Make the Most of Your Next Doctor Visit
A nurse practitioner at a past meeting gave us a list of things that could improve your next doctor visit.
- Keep a journal of symptoms, progress, and decline.
- Make a written list of concerns, give the doctor a copy and talk about the important ones first.
- Ask questions, especially about words or things you don’t understand (Write your questions down before the visit).
- Be honest, don’t minimize.
- Share your knowledge, including what you or others have learned about your conditions. (Including the existence of this group! Hand the staff a copy of the PNSN brochure so the practice can inform their patients).
- The nurse practitioner talked about how she and her family were initially anxious and now inspired, watching her uncle deal with the effects of PN. It’s too easy for patients like us to focus inward and forget that our children and younger relatives are affected by our situation and stories, she said.