6 Secrets to Getting the Right Medical Diagnosis

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This article was informative. I have had an autoimmune disease for 20 years and have learned how to communicate effectively but not everyone has the same personality. My Mom had been sick for the last 10 years, it changes how she communicated, due to the pain and fatigue that she suffered. I do not think she was taken seriously because she was a little depressed but who would not be after 10 years? She died the day after Christmas, 5 days prior to going to the Mayo clinic. If you or a family member is not getting anywhere-switch doctors, research, I would even hire a medical investigator or coroner knowing what I know now.

Laurie of CA 2:05PM February 04, 2013

How do I find a diagnostician in the Kansas City, Ks/Mo or Wichita, Ks area,
related to limited circulation in ankles and feet of a teenager? Has been experiencing symptoms for over 4 months, seen cardiologist, rheumatologist,
Doppler test, MRA, with no determination of any blockage in circulatory system.
What can a person do after all these tests with no answer of any kind?

B E Smith of KS 2:18PM January 26, 2013

I have to agree with the comfort in a doctor saying they don't know instead of being patted on the head with a bad diagnosis. I've tried some of these tips and they haven't worked for me unfortunately. I know I'm a zebra and I have given doctors a run for their money. That makes me leary of doctors that try and pigeon hole me.

Mags of PA 12:49PM November 09, 2012

64 yr old female has 1976 breast implant revisions removed and replaced in 94 then again because of slippage in 2010. Massive pain and subsequent poor healing. Two more plastic surgeons. Two more surgeries. Infectious Disease specialist MD in picture since 8/11. Then total removal of both implants. Then picc lines with massive antibiotic doses for 3 + mos., (5 hospitalizations off and on, plus removal of adhesive material left inside one breast --thought to be one possible cause of infection continuing.)Now picc lines out, oral antibiotics are course of action, and fear of more surgeries removing more tissue and nipples appear to be pending. Research and all efforts seem to fail. MD's seem perplexed. Patient and family worried sick and financially ruined. IDEAS? HOSPITALS SPECIALIZE? Patient in Fl.

Sally Ann Annderson of FL 8:20PM December 30, 2011

What I think is if you don't have the right insurance then they don't want to deal with you..anyone that is on medicaid, medicare or any other gov. insurance program life means nothing. So, the hospital and the doctors cut cost and want give there best to really health the needy..today its all about greed!

eunice of VA 8:51AM October 29, 2011

Mine a complicated issue..... 6 Surgeries to date, 3 Cervical disc and 3 Brain for an Aneurysm. Ive seen sooo many Doctors ranging from Neurologists, Neurosurgeons 6 actually for one thing or another. Ive had the same Headache and severe intracranial pressure for five years. Diagnostic and Therapeutic injections to help the pain as well as finding "the" pain generator. I have Barium markers ( 6 ) embedded in my bone graft of which I am allergic to, the CDC has given me instruction to have those markers removed due to their toxicity. My case has been sent around the country in a grand round with the consensus being, removal of the bone plug at c6-c7, too many ailments to include due to the exposure to the Barium.
I need fresh eyes to look at me start at the beginning and go from there. I have filled for disability but of course denied......not sue who reads these things but Ill go anywhere and everywhere to get a diagnosis and NOT another prescription !!! does such a Doctor exist ?????

Beckie Lambing of WA 5:34PM March 31, 2011

I have been told by many doctors (Australia) that nobody knows your body better than you know it yourself and don't let any doctor tell you any differently. I thought that was an interesting comment the first time I heard it but having it repeated to me by not only general practitioners but also specialists I realised exactly how true it is.
If a doctor cringes when you ask questions, run from that surgery as fast as your legs will carry you and find another doctor who will listen to you. Don't accept a second rate opinion that won't be right because of the wrong questions being asked or not allowing you to question them because it may damage their ego.

Angela 7:53PM October 15, 2010

My family Dr. has been changed several times in an attempt to find one who will listen. My pain has reached the unbearable point. I am now trying to find medical books that deal with my symptoms, but I dont' really know where to look. If some of your readers has a suggestion, I am open to anything.

Audrey June Hill of FL 7:13PM September 01, 2010

It's a crime against the good health of people that doctors are governed by nobody but themselves. The AMA consists of a staff of doctors, not by humanitarians or taxpayers or even insurance companies or better yet, the people they treat poorly. I walked around with micobacterium AVIUM growing in my lung for 2 years before anybody even mentioned about a spot on the xray. Nor did anybody say anything about the micobacterium TUBERCULOSIS that showed up as hazyness on the xrays. The radiologists report said it was unremarkable on 3 different xrays at 3 different times in that 2 years until, after 12 doctors and specialists, I finally found ONE with a brain. Now I have breathing issues, half of a left lung, and twenty years taken off my life.... because they didn't do their jobs. The latest adventure is a cat scratch that got infected and got into the bone. From there, it's been spreading giving me mass amounts of PAIN ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT for the past six months. I believe it has to do with the misdiagnosis' that I've recieved and been treated for. I know my body but I can't seem to get the doctors to1) understand my fears about this potentially life threatening infection 2)properly diagnose or try to confirm or deny by tests and not personal opinion 3)properly and fully treat this 3 year infection that has possibly killed the bone in my leg. It scares me, the thought of losing my leg and wherever this infection spreads before they get it. Cat scratch,infection,19 days of the wrong medicine,and various other medicines that don't work,internet research for DAYS, only to find one ACCURATE AND FULLY FITTING DESCRIPTION/CIRCUMSTANCES.... OSTEOMYELITIS THAT'S TURNED CHRONIC LEAVING ME IN EXCRUTIATING BONE PAIN WITH NO WAY TO MANAGE THE PAIN AND NO POSSIBILITY OF PROPER TREATMENT ANYTIME SOON.I'm out of options, and they wonder why there are so many people dying...after they commit death by physician...by going to them!!! It's absurd to think that these "people" who are trained, can't seem to get it right before you die!!

Tom of PA 10:16PM March 21, 2010

Dear Deborah Kotz,
I have never met a doctor like Jerome Groopman. Many are like Dr. House on t.v. w/o the expertise. 99.9 doctors do not want you to get involved in your own treatment and cringe when you ask questions. The new diagnostic approach is "if I don't know what it is, you don't have it." I had a doctor for 21 years and in a fit of rage he told me that if I wanted to be my own doctor he wanted no part of it, since then it has been nearly impossible to get quality medical care. Do not ever make an enemy of a well known doctor, their ego supercedes any Hypocratic Oath, it has nearly cost me my life.

Michelle Cotroneo-Leon of AZ 2:22PM February 04, 2010