In a land far away lived an ant and a grasshopper. It was September, the leaves were turning, the air was crisp, and they each knew that winter would be on its way.
The ant spent hours each day preparing for the cold. Food was stored up, the car was winterized, snow shovels were checked out, and the snow blower would be ready. And a heavy-duty sweater was taken out of storage.
On the other hand, the grasshopper spent most of his time on the golf course, on the beach, playing pickle ball, and simply ignoring that the seasons would be changing. The grasshopper relied on luck. And luck is never a good investment.
Okay, we all get the moral of the story, but what does this have to do with serious medical illness?
Let me start at the beginning—
An acquaintance is a prominent rep for Big Pharma. She was an avid swimmer, a yoga instructor, and amazingly fit for a woman who was in her late seventies. Her fitness rapidly declined when a serious leg injury derailed her for almost a year. Several months ago she became desperately ill with pneumonia, was hospitalized and continued to have overwhelming fatigue and shortness of breath.
Her dutiful spouse sought the guidance of healthcare professionals in the community and followed their recommendations. The patient dramatically declined and every several weeks there was a new complication.
When is it time for another opinion?
When this kind of situation starts the inexorable downward decline, the patient and family need to address the question of another opinion at another healthcare institution. Fresh medical eyes (and minds) can step back and take an objective perspective of tests, procedures, and imaging.
The patient and the family finally made that the decision and asked for a referral to another healthcare institution--not just to another physician in the same practice.
At the second facility, an internal medicine physician in her early forties took a detailed history and became concerned that this was not simply post-COVID fatigue or long COVID. Extensive investigations documented multiple blockages in the coronary arteries, which were not amenable to bypass. Aggressive physical therapy was recommended as well as some experimental medical interventions.
The final chapters are not yet written for this patient, but had another opinion been sought earlier in her course, perhaps the outcome would be different.
Bottom line, the take-home message:
Somewhat facetiously, when we are ensnared in a complex legal situation, that is not the best time to go to the yellow pages and find an attorney. Likewise, seek a physician or another type of healthcare provider before you become ill.
If the overall trajectory of your healthcare management does not produce some stability or improvement of the condition, you need to step back and just ask the question if you should seek care elsewhere. At least another medical opinion (and not the opinion of your neighbor or bridge partner).
And if you are seriously thinking of that trajectory, today, now is when the records retrieval process should be initiated. If your healthcare records are not on the same electronic medical record system as the physician who is your next opinion, and if the records systems can’t “talk” to each other, you need copies of the relevant information (current x-rays, blood tests, other test results and medications).
Pull all the healthcare records together from your patient portal of your current physician’s office. They are your records. You are entitled to copies. Now, not three weeks from now. Speak to the physician’s office manager if you have difficulties.
Find out how to access your patient portal. Talk with your doctor’s office staff about a password. Ask them to walk you through online the first time. Explore the website and see where you can get a list of all your medications. See test results. Email a nonurgent message to your physician.
Bottom line: At the end of the day we need to be proactive, we need to be empowered because when it comes to health and well-being, the buck really does stop with us. This is the final heat in the Olympics for the gold medal. There is no do-over.
The ant survived a harsh winter because he had planned ahead. He knew where his records were. He could access his test results. The grasshopper, well, he enjoyed the waning days of summer and headed into that harsh winter quite unprepared. And we know how that turned out.
You can buy Dr. Creagan's revised, updated book How NOT to Be My Patient on Amazon.
Image created with AI.