Successful Body
Repair May Require a Different Specialist
There’s a leak underneath
your kitchen sink. Will you call the
electrician?
Your car makes a whining noise when you
accelerate. Will you take it to a body shop?
You probably answered “NO” to both those
questions. So consider this: just like the wrong
home or car specialist can’t repair the problem,
the wrong medical specialist may not be able to
fix what’s wrong with your body.
Several years ago, Robert Tracy (whose name has
been changed) was diagnosed with spinal stenosis,
a painful condition that results from the discs
in his spine squeezing against his spinal cord.
In addition, Robert suffers from neuropathy, a
burning tingling in his feet, likely a result of
the stenosis.
In 2008, Robert visited a neurologist who told
him nothing could be done to relieve his pain.
Robert would just need to live with it, even as
it became increasingly painful. But earlier this
year, through some Internet research, Robert
learned there might be alternatives after all.
He went to see an orthopedic surgeon who
suggested Robert undergo a nerve block, an
injection that could help relieve that
excruciating pain.
Why didn’t the neurologist mention a nerve
block? We don’t know.
Helen Kramer (whose name has also been changed)
suffered for months from stomach pain, bloating
and cramps. Her primary sent her to a
gastroenterologist who ran tests, but concluded
there was nothing wrong with Helen. She
continued to suffer intermittently. Then, a few
months later, she was admitted to the hospital
with an intestinal blockage, only to learn that
she had Stage IV ovarian cancer. Helen died a
few months later. Had she been seen in time by a
gynecologist, Helen’s cancer might have been
successfully treated.
If your symptoms just won’t go away, or your
prescribed treatment doesn’t seem to help, or
your pain continues without relief, ask your
primary care doctor what other specialists might
look at your situation differently.
That may sound odd. Our primaries should know
exactly which specialist to send us to! Most of
the time, they do. But as you’ve seen from
Robert and Helen’s stories, sometimes a primary
makes the wrong choice. Unless we speak up, they
won’t even know to make another recommendation.
If your primary has no suggestions, then do some
research on your own like Robert did. After all,
it’s your body. It’s up to you to keep pursuing
the repair that fixes the problem.
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Learn more about choosing the right specialist,
or making sure you are
seeing the right specialist for treating your
own medical problems.
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© 2010 Trisha Torrey
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author.
..........
Trisha Torrey is Every Patient’s
AdvocateTM.
She offers no medical advice,
but empowers those who
want to learn more about
diagnosis and treatment options
by
providing useful tools and
resources.
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