Doctors
Yes, you guessed it. Today was a day for visiting one of my doctors. It has been my good fortune to have great rapport with each of them and to have found excellent doctors.
My thoughts for today revolve around the concept that no one knows the patient better than the patient themselves; and, with that in mind, to assist in optimum treatment, I always take a current list of all medications including all over the counter items and not only a list but the strength of each and the frequency of use. The list is kept on my laptop, reviewed and/or edited regularly and easy to print quickly. OK, so everone doesn’t visit a doctor as often as me and this may seem to be overkill but, hey, you never know what is round the corner. Also, it helps to keep each doctor in touch with medications authorized by the others.
Now I am on roll - no, not like ham and cheese. When a new prescription is issued I find it important to watch for any unusual or unexpected reactions or side effects. Even without these, I will search the internet for anticipated side effects. On two occasions, I have prevented the possibility of a more serious development; once with my vision and the other my breathing.
In these two occasions, by using Google to cross reference new side effects with current meds and the new prescription, I was able to avoid possible disasters. Doctors do not always have at their finger tips all the stored information. Wow, how did we survive without computers? Scary thought; but then there was not the proliferation of meds as there is now.
When I was growing up - no, not one of those stories of walking to school - there was only one medication to treat acute and chronic bronchial asthma; now there are so many on the market that it is difficult to keep track and to find the one that meets a person’s medical needs.
Good health to all.
