5 Tips for Being Your Own Health Advocate

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As an adult who has a chronic illness, I am speaking from experience when I say that the best thing you can ever be for yourself and for your children in the case of an illness, is your own (or their own) advocate.

How can you advocate for your (or your child’s) best health interests? Here are my 5 tips.

 

5 Tips for Being Your Own Health

1) Ask questions.

As a child, I wasn’t able to speak up and ask questions. But my mom was my best advocate for treatment for my growth hormone deficiency, and this was before Google was invented to research the symptoms. Her best way of learning things was to pick my doctors’ brains, and she did. When my doctor would ask, “Do you have any questions?” at the end of an appointment, she would always have something to ask. I have learned from her.

Unless I’m undergoing a procedure I’ve already been through, I always ask questions at my appointments. If I can’t think of a question at my appointment, but I have one later, I’m not afraid to call the office back and ask to speak to the doctor about my concern.

2) Do your research

woman on computer
When you research your symptoms and their possible causes, you can learn more about your condition.

The Internet can be a blessing and a curse when it comes to illness. Be careful not to diagnose yourself, because you are probably not a specialist in the field you are researching — and if you were, you would probably have access to higher-level medical journals than you can find for free online. Sometimes you can find just enough information to scare you, but not enough to really figure anything out. That said, Google is great for decoding the language doctors may use to explain a diagnosis, or to help you research possible causes of symptoms and piece together symptoms that may not seem related, but actually are.

For example, I have recently been tested for celiac disease. Celiac is best known for causing gastroenterological symptoms. It can also cause numbness in the extremities, depression, and migraines. Without the Internet and celiac.org, I would not know these symptoms were related, and therefore, I would not know to tell my gastroenterologist about these other symptoms I was also experiencing.

3) Don’t be afraid to ask to have your needs met

When my son was born and he was sent to the Special Care Nursery after birth, I was tethered to a magnesium sulfate IV in the Maternal Assessment Center at Lexington Medical Center due to my pre-eclampsia. If I hadn’t asked to be removed from the Magnesium Sulfate for a short period of time to go see my son on his birthday, it would not have happened. I needed to see my baby in the 24 hours after his birth for my personal mental well-being, and after I made this request, my amazing postpartum nurse spoke with the doctor on call, and she made it happen. If you don’t ask for an accommodation, the doctors and nurses will not know that you need it. They aren’t psychic.

4) A little honey and sugar go a long way

When asking questions or making requests of the medical professionals treating you, please treat them with respect. If you treat them with respect, they should return in kind.

5) When in doubt, get a second opinion

If you don’t feel as if your questions are being answered, or as if you are being taken seriously, don’t be afraid to seek out a second opinion. It may cost you a bit of time and money, but in the long run, you’ll be satisfied that you did everything you could for yourself, or for your child, to have needs met and an accurate diagnosis.

What advice can you give on advocating for your health and the health of your children?

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Barbara Reggio
Barbara Reggio is a wife, mother, and small business owner. She has been married to Jonathan since May 2011, and they are partners in parenting their two children, Lucie (January 2012) and Asher (April 2014). The Reggio family relocated to West Columbia from Long Island, NY in March 2013 when Jonathan accepted a job transfer. She has the best of both worlds working both outside the home at a Customs House Brokerage and running her home based business, Trendy Babywearing. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Maritime Studies from the State University of New York at Maritime College. When she is not working or writing articles for Columbia SC Moms Blog, Barbara enjoys walking at the Riverbanks Zoo with her family, babywearing, reading, singing along to the radio (loudly) in her car, loom knitting, documenting her children's lives with photography, and writing on her personal blog http://www.trendsettermom.com/. Barbara is currently working on her goal of becoming a lifetime member with Weight Watchers.

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