My good friend Jill has been dealing with a medical nightmare over the past several months. (Click on her blog for details, I'll just say it's been a nightmare for her).
In an attempt to deal with this medical nightmare, she's been getting her records together from all of the various specialists she's seen so when she goes to the Cleveland Clinic next week, they'll have a more complete picture of what has been going on.
She found out that one of the specialists wrote a letter to another saying that Jill was crazy and everything was caused by severe psychosis.
This absolutely scares me. Not only am I worried that one doctor's invalid opinion will make it virtually impossible for Jill to get a diagnosis or treatment for the medical mystery, but I'm also worried for a very selfish reason.
I deal with depression. I have for years, but it wasn't until about three years ago that I swallowed my pride and got myself put on some medication to deal with the situation. If one doctor or just thinks there is a mental health problem can screw everything up for someone...well, what would happen if something nightmarish happened to me? I have a documented history of mental disorder. I've been on a medication you're supposed to have for six months for three years, with no sign of being pulled off of it anytime soon.
I know, I'm selfish for thinking of this, but in this day and age where we have to be our own advocates for EVERYTHING, how can I not be worried?
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my rants, raves, and general blabbing about the day to day trivialities of my life.
1 comment:
My mother went through the exact same thing. She had an undiagnosed 'mystery' medical condition, and one of her doctors up and decided 'it's mental, and she's doing this all to herself.' She went to two appointments with a psychologist, and he pretty much proved that this 'diagnosis of mental disorder' was complete bunk!
(In my mother's case, she has Dystonia, which is a rare neurological disorder that causes muscles to tighten, esp. in face and throat. One side of her face is always worse than the other, so had she been the cause, both sides of her face would have swollen shut around her eyes)
She eventually had to go to a hospital in Pittsburgh and pay out of pocket to get a correct diagnosis. THEN she had to fight the government to get on Social Security Disability. They took all the early information and incorrect diagnoses and ignored all the later correct ones. It got to the final appeal and finally the judge admitted the newest information was probably correct.
The insurance companies are not in the business to provide care, they are in the business to make money (disgusting amounts of profit). The only way they can do this is by DENYING care.
Best wishes to your friend in getting a proper diagnosis. But usually, when a doctor can't figure something out, they guess their patient is crazy, not that they are not a good enough doctor to figure it out. Hopefully some visits with a psychologist/psychiatrist could rule out the 'crazy' diagnosis.
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