A Doctor's Appointment Gone Bad

I know, I have been sounding as if doctors are insensitive and arrogant: Sorry if I suggested this, I my self want to enter the profession.
However there is a need for patients to realize that doctors are not PERFECT! Yes they trudge down a strenuous journey and graduate from prosperous schools, but they are still human, they have the right to make mistakes (hopefully they do not do it so often). At times patients believe that if a doctor says it, it must be right! But that's not the case all the time. It is good to listen to your doctor, but it is also important to be confident in yourself also.

My first bad experience with doctors:

When I had my appendicitis pains, I would go to appointments and doctors would tell me "it could be digestive problems" or they would suggest that I need to be in pain to be diagnosed right. They did not know what it was, instead of doing some test, they guessed! But thats not the worse case I had, here it is.

My second bad experience with doctors:

In 2005, I had injured my thumb while cutting some veggies, but I did not think anything of it because I was not bleeding - there was no cut. After about a couple of days pus started developing in side my thumb right next to the nail area. This induced on me pain like never before, my thumb was turning into a blimp. After much pain, I cut a class in order to go to the hospital. They gave me antibiotic med and I was told if this does not help then come back - So I did - it did not help! The doctor decided that I had to get my thumb cut into. She told me if I did not have my thumb drained, It will worsen to the extend of being amputated (the whole thumb being cut off). So without any sort of pain killers she cut into my thumb (I am even scared of shots, so this was a brave moment for me). After making a cut the pus started oozing out (did I mention I was crying like a baby). However my doctor wanted to make another incision- which was a NO NO for me (too much pain to handle). At that moment I decided not to have another incision in my thumb. They made me sign a paper, saying if something happens to me it's not the doctor's fault. I signed and left. THANK GOD that the incision she did make was big enough and my finger was good in no time.

Now the point of the story, although the doctor was right about getting my finger drained - It could have went better then how it did. She could have advised me to go to the emergence room. Where I could have had some analgesic and a better overall experience. I was basically rushed into the whole situation.

Doctors are essential for our society and it's the most respected profession especially in my opinion. But as a patient it is also equally essential to be critical. This does not mean give your a doctor a hard time about everything and ignore what they tell you - Just know that even in the hospital you have the control over your self, unless of course you are unconscious - that's a different story.

It is important to

- be analytical

- research and fully understand the problem you have

-be knowledgeable on other alternatives for solutions (for example meeting more then one doctor or looking into other fields such as homeopathy or acupuncture, yet still be critical and decide which one fits best into your health issue)