This is one part of the service that has always bothered me. "Now is the time for silent prayer." As soon as you start to think the words the minister says "And now for the hymn". Or similar instructions.
It makes sense. There is not time enough to give more then 10, 20 seconds to the silent prayer. The service must get back on track or it could take a very long time to complete. .
You sing the hymn or say the written prayer but there is not time to read and really think about the words.
Why did I think about this in relation to us?
What happens we go to the doctor?
Most doctor appointments last for at most 10 - 12 minutes before the physician needs to go on to the next patient.
A minute or two is taken up with pleasantries. "Hi. How are you? Fine. Thank you. And you?"
"What's going on?" The doctor asks.
"I have a pain here. " "My pain has changed." "I have a new symptom." "I just don;t feel right."
Thats another minute or two gone.
"Please explain what you mean by that."
By the time you have answered and he/she digests what you have said you are right up against the 10 - 12 minutes.
Then comes the pronouncement.
"I think you have ( ) and this is what needs to be done to treat it."
He/she names medications, therapies, even surgery or a referral to a different doctor.
There is no time to digest it, to hear the words, to really understand what and why he is saying what he is.
If you have a good doc, and he is not on a strict deadline, you may be able to keep him there longer to answer your questions.
More often then not, the time is not there.
Because of the time constraint we are often pushed to make, or feel we are being pushed to make a decision at that moment; to accept a prescription without getting a full rundown of the possible risks vs. benefit. To not have the time or presence of thought due to the rush to say "I have tried that before, it did not work, or made me fell ( ) or I have heard bad things about it, is there something else instead?
"Why do I need to see someone else? Who is this person?" Surgery, physical therapy, a procedure. Is the time there to explore all of the minutiaea?
Usually the answer is No.
It is easy to want to rush into making a decision, to agree to something, anything. because of our need.
Just like in church the information is there, the offer is there, the time is absent.
But as with prayer, we need to remember that the time is available outside of church, outside of the doctor's office. No matter how rushed we feel, we need to step back and make the time for ourselves.
My book.
"Fascinating" Stephen S. Hall. writer, N.Y.Times magazine. "Hard to put down." A.C.P.A., American Chronic Pain Association.
So true. We need to make time for ourselves sometimes.
ReplyDeleteAnd at the doctors, I find writing things down helps as we always feel rushed and end up forgetting to say something. And that something could be the most important fact.
That is such an important thing to remember to do. Thanks Liz.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I need to add that WE need to be our own advocate.
ReplyDeleteIf we don't do research on our own and then make another appointment for any leftover questions, then we are putting blind trust in another human being (who makes mistakes just like we all do), who unfortunately most likely chose their profession for financial gains; not just to "help" others in need, like so many of us mistakenly believe until it's too late to un-do a decision that can have lasting repercussions.
I had a seizure a couple weeks ago. I was put on a new medication that was recently approved for pain about a month ago. Because no other cause for the seizure could be determined from the many scans and tests immediately after, it was determined that one of the many new types of medications I've been put on (before recently I was only on normal pain meds) must have been the reason for the terribly scary event.
My doctors have no trouble throwing these off-the-wall meds at my pain, because they get paid or get free items from the maker's of whatever medication is still in it's infancy and able to be profited off of the most until the time comes where generics are forced to become available to compete and lower the price/profit. It's really ridiculous.
Please take the extra time to do your own research online before doing anything to your body. I wish I had paid more attention to the possible side effects-- some of these "treatments" can have life-changing consequences.
You don't know what to ask when you're not given all the information. It's impossible for a doctor to list all the potential side effects during the short window of time that they allow us.
Take care all. I hope you're having a decent pain day!
One of my favorite expressions is "you don;t know what you don't know, so you don't know what to ask."
ReplyDeleteThe problem too is thatthe list of possible side effects listed for any med includes even the most remote, to help forestall litigation.
I hope that was the only seizure.
I hope the same back to you.
Caropl
:) The commercials they have on tv here spend most of their advertisement reading aloud the possible side effects, while showing actors happily doing their daily activities. When some of them list things like "cancer", and "death", it seems silly to me that they are suggesting those as acceptable possible side effects when it's for medications that aren't (100%) needed to help improve quality of life. I know they're listing the side effects that, no matter how small of a chance, will hopefully keep them from future lawsuits. But it's sad that they're profiting off the miserable situations that some people are trapped in.
DeleteI'm stuck in bed watching tv most of the day, and every time I see the advertisement for the medications that probably contributed to, if not directly caused, my seizure, it makes me want to throw something at the tv. I should have not tried so long to push through all the other side effects I was experiencing from those medicines. They barely took away any of my pain, but when you're desperate enough you'll risk anything to get some amount of relief.
Thanks for letting me vent my feelings. Sorry for the huge comments (and all the rambling.)
Does writing in this blog help you get some of your frustrations out? I'm thinking about trying it for myself so I can connect with other people who understand the struggles that chronic pain causes.
Again, please take care. I'll be sure not to intrude anymore on your personal web space! :D
Im glad that you are commenting. And not rambling, no worries (I love that epression)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy, sometimes, writing it. ((*_*))
I thinnk if writing is something you enjoy it is well worth the effort and it does allow you to make the connection, helping others, others helping you and maybe sometimes also being cathartic.
It is not an intrusion. I am glad when people respond and have an opinion or feelings to share about something I have written so I look forward to more from you.
Carol