Mistakes Were Made: How To Get The Most Out Of Your Medical Appointments (Part Four)

This is the fourth part of a series of posts on mistakes I made while trying to be taken seriously by medical professionals, and how you can avoid them moving forward. I hope by sharing my observations and suggestions, more women will be able to avoid being gaslit, ignored, or misdiagnosed, and ultimately receive quality medical care.

Don't be like me. Set your medical appointments up for success!

After many hours doom-scrolling social media and seeing countless women relate their experiences during medical appointments, I've compiled a list of things that I did or said that didn't help me receive the care I deserved. At the time, it never occurred to me that I needed to be a certain way or avoid saying certain things. I mean really, why should we need to play this game just to be believed, truly heard, and given care without bias or gaslighting?

In a perfect world, we wouldn't have to consider the following, but the world isn't perfect and until it is we deserve the best medical care possible.

Stay on top of your medical records, chart and notes.

If you want to get really mad, make a habit of reviewing your medical notes after each appointment or procedure. I guarantee each time you will find mistakes, things that never happened or were not discussed, or something you were not told (like a diagnosis, or abnormal test result that you were told were fine.) Despite all that, you still need to make a habit of looking over everything anyway.

I credit some of these mistakes to simple dictation errors, and some are due to the fact that many doctors these days aren't taking physical notes during the visit and later rely on memory alone after seeing multiple patients. The rest can be a mix of things they thought, but didn't actually tell you, or something that was misinterpreted.

These mistakes will range in severity, and you won't be able to have everything corrected every single time If you email the doctor with a laundry list of things to correct after each visit, you'll alienate them pretty quickly This is where you'll have to pick your battles. Let the little things go, let the small inaccuracies stay., and chose the larger, potentially damaging information to ask for correction. And when you do contact them, try to phrase it as a polite request, at least at first.

For instance, after one appointment I noticed the notes summary said, "patient is a smoker"when I am not. I worried this would negatively impact my future care, and possibly insurance coverage, so I emailed the doctor and pointed out that It looked like a typo and should have said "patient is NOT a smoker" and could they please correct that so I wouldn't have any issues moving forward. And they did, very politely. Remember, a little sugar can go a long way.

It may seem like a hassle, and is sure to get your blood pressure up every now and again, but keep in mind that a substantial number of chronic illness patients end up unable to work and need to eventually apply for disability. By staying on top of your medical records now, you're increasing your chances that all of those records will eventually help your case, and not hurt it. Plus, you never know when a new provider is actually going to look back at your records, so you don't want to poison the well with false information.

I hope that helps you navigate your medical care more efficiently :-)

Lovingly,

Jane