The Importance Of Advocating For Yourself At The Doctor's Office

It is very important to advocate for yourself. Why? Because if you do not, then who will? There are plenty of doctors that will not understand your condition. There are some doctors who are there just to make money and will not take your condition seriously. There are some doctors that will pump you with drugs and you will end up taking more medication than needed because of the side effects.

Advocating for myself

I have had to advocate for myself with nurses and doctors because they did not take my condition seriously. I have met so many doctors that speak negatively about my condition and some things they told me about actually never happened to me.

I had to report one doctor because she told me that I would have a miscarriage with my first child. Another doctor that always told me I "looked fine" even at my worse. I know he was just trying to protect me because he did not want me to stress and go into a flare up and something go wrong, but this was still frustrating. There were some nurses I had that were straight up rude and disrespectful to me while I was in the hospital. There was one experience that literally made me cringe. My husband was there and he ended up being upset as well and we had to request the doctor.

Seeing red flags

One time I went to a hospital in Georgia where I needed Lasix (a diuretic) because I was going through a kidney failure at the time and retained fluid. When I was sent to the back to be treated, I told them what I was there for. The first thing that went wrong was that the first nurse placed an IV in my neck and didn’t really try to find a vein in my arm.

The next red flag was that I kept getting sent off for multiple tests (CAT scan, x-ray, bloodwork). The third time I asked what they were doing these tests for and they told me they needed to figure out what was wrong with me. I was so disappointed because I told them exactly what was wrong with me. I told them I had lupus and was going through a kidney failure. I also told them I retained fluid and was out of my medication and needed a refill of Lasix.

When something seems off - say something

My husband ended up getting upset and I ended up requesting that the doctor come down. When she came down I explained the situation. She first told me the same thing, that they need to run tests, but ended up saying, “oh that’s all you need?”

She gave me the medications without a problem and I was discharged and they told me sorry for the confusion, but I never went back. I felt like they just ran up my medical bill. When I received the medical bill it was high because I was charged for all of those unnecessary tests.

Always, always defend and advocate for yourself.