I had this conversation with a friend the other day.
He was talking about his frustration with the healthcare system; how none of his doctors actually care, and how they’re all just in it to make money.
I agreed with him to an extent, although in all fairness, I have come across a few good doctors in my time.
But the majority of the doctors I’ve seen don’t care about doing what’s best for me — not at all.
My experiences with Doctors
I’ve unfortunately had many experiences where doctors did things simply to line their own pockets, without regard for me and my health.
Things like tricking me into signing a document that allowed them to test out a new pain medicine on me while I recovered from a c-section, causing me a great deal of extra pain and frustration in the progress.
Then when I did say something, I got defensiveness and curtness. Not an apology.
But perhaps the most frustrating of my experiences was being prescribed opioids following an intensive spine surgery — a necessary thing, if prescribed responsibly.
However, instead of taking care of me, the doctor took care of himself. He raked in the cash every month he kept me on the drugs, and when I asked him for help getting off of them, he refused.
He told me I needed to keep taking them — for my health. He said I’d be in a lot of pain and have a lot of issues if I didn’t.
He was a liar. He just wanted the money, and he didn’t care about the years I suffered being addicted to opioids. He didn’t care about how hard it was for me to get clean, and he definitely didn’t care about the years I spent rebuilding my life after.
And that’s who I trusted with my health?
The only person who’s going to care about you the way you would….is you.
If you don’t agree with something a doctor says, don’t just go along with it!
Don’t feel that they are the ones with the knowledge and you’re not, so you need to listen to them.
That’s what I did, and look where it got me.
If you go to the doctor and they’re pushing you to do something you don’t feel comfortable with, take the time to discover why.
Read about treatments: what they do, if they’re really necessary, if it would be the best thing for you, etc.
That’s one thing my friend does now — he asks questions. He doesn’t just passively sit and listen to what the doctor tells him, then agree and do it without question.
If they want him to start taking a new medicine, he finds out why. He researches the potential risks and benefits, then makes a decision based on what he feels would be best for him, taking everything the doctor said into account.
Ask questions. Get informed.
Don’t just sit back and let things happen to you when it comes to your health — be an active participant.
Yes, you may offend some doctors that feel it’s your “duty” to listen to them, but who cares if you didn’t go to medical school and get the training they did?
You know your body best. When I was on opioids, although I had no knowledge of how dangerous the pills actually were, I started to wonder why I was still taking them 2 months post-surgery.
I was a young, uneducated 22-year-old, but I felt in my gut that something wasn’t right. I hadn’t known anyone who’d taken opioids and I didn’t know that they were dangerously addicting, but I knew they were a strong painkiller.
And although I wasn’t a doctor, I didn’t think strong painkillers were something you should take indefinitely.
I should’ve listened to my own intuition.
If I would’ve dismissed my doctor’s counsel, or gone to another doctor for a second opinion, I would’ve had a much easier time getting off opioids.
I wasn’t addicted at that point, and if I had trusted myself more, I never would’ve become addicted. I can’t change the past, but I can change the way I respond to counsel from doctors from here on out.
So when a doctor prescribes me Oxycodone for a toothache?
Don’t want it. Don’t need it.
When a doctor tells me to take Lortab in preparation for an exam, “just in case” it’s painful?
Forget it. I don’t listen, and I sure as heck don’t fill that prescription.
I learned that you can’t trust that everyone will do what’s best for you. These doctors are likely just doing what they’ve been told, but I know better.
I know how dangerous it can be to take opioids at all, and I’m not going to make the mistake of ignoring the way I feel again.
You shouldn’t either.
