#shared decision making

Refusing to work with your doctor does more than strain the relationship. It can lead to misdiagnosis, failed treatments, and worsening illness. When patients hide symptoms, skip doses, or ignore lifestyle advice, doctors lack the full picture needed to help. Chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease can spiral into serious complications, including organ damage or stroke. The fallout also hits wallets, with extra hospital visits and procedures driving up costs. Distrust, fear, or confusion often fuel this breakdown, but the fix starts with honest conversation. Shared decision making, where both sides agree on a plan, offers a path forward. Patients who feel unheard can seek a second opinion without torching the partnership. At its core, medicine works best as a team sport.

Making Your COVID Vaccine Decision – To take or not to take? Talk to your Doctors 12/7/20

Here’s our message – Talk to Your Own Doctors before making this decision.  I’m hearing a LOT of people making these decisions now.  This is understandable simply because of Pandemic Fatigue, and we’ve all been dealing with COVID for almost a year.  We all feel it.

But Cancer ABCs message is the same as any other treatment decision.  You need to weigh the Risks and the Benefits personally with your own personal doctors.  They are your medical experts. 

This is Shared Decision-making.

Here are some thoughts and suggestions while we all think this through:

·         Schedule an appointment (Telehealth if you can) to talk to one of your doctors who is trained and board certified in Internal Medicine.  This is probably your Family Doctor and your Medical Oncologist.  (not your surgeon)

·         If you have an Infectious Disease doctor, schedule an appointment to talk with them also.

·         This appointment can probably be done within the next month or so for most people.  You can check your probable place in line for the COVID vaccine here.  

·         Watch for more information about Risks (side effects, etc), and Benefits of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines in December as they receive FDA decisions about Emergency Use Authorization.  Use EXPERT Sources for this information.   . We recommend the following sources for COVID-19 Information and Updates:

1.       Johns Hopkins

2.       MD Anderson

Teaching about Birth Plans

Here are the steps I teach for how to develop a birth plan. I do a brief walk-through of a birth planning process. For each, describe how to do the step, who participates, and the primary goal.

Birth Plan Checklist – Pregnant Parent and Partner

Find a checklist such as http://www.pcnguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2-Preparing-Your-Birth-Plan.pdf. The pregnant parent and the primary support…

Guest blog by Wasim Baqir…The benefits for all of shared decision making when managing a patient with atrial fibrillation!

I met Mr. D in clinic. He’s a 52 years old, well mannered chap who walked in looking a little confused.

 “I’m not sure why I’m here?” he said. Neither was I as the appointment screen offered no additional help! 

On looking into this record, David and I discovered that he was one of 46 patients with Atrial Fibriliation (AF) who had been asked to see the practice pharmacist to review their…