How to Help Your Doctor Make a Diagnosis

I’d never heard the term, “Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma,” until an Oncologist explained the disease to me. The first thing I learned is that cancer doesn’t care how unaware or unprepared I’d be.

Why The Doctor Needs Your Input

Like most diseases, cancer is found in different types and stages. Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma has more than twenty types and cancer has four stages of progression. A list of symptoms help your physician determine the type and stage of progression. It can also advise your doctor what to rule out, in order not to waste time on needless but endless tests.

The symptoms of one disease can be similar to another, so it’s helpful to do some research on your own. Educate yourself regarding your symptoms and what they might mean, so you can be better prepared to communicate to your doctor effectively.

Know Your Medical History

Does cancer run in your family? Is there a history of heart disease or diabetes? Has anyone related to you gone blind for any reason? Is there a history of alcoholism? Go back through your mind and ask your elderly relatives too, if you might be at risk for any particular disease.

Be Proactive

After four years of remission, I lost my sight suddenly and no one could explain the mystery. The medical world has a general philosophy when it comes to disease. One patient will more than likely have only one disease at a time, but sometimes the treatment for one disease can trigger a new disorder or impairment that no one considered.

Because I kept track of my treatment schedule, the neurologist was able to see that the loss of my sight might have come from my cancer treatments. No one knew for sure, but a weak, over active or confused immune system can cause damage to the central nervous system and the very thing that protects you from disease can become your body’s enemy.

Keep track of every medication, including the schedule and amount. Don’t leave anything out. I kept a medical journal and documented every test, procedure and treatment, listed by the dates they were given. This became a valuable tool for my doctors to determined how to respond to the loss of my vision. It also helped them to rule out other possibilities, like a stroke or Multiple Sclerosis. My journal became the map they used to determine what to do and how quickly it should be done.

Take your medical journal with you to each doctor visit, and request a copy of every report to keep in a file for future reference. It saves a lot of time and dimes you’d spend otherwise.

Another reason it’s wise to keep a medical journal is that you’ll most likely have several doctors. Specialized practice means that each doctor will know a lot about one thing, but can’t know everything about your body in particular. That’s why it’s also wise to keep each doctor posted, providing each with the report that comes from the others. Don’t assume they communicate with each other.

Communicate

Don’t assume your doctor knows everything about you. Communicate everything to the doctor who is trying to save your life. This is not the time to be intimidated by the doctors authority. Remember he or she is working for you, and with you too. Take charge of your own health and insist that you receive the best care available, even if you need a second or third opinion. Leave no stone unturned and remember the patient with the best prognosis are those who are aware and prepared.