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Being Pro-Active When you Are Just Too Sick To Care

What can one do when they are beyond themselves with overwhelming health and or emotional problems? Many patients suffer because of a lack of resources and proper communication between their doctors. Some patients are immediately written off just because they have too much going on, or because they seem eccentric, or maybe even because they look different, or take a certain medication. Maybe this sounds impossible to some, but trust me it happens a lot more than your average healthy person may think.

If you are one who falls into this category, like me, I can only give a small bit of advice, but maybe it might help. It cannot hurt to try, when you are at the end of your rope or ready to jump off a bridge, or throw in the towel so to speak.

First, and foremost...if you have a willing and capable loved one who can represent you this would be a good idea for when you have to go to an appointment. Also, you could try to get a patient advocate. I am in the middle of trying to find out how to do this for myself, but I don't know really how to go about this yet. I try to advocate for myself when I am feeling ok, but I am finding myself too weak and fed up to bother trying to talk to certain doctors.

Secondly...Make sure you keep a list of everything that is going on written up for when you have an appointment. Also, if you tend to get white coat syndrome and high blood pressure, or have anxiety issues, or just don't want to have to speak too much...write a letter out to your doctor so you can just hand it to them when you get there.

Third of all...If you are looked down upon, not given help, and you feel there is something seriously wrong....DO NOT GO BACK! Please this is very important. I have wasted precious time by going back 4 times to my ex primary care doctor who in my opinion put my life in jeapardy. So, if you are not getting the care you need, see a new doctor.

Fourth of all...If you get really depressed and are thinking horrible thoughts, then maybe you need to get professional help for this too, even if the main reason is because you are having trouble with your regular medical care. Sometimes, good psychiatrist or counselors can actually be a benefit in helping you find good care.

Fifth, but not at all the least important: Find a Reason to Live, a reason to go on, and a reason to Fight for your rights. God is my #1 reason, and I put my faith and hope in him.

Sixth...Make sure you occasionally remind your doctors if they aren't really on the up and up on your chart. They have a lot of patients and sometimes forget things too. So, you can always be helpful to them and yourself by doing so.

Seventh...Take time out and try no matter how hard it is to make sure you get the rest you need. Pamper yourself somehow even if that means a bubble bath or a book.

Lastly, If you have anything to add to this list...Please do.

Peace

Chelle

“By now I am resigned to the fact that if after trying so hard, and doing my best to be patient, and if dealing with all the of these things I have been dealing with are going to be the status quo, then I will probably toss all my medicine out and get a room with a view!“ Really, I guess this has become a testament to how probably many patients feel nowadays. But, why is everyone so sick nowadays anyhow? Was it always like this before the advent of modern medicine and the commercialized world? How does one decide to continue on and pursue care as opposed to giving up, crawling into a shell, or even worse. It makes me sad to see how there are so many people suffering out there, and not enough resources, and not enough time, and not enough answers. I myself am blessed to have some answers and some resources, but I think it is normal to want to just give up on trying to get help. Why should this be normal? From what I have observed from personal experience and what I have seen in others, I am not the only one who feels this way. I can always offer a bit of advice, but I cannot hardly get the help I need. I can always be there for someone, but when I need someone to be there for me they just aren't around. This is life for the chronically ill patient of the day it seems. I have seen this over and over and over again, and there is just not enough love and help to go around. If I could spread myself thin enough to take away all the pain in the world, or to help even a few of those out there who cannot get the care or answers they need, I would do it regardless of any impact upon my own health. Those who have cared and taken time are a blessing, and since many do not have the resources readily available to them, or because their own families or practitioners are overloaded, or unavailable, then the individual is given no choice but to look on their own for help. How does one find an advocate to facilitate health care when they are too tired and weak to do this anymore for themselves? I was blessed enough to have a friend who represented me years back when I just wanted to give up completely. However, she could not get the help she needed though and eventually only was given a few years to live. I guess suffering is a big motivator for some, and concern and empathy for others. Perhaps the world would be a better place if we didn't know so much, or if we all could have the simple innocence of children. I really think it would. With all the hype, stress, over immersion of stimuli and fast paced craziness that seems to permeate through our own walls, even in our own homes in this modern world...I cannot help but wish I lived in a peaceful setting without a care but to care for those around me. Family values have changed. The Nuclear family has declined in my opinion into some morphed and mutated dream of what a real family used to be. Many kids are raising themselves. Parents cannot afford to stay at home, and so many children grow up as latchkey kids, or in some kind of day care setting. Were mental health illnesses really so prevalent even at the beginning of the last century? Sure, there were no computers or such a news oriented high tech world in existence, but I really believe that people are suffering more than ever because of a lack of fundamental basics such as values, structure in the home, work that involved the human being as a whole and not just taxed the brain. Stressors have definitely evolved into something beyond the typical olden day worry. Now we have to try to figure out who we are more than ever. Faith is in a great decline, and money and greed have replaced the need for compassion, fidelity, and overall common sense. So mental illness seems to be on the rise. But, what can we expect in a sick world without a remedy to cure what ails it. It is hard not to be disillusioned with the plight of the world today. So, here is my view and it is only one view. It may not matter at all. If I really had the energy, I would research this and add the ideas and world views of others...especially of patients who are suffering in the modern age, particularly in the Western world. Cultural differences seem to make a big difference on how we see things. It also seems to me that things are much simpler, even if chaotic in places where such innovation and the rush for success does not exist. The Amish are a good example of a culture where family values, spirituality, and simplicity still hold true. They form together as a community to help each other out, despite the lack of health insurance or governmental help which they do not normally look to for help. They access modern health care, but they help each other. Maybe we could learn a lot from cultures such as that. Maybe if there were more family farms, and less factories, families who lived together could eat, work, learn, live, love and play together too. Sure, I enjoy modern convenience...but isn't convenience sometimes just another way to not have to actually work hard and care about each other.