Answers Section Rant: Goodness Gracious ASK Before You Leave the Office!

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Answers Section Rant: Goodness Gracious ASK Before You Leave the Office!
Aug 21, 2009 at 10:18 AM
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- amileegirl
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I am generally HORRIFIED at the things people aren't told when they leave their doctor's office and things people don't think to ask while they are there and then wait until the very last second on-line.

Over the last few days I've seen dozens of the same questions about sweeping membranes and if it was "normal" to bleed, to have painful cramps, or to have a sore cervix -- and -- why it didn't seem to be working. How can ANY doctor worth the diploma on their wall let their patient walk out of the office and not tell them they very likely might BLEED or be in pain!? Or the reasons it might not work!

I see the same thing with Depo Provera shots. Is it normal to be irritable, gain weight, have no sex drive, and have a non-stop period for a month? How could the doctor not relay this information (shoving a cutesy brochure at a patient is not sufficient)? Well, I wouldn't say "normal" but I know and that doctor knew that those are all extremely common, and known side effects of Depo that may or may not stop even after a year of stopping the injections!

If that has happened to you...go back to that office and complain!

Whenever you are undergoing ANY treatment or ANY procedure or are prescribed ANY drug, it is your doctor's reponsibility to give you full disclosure (risks, benefits, side effects, consequences, alternatives) and get your informed consent BEFORE doing anything. It is YOUR responsibility to get that infomation if it isn't forthcoming and insist upon it BEFORE you consent. How can you agree or not agree to something if you don't even know what it is!?

If you are going to be given drugs of any sort, it is imperative to know if it reacts with something else, what the common side effects are, how often it works or doesn't work, dosage, and if it is a drug with a lot of side effects if there are alternatives to try first, are there contraindications for allergy sufferers? If the prescribing physician doesn't know the details (and many times they may not) ASK THE PHARMACIST. They have the knowledge of drug-to-drug interactions, equivalent medications, and proper dosage. And if the information can't be relayed from memory a good doctor or good pharmacist would do what anyone else will do -- look it up! And if you can't get that information then look it up yourself -- but first you have to know the NAME of the drug!

If you want to know what to expect at your scheduled induction then ASK your doctor first. Every hospital is different with some having more unnecessary routines than others, and some doctors are more aggressive with treatment than others. This information is important. Often it can be a matter of the luck of the draw. Insist on knowing what drugs they intend to use, how they intend to use them, how you will be monitored, and hospital protocols. What is the episiotomy rate? The c-section rate? What are your choices? What are the alternatives? You can't make a choice to allow or refuse something if you have no idea what they intend to do!

Answers like "this will just help you along" or "this is hospital policy" or "this will make you feel better" or "patients take this all the time" is not sufficient. It is not full disclosure -- that is not getting informed consent -- and frankly is against the law. If after you ask and you are given the run around, that is a cue to ask more questions and definitely do more digging!

Once you are armed with all you can THEN coming on-line to dig deeper and get more information and opinions will be much more valuable to you.

Think of it like reading the labels on the boxes of food you buy. You can pick the fat free goodie box off the shelf and walk home and eat it blissfully unaware, and then wonder why you've got anal leakage and panic. Or you can read the label first, see some strange ingredient called Olestra, read the fine print and see that it says "may cause anal leakage" and make an informed choice as to if you are going to put it back and read up on Olestra first, take it home and eat it in moderation, or take your chances and eat the whole box.