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REISS: Recognize that your medical team wants you
to do well, and what they're telling you is really in your best interest.
CUFFARI: Your job is really to be honest to yourself,
know that you have a disease that potentially you could have for the rest of your life unless
you choose to have surgery. It's very important that you understand that and you take the
initiative in learning about the disease and learning about the medication.
PRESENT: If you want to do well, you have to be actively
involved in the treatment. Therefore, when you go to visit your doctor you should be
prepared with the questions that are important to you.
REISS: Make sure that you're documenting your questions
so that when you've got them face-to-face you can rattle off all of your questions as
opposed to remembering most of them once you leave the office.
PRESENT: Good patients always report their symptoms
to physicians. You don't overemphasize your symptoms; you don't underemphasize your symptoms.
You tell the doctor exactly how you're feeling.
SNINSKY: One of the things you want to do a couple
days before your visit is think about what kind of symptoms you have. Is there anything
new going on? Are your symptoms controlled?
LEGNANI: If you're going to the bathroom five times
a day, say that. If you have to get up out of a meeting frequently because you feel like
you have to go to the bathroom, say that. If you're not going out on social functions
or not eating all day because you know that if you eat you have to go to the bathroom,
tell them that. You can't make yourself feel better just by telling your doctor you're
doing better than you are. Be honest.
SNINSKY: And be straightforward with him regarding
whether you're taking your medication because that's going to be important in regard to
what he does. If your symptoms are not well controlled and he thinks you're taking your
medications, he may be doing something completely different instead of just reinforcing the
fact that you need to take your medicines more reliably.
CROSS: In addition, it's often helpful when you go
to office visits to have some way of recording the interaction. Having a trusted friend or
family member with you at the visit so you kind of understand everything that's been
communicated to you during that visit can be critically important, because it's very
difficult to remember every piece of information during that interaction.
MORTON: Partnering with a health care team, whether
it's a physician or physician assistant, our goal is to help you understand and control
your colitis. The key is that you also be prepared if you can, and also ask questions.
You can bring in a list. The most important part is do expect to be cared for.
CUFFARI: You should have no reservations about seeking
a second opinion. It's very important especially if you have concerns about any treatment that
your doctor has chosen for you.
DUBINSKY: The main thing is to take control and ownership
over your disease, and you are the one that needs to come to the physician with all the
questions, all the concerns, so that the physician could appropriately address them so you feel
comfortable leaving that office so that you could go home and feel that this is what I
need to do to get myself into that state of health that we discussed at the visit.
REISS: Your job is to get educated, to listen to
them, to be compliant with your medications because they can only prescribe it, but if
you don't take it, it can't make you well. So keep the communication going. If you're
having any issues, whether it's with your medication or how you're feeling, your symptoms,
be clear with your medical team. Communicate. Keep the lines of communication open. And
remember that they want you to do well.
For more information about ulcerative colitis, visit www.ShireUCentral.com