by  Christine Miserando   butyoudontlooksick.com             

 

INTRODUCTION: The pace of life is getting faster. Everyone is in a rush and nobody likes waiting; patients do not like to wait and physicians do not like to keep patients waiting. Instead of spending time in the waiting room counting the minutes, you may be able to better use the time by preparing for the doctor visit. Advanced planning can help you get more out of your visit.

 Doctors are trained to recognize disease states by the pattern of symptoms the diseases create. If you have prepared for your doctor visit by listing your symptoms, you will be better able to answer your doctor’s questions, which can help him solve the puzzle and determine what's wrong with you.

Doctor Visit Preparation: When You Are Sick When a doctor visit is the result of an illness, the patient wants to know, "What do I have?" In preparing for this type of visit, the patient’s goal should be to help the physician answer that question. Like a detective, the doctor will want to know all sorts of things about your particular illness, such as how, what, when, and where the symptoms are occurring in the body. Preparing outside the office in a less rushed atmosphere allows for better recall. Sit, think, organize, and write down your thoughts to answer the following types of questions:

1. What are your symptoms?

2. When did your symptoms begin?

3. Have you ever had these symptoms in the past?

4. Can you relate the onset to a new medicine, stress, injury?

5. What were you doing at the onset of symptoms?

6. Have the symptoms changed over time?

7. What made your symptoms better or worse?

8. What alarmed you enough to come to the doctor?

Doctor Visit Preparation: Follow-Up Visit  Follow-up visits exist to help you and your doctor evaluate treatment progress. Common questions at the follow-up visit are:

 "How am I doing?"

"Should I be doing anything else?"

 "When will I be able to stop the treatment?"

The purpose of the visit is different from the initial visit, and the preparation for the visit is different. Just as there are patterns for the onset of an illness, there are expected patterns for recovery. Your doctor will want to know if you are progressing as expected. Often your condition changes, and you may not notice gradual changes. A review of your previous notes will help you. Sit, think, organize and write down your thoughts. Especially if you have not improved, prepare for your visit using both questions for a sick visit and some of the questions for a follow-up visit listed below. If you have improved, the following type of questions may be used to monitor you progress:

1. How did the symptom change since the last  visit?

2. How did you tolerate the new treatment (any medication side effects)?

3. How regularly were you able to take your medicine or treatment?

4. What lifestyle changes , if any, were you able to make?

5. What new symptoms did you notice?

6. What continues to make your symptoms better or worse? 

7. Where do you have any residual symptoms?

8. When, after starting treatment, did you notice a difference?

Doctor Visit Preparation: Routine Visit Sometimes patients see their doctors when they feel well. This is the visit to discuss preventive medicine, ending certain medications that you may be on, health maintenance issues (screening tests), and advanced directives. Advanced directives include making out a living will or designating a healthcare proxy, and making decisions about whether you want to minimize heroic measures in the case of terminal illness, such as shocking of the heart, CPR, mechanical ventilation, tube feeds, etc. These are some of the type of questions to consider:

1. How you are feeling on your current treatment?

2. Should you make any lifestyle changes?

3. Do you have any questions that have arisen from things your friends, neighbors, or spouse have said, or things you have heard from the news media?

4. What preventive or screening tests should be done for you?

5. When will you be able to decrease your frequency of doctor visits?

6. If you take a lot of pills each day, is there a way you would be able to change your medications to decrease the number of pills you take each day?

 

A little preparation can go a long way to make your visit with the doctor as productive and helpful as possible.