Making the Most Out of Your Doctor Appointments

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Okay, I do miss some of my doctorappointments. Why does this happen? To be honest, I am not sure ifit is my subconscious kicking in and telling me to ignore it orwhether I am having memory problems. I do know that when theweather is bad, I will not travel the thirty plus miles one way, andI know that one got canceled (I actually called) because of the priceof gas and trying to stretch the budget.
My appointments have become too routineand my lab results have been very consistent (boring comes to mind). What puzzles me even more is how difficult it is to schedule severaldoctor appointments in one day. In nine years of trying to do this,I have only succeeded getting two doctor's appointments in one dayonce – repeat one time. I thought I had done it three other times,but one doctor always had to reschedule for some legitimate reason. I do not like this, but things do mess with doctors schedules thatcannot be prevented.
I am discussing this because of a blogin diabetesselfmanagement.com that brings up some excellent pointersthat we should follow to get the most out of our doctor appointments. It is written for diabetes appointments, but I am covering alldoctor appointments. Read the blog and see how you compare and ifyou are planning for a successful healthcare visit. I will covereach point as well to show how I compare. First, I must state that Ihave no problems with keeping my diabetes appointments. It is myother doctors I have my problems in forgetting my appointments.
1. Make time for it (the appointment). As a retired person, Iseldom have any conflicts for my time – unless it is during thewinter months and the weather is bad. As suggested I do turn off mycell phone and if I forget, most offices have reminders to do justthat. I have heard people talking on their cell phones during officevisits and I can understand doctors becoming very annoyed by this.2. Plan ahead. Since we cannot remember everything to ask thedoctor, I do make a list of questions that I need covered. Then aday or two before the appointment I try to prioritize them in orderof their importance to me. I print them out so that if time runsout, I can hand it to the doctor and most of the time I will receivesomething in the mail with answers, or some doctors will call andgive me the answer. Always record any activity out of the usual,like job changes, travel, or other changes. For me this is not aproblem, but I do make mention of applicable health problems thatconcern me. I have them written down and also have blank paper torecord instructions. I do repeat what I have written to make sure Ihave understood what the doctor has said.3. Bring your meter and logbook. Although many people willnot let their doctor have access to their meter, I think I get muchmore out of my appointments as the doctor does download my meter andreviews the readings and a couple of graphs with me. I always havemy logbook for food and insulin injections if it is needed.4. Facing the scale. Get over it, the number is what it isand you can only remove heavy clothing like a heavy winter coat. Iknow this is the procedure for most of my office visits, so I have aninterest, but I do not obsess about it. I do get a few wry comments,but I just say it is what it is and the topic usually is dropped. Idid have one doctor ask if I would consider bariatric procedure. Myinstantaneous no response stopped him cold. He did ask why and Icarefully told him why explaining several of the things I would notbe told and the problems this could cause for me. He commented Imust have researched this and I hauled out a printout and he lookedat it and when he saw the source, handed it back. He said that hehad read it and agreed with it, but that the hospital was pushing alldoctors to try to see what could be done. He did say he would notbring it up again with me, if I could hold my current weight orreduce it, as he was looking at my weight chart and said I have beenup and down but that I was under what my highest had been. I toldhim to look for possible alternatives, but to forget people thatinsisted on the ADA way. He agreed and said I did not need thecalories or carbohydrates.5. Discuss your medicines. This is important and is somethingdoctors are mostly requiring. Although the blog suggests a list orthe bottles, I normally use the list method, but I do have twodoctors that are now demanding the bottles before giving out any newprescriptions or renewals. They are not requiring this at everyappointment, only when something is to be renewed. Some usee-prescribing and a few still are not. This blog does what should bedone but few blogs do. It tells you to list all over-the-counter orherbal products
Many people insist they do not have totell their doctor what supplements or other non-prescriptionmedications they are taking. I will say I record everything, evenprescriptions that are for short periods and I have not taken forsome time since the last appointment. I do list the period that they weretaken.
6. Take off your shoes and socks. For appointments with yourdiabetes doctor and your podiatrist this is a must. You may not haveboth, but you should consider this. Yes, it is a requirement foryour podiatrist, but may not be for your diabetes doctor orendocrinologist if they know you see a podiatrist regularly. Eitherway, you should consider this as being important for the health ofyour feet. Even my neurologist surprises me once in a while whenchecking my neuropathy.
Especially for your podiatrist beprepared to discuss any foot-related concerns you may have. If youhave problems with trimming your toenails or finding shoes that fit,and you don't have a podiatrist, ask for a referral to one.
7. Discuss your goals. Always be prepared for this,especially for your diabetes and have questions at the ready for yourdoctor as to how best achieve these. Be prepared as some doctors areonly interesting in the A1c readings and you may need to ask somespecific questions to convince the doctor you are serious. With allcandor, if your doctor is unwilling to listen and discuss your goals,consider the need to find another doctor that will work with you toachieve goals for both of you.8. Bring your calendar. Always bring your appointment book,or calendar (digital or paper) with you to schedule future visits. Make sure that you allow sufficient time between lab tests and yourappointment to prevent conflicts or obtaining lab results. Alwaysask for a copy of lab results to assist you in tracking your ownhealth. 9. Get the most from your minutes. This may seem difficult asthe 10 to 15 minutes go by fast. Accept that the doctor may feel asrushed as you and you may have more questions than he has time toanswer. I admit this is often the case for me. So I prioritize myquestions to get the most important ones answered first. I amfortunate that a few of my doctors realize that I have a list andthey do ask that I put my name, address, and telephone number on it. I always do this and they generally take the list of questions andanswer them after hours or mail me the answers. One doctor does useemail to answer them. I have had one doctor then call if he has ano-show to answer questions. Another doctor does answer thequestions and gives me my sheet with his answers at the nextappointment. This has let me know that I should be detailed in myquestions and a couple of the doctors have thanked me for doing this.
Not every appointment will go asplanned, so the better you have prepared yourself, the easier it canbe for both of you. Although this seldom happens, I did have oneappointment terminated as the doctor was called away on an emergency. I did hear him instruct his nurse to get my list of questions andgive me my copy of the lab report as he hustled off. The nurse didsay that it way one of his family in the emergency room, but that wasall she said. Two days later, he called to ask if I understood thelab reports and if I had paper and pen available. He answered myquestions after saying it was his wife that had been in a vehicleaccident.
This was totally appreciated andexplained why he had rushed off and I was very appreciative of histime in answering my questions. In the appointments since, nofurther mention was made of what happened and things were normal forthe appointments. This is just one more reason to have a list ofquestions ready with your information included. I have found outover time that most doctors will appreciate the questions printed outin case they are short of time and the good ones will evaluate thequestions and respond to the important ones. Depending on the numberof questions, some do mail back the answers.