Healing After A Doctor Visit Gone Awry

Although I didn't have a magic answer for the patient in my last post who emailed me about her doctor visit gone awry, I was able to offer her some thoughts about moving forward as a Healthy Survivor.

After acknowledging her pain -- "I’m sorry this happened." -- I encouraged her to:

1. Forgive herself: "Cut yourself a break. You've been under a lot of stress from your illness. The longer you question or blame yourself for the visit, the longer you are diverting energy away from efforts that might help."
2. Focus on the task at hand: "How can you move beyond it and continue to get good care?"
3. Make a decision: "Do you want to continue with this doctor?"
4. If the patient's answer is yes, consider options for repairing the rift: "You can send a note, schedule a visit (although you may need to work out something with the front office about payment), or talk with your doctor’s nurse about your regret, frustrations and concerns."

In my next post, I'll share what I said about preparing for her next visit.

Comments

[Jan Hasak]

I like the idea of talking to the doctor's nurse about your concerns if you want to continue with your doctor. It's less threatening. I wonder also if the patient can talk to a social worker if the doctor works at a hospital.