Some Things I've learned

I imagine throughout this blog, I will be doing multiple "things I've learned" posts.  The entire thing has been a learning experience.  I have only ever been the patient in my life, not the spouse of the patient.  Both roles require educating yourself (no matter what the situation is) and reading as much as possible.  Ok.  So what are some of these things I've learned?

  ♥Trust your gut.  This wasn't something I learned----I'm a HUGE trust your gut person.  I think it's something Josh learned.  If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.  Sometimes we forget and blow off certain ways we may feel---DON'T.  It may save your life.

♥You have rights.  As a patient you have rights.  You have the right to choose where you want to be treated and who you want to treat you.  When Josh was in the first hospital, I felt stuck.  I felt like he had brought himself to this ER, so we were "stuck" with the surgeon they "assigned" to us.  We were "stuck" doing his surgery there.  This made me feel extremely uncomfortable.  He was very "doped up" and we both had talked about not having big procedures done at this hospital.  Do your research.  Get treated (or get your loved one treated) where you feel comfortable.  This is ALWAYS an option.  You have hired these people to treat you medically.

♥Maintain a list of all of your medications.  Read about each. Double check dosages from your Dr. to your prescription.  Human error can happen to anyone at anytime.  No one is perfect, and unfortunately sometimes that carries over to our medications and healthcare.  If you have a medication that you are unsure about, you don't like how it makes you feel, you don't like the risks---ASK QUESTIONS.  Find out why you are on it and if there are alternatives.  No one is going to be a bigger advocate for you than yourself.

♥Ask questions.  Yea, I had to say it again.  It is THAT important.  It is your health---there is no reason why you shouldn't know or understand every little inch of what is going on in your body and why.  If your Dr. can't answer what you want to know, ask someone else.  Keep a journal!

I have so many of these "things I've learned".  I'm going to keep the list short in each post about them so that it isn't tedious to read.  I will be adding more in future.