HIV: ON LIVING-TAKING CONTROL: LEARN TO DEAL WITH THE MEDICAL SYSTEM
A crucial part of living well is taking control. A crucial part of taking control, for some people, is learning to deal with the medical system. The medical system is complicated. The best advice we can give both the person with HIV infection and the caregiver is to ask questions. One reason that people don’t ask questions is because they feel intimidated. Medical people often don’t understand they are intimidating. If you don’t ask them questions, they assume you already know the answers, not that you’re afraid to ask. Another reason people don’t ask questions is because they worry about offending their physicians. Any good physician will not be offended by a question. Neither of these is a good reason not to find out what you want to know. Ask how to get medical care at night and on weekends. Get pushy if you are in pain; pain is usually unnecessary. Ask what’s happening with new treatments. Ask for advice on alternative treatments—treatments like acupuncture or untested drugs. Ask where you are in the course of the infection. Ask what tests you are being given, what those tests detect, what the alternatives to the tests are. Ask for a second opinion on a diagnosis or an interpretation of a test. People worry especially about asking for second opinions; but this is a reasonable and prudent request, and physicians are not offended by it. In general, you have a right to know about treatments, medications, and procedures. It is a good idea to write questions down before visiting the doctor: most people forget some or most of what they want to ask. Questions about medical care are best addressed to your doctors. Questions about the medical system and resources for medical care in general are best addressed to a social worker.*240\191\2*
