I am sure that when I give seminars and I talk about being an empowered patient, doing your research and knowing your disease and treatments people think it's too much, they think i'm a little bit coo-coo as my children say.
Well, it turns out I AM RIGHT!
I have a patient doing a very serious chemotherapy treatment. from the start he was a very involved patient, wanting to know the details of his disease and treatment. Being like this, he knew that he had to receive 2 bags of one chemo and 5 bags of another.
So when the nurse came and try to administer a third bag of the first chemo, he said NO!, the nurse got angry, but he maintained his stance telling her that he wanted to speak with a doctor before receiving it.
He then called me, I called his Dr. in the hospital, and of course HE WAS RIGHT. The nurse was wrong.
What would have happened if he had no idea about his treatment?, well he would have gotten the wrong dose of chemotherapy.
and this could happen any time with outpatient treatments as well, so knowing what is your treatment and why is very important. And don't think this happens only in Spain, in the US 100.00 people a year DIE from a medical error, so, WOW.
being an empowered patient pays off every time. It may seem a drag, but it's not.
As usual errors in medication happen after a series of errors occurred, if somebody is interested in knowing how this happened, give me a shout!
I had a similar problem but not as critical. I was receiving Chemotherapy and part of that was an initial infusion of an anti-sickness medication. I had however, been instructed to take this orally before arriving at the hospital. When I spoke with the doctor, we agreed that the infusion was not necessary as this would double the dose and make me feel worse. When I went to the chemotherapy suite the nurse arrived with a bag and I asked what was in it. She said anti-sickness and I made her go and check with the doctor as this was not correct. Being an empowered patient keeps you safe, keeps your sanity and above all else helps you beat cancer.
ResponderEliminarI agree 100% with you, Wendy , but I have trouble convincing people over here !!! I am glad that you found sanity in a difficult situation as cancer,
ResponderEliminarKeep safe, Cecilia