, shaking…] At that point, on the 2nd day in ER, the doctor ‘thanked me’ for making them aware. I could only think, “Isn’t this what YOU are supposed to be aware of?” Apparently, part of the difficulty was my that my son, being a young man, didn’t fit the doctor’s idea of someone with pneumonia?
I must say, my experience has been that some doctors not only need education in communicating with patients/families, but in some cases, anyway, need to have a ‘heart installed.’ Wouldn’t call it a ‘transplant’ because that gives the impression that they had a heart originally.
[Sorry, but, these memories can be bitter to me…over the past 20 years I cared for my mother and my husband…hospital experiences were not good, because of certain doctors.]
Communication is critical in every phase of life. When we understand someone, there is a ‘connection,’ whether that person is a friend, a stranger or a doctor. Just that connection can be healing, I believe. Lack of it with one’s doctor can be fatal. -
Thanks Daina.
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i like your post