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I've written about negative medical experiences, so I
wanted to share a positive experience I had.
I found a really good dermatologist - Dr. Johnson - and was really
pleased both with my new patient consultation for a routine skin check, and a
follow-up to have small moles removed.
Dr. J. shook my hand firmly, and we spoke briefly during
the skin check, and I told her that I had a balance problem. She didn't ask a lot of questions, but made
sure that I was as comfortable as possible while examining me. She was extremely diligent in her
examination, and said that just to be on the safe side - since my mother has a
history of skin cancer - she wanted to remove a couple of small moles (they
turned out to be normal). She explained
what would happen, said there was no rush, and that was it.
I decided rather than waiting, I would go ahead and get
them removed, so I scheduled an appointment.
When Dr. J. came into the room on the appointed day, after shaking my
hand, she remembered that I had mentioned a balance problem. We talked about what position - lying down in
some way or sitting up - would work best for me. In a situation that has some inherent stress
involved - I knew it was a minor procedure but still not what I'd call
enjoyable - I didn't want to challenge myself.
I said I would prefer not to lie down, and she told me
where to sit, and which wall to face so that she'd still have good
lighting. Obviously, I still wanted her
to be able to do her job well. I asked
for a stool because I knew that having my legs/feet dangling would make me feel
ungrounded, which I don't like. She
asked her assistant to bring in a stool, which was placed under my feet. I also asked her to shut the vertical
blinds. I knew that looking at the
blinds would bother me; they move, and in this case, I could see traffic and
people through the window. I didn't want
to challenge myself visually, and she immediately closed the blinds.
Dr. J. thought to ask me if I wanted the part of the
examination bed where a person's head goes to be raised up, so that one end of
the bed was at ang angle. I thought
about it, and said yes, that it might be helpful. I didn't lean my whole body against it, but
resting my arm on it at times felt good - it meant I could change positions a
bit, and having part of the bed higher made me feel more grounded.
Dr. J. asked me if I wanted to know what she was going to
do before she did it, and I said I did.
She did, in fact, do a really good job of telling me what would happen,
and this made it easier on me because there were no major surprises.
The whole procedure took less time than I was expecting,
which was nice, and then Dr. J. and her assistant did a good job of explaining
the after care. I repeated much of what
they said to make sure I understood, and they patiently answered my
questions. They also gave me the
instructions in written form, but having the verbal explanation was much easier
for me.
I left the office relieved that for once, a medical visit
had actually been very manageable, thanks in large part to a doctor who took
some extra time. It wasn't really a huge
amount of time - though I know doctors are on the clock these days - but it was
enough to make a difference for me. Dr.
J. was considerate and compassionate, but still managed to be efficient and
skillful, and for that I was grateful.
Vestibular disorders - www.vestibular.org
Functional vision disorders - www.covd.org (College of Vision Development)
I have also had a couple of good experiences with doctors after explaining that I have Meniere's. My dentist had no experience with someone having a dizzy attack in his chair. I explained that I knew what was happening and after that he moved the chair very slowly so that I didn't get dizzy again. Also need a pillow when lying down to do physical therapy.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you spoke up, and were heard - thanks for sharing!
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