I had lunch with a doctor friend of mine today.  He was in a venting mood.  He had just seen a commercial for a pain medication.  Listed as one of the side effects was…death!!!  Admittedly the possibility is very low, but it is still a possibility.  He wanted to know why people would even consider taking something like this for pain.

My answer is that people trust their doctors.  If he says that something will help they do what he suggests without reading the fine print.  Even worse if they are told that they need surgery they only get second opinions if their insurance company insists on it.

I’m not saying everyone is like this but a lot of times if you trust someone you don’t ask questions, you don’t do any research, and you don’t look for another opinion.  These are our bodies; we must do our homework!

The parents of a friend of mine both had cancer.  Her father was diagnosed first but they were too late and he died.  Her mom discovered she had it a month later, again too late; she died six months after her husband. Their daughter, my friend, eats healthy, exercises, and doesn’t smoke. But with two parents who had cancer she made sure she had regular testing done.  And guess what?  Two years ago she found two lumps in her breast, one large and one small.  Her doctor tested the larger one; it turned out to be benign.  But was the smaller one tested?  No, they told her it was too small to worry about.

Sadly it doesn’t end there.  Over a year’s time the small lump grew and by the time it was tested it was found to be cancerous!  When the doctors went in to remove it they found that the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes under her left arm.  A second operation was required to remove them but she was informed that she would lose the use of 60% of her arm.  Could this have been prevented?  Maybe not but if she had gotten a second opinion a year earlier she might not have needed the follow-up operation.

Many years ago I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  At the time the neurologist told me he wanted to inject drugs directly into my spine.  I asked him if this would cure me.  He said no, if I was getting better it might help; if I was getting worse it wouldn’t help me at all.  Great odds!!

To this day I don’t know why I asked that question, I had never questioned my doctors before.  I was on the fence however; should I allow him to inject me?  Back at work when I mentioned it to my boss he didn’t hesitate; he insisted I go for a second opinion.  I scheduled an appointment with another neurologist that he recommended.

On the day of my appointment I was having trouble walking and had to have a friend drive me.  After evaluating me the doctor told me he agreed that I had ms but he didn’t believe in treating it with drugs.  Okay, this was an answer I liked, no drugs.  He recommended, however, that I get a third opinion because there was a conflict in how to treat it.  I ended up seeing one of the top ms doctors in the country.  He agreed with the second doctor that I shouldn’t take the drugs.

But you’ll notice that if I hadn’t had people pushing for the second and third opinions I probably wouldn’t have done it myself.  I might even have allowed the first doctor to inject me.

Both my doctor friend and I have seen too many people that don’t ask questions and just do what they are told.  This in the end can lead to unneeded surgeries or medications.  There is also the possibility that someone may be told that nothing is wrong and therefore needed attention does not happen.

Remember, ask a lot of questions, do your research, and get second opinions.  Doctors, no matter how wonderful they are, are not infallible!