Saturday, May 27, 2017

What is a Diagnosis?

The Rebel Patient uses the word, "diagnosis" a lot.
That's because it is the answer to the question, "What does the patient have?"

Merriam-Webster's online dictionary ranks the word in popularity as,

"Top 20% of words." 

1 a: the art or act of identifying a disease from its signs and symptoms
             b: the decision reached by diagnosis * the doctor's diagnosis

          2. biology: a concise technical description of a taxon

          3 a: investigation or analysis of the cause or nature of a condition, situation, or problem *          
                 diagnosis of engine trouble

             b: a statement or conclusion from such an analysis"

So it is okay that every time you see a doctor, you ask,

"What is my diagnosis?"

It could be, "The flu." or "An inflamed appendix." ~ those are two different diagnoses.

The good doctor will tell you the diagnosis, or will tell you that she does not know. You may need to go get your blood drawn, or you may require an x-ray. However, the standard is that your doctor will usually write down a diagnosis in your medical record and do it during your visit, or shortly thereafter.
It may be a "presumptive" diagnosis that isn't yet written in stone, but I think you'll feel better if you ask,

"What is my diagnosis?"


I hope this helps you to understand what is going on with your own body, And if everybody somehow started asking this question, doctors would talk to you in 'their' language. I think that you need to learn how doctors think, and part of that means to learn how to use and understand medical words.

Stay tuned for our next article, which is a continuation of this one. And give someone a good, long hug today! They say that hugging is as good for your body as eating vegetables or working out! So stop by and read my article here! ((Hugs!))

P.S. And if the doctor says, "You have an infected ear." Well, that is your diagnosis. So keep your ears out for:

"I think you have ....""It looks like you have ...""You have ...."


... because you just got your diagnosis without asking!



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Additional Articles by Dr. Margaret Aranda

 

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Monday, May 22, 2017

The Rebel Patient: DEDICATED To Drs. Amy Reed, Hooman Noorchashm, and SlaySarcoma.com

The Rebel Patient book is dedicated to Amy Reed, MD, PhD, and her advocate husband, Hooman Noorchashm, MD, PhD, for being tireless voices for patient safety, women's health, and advocacy for those who either lost their voices or weren't being heard. They spearheaded a compelling fight for patient safety that was waged by the power morcellator medical device used in routine gynecologic hysterectomy. 


Sparked and glittering with lots of God's light amidst the suffering, Amy just celebrated Mother's Day AT HOME with her six beautiful children!


During laparoscopic surgery, the morcellator device was inserted through small abdominal slits, to chew up, grind up, and then unavoidably splat the abdominal wall with potential cancer cells. And in Amy's case, cancer is cancer and the statistics don't matter if it happens to you. No statistic is worth the iatrogenic up staging of cancer to a 'metastatic' spread of impending doom. Yet Amy, most thankfully to God, is a survivor who has lived to tell more than just a tale of patient safety, women's health advocacy and medical marvel.

The story of these brave and relentless people is one of love and morals. Besieged with a fateful blow after going in for routine gynecologic surgery, up staged with aggressive cancer that was inflicted by the surgeon(s) who did her case, then denied medical standards in place to prevent future deaths by morcellation, her story still wasn't over. She won't stop fighting. Her husband won't stop advocating. And we are so grateful for that!

A love story and patient battle rages on, in a frequently-updated Change.org petition that we have been promoting for three years.

The Rebel Patient will donate a portion of book sale proceeds to SlaySarcoma.comfor research on the aggressive leiomyosarcoma. Their site says,

"Together, we can make a difference.

In October of 2013, Amy Reed, a physician and mother of six underwent surgery for what her doctors believed were uterine fibroids.  Eight days later she received a call no one ever wants to get.  "The pathology came back—you have cancer."  Amy was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma just a year after the birth of her youngest child.  This cancer, which can masquerade as a fibroid, is aggressive, and often resistant to common cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation." 

YOU CAN HELP:

  • You can donate to slay sarcoma here.
  • You can sign the Change.org Petition here.
  • You can Join The Good Doctors' thank-you to those who saved Amy's Life by performing CPR for 50 minutes, putting her on a bypass machine, operating on a large abdominal tumor and resuscitating from bleeding (see dedication video here), then recovering her in the UPenn SICU so that she could: 

...defy all odds and Celebrate Mother's Day 2017 with her Six Beautiful Children! 

What a Reminder:
Never Underestimate the Power of God!

  • Go to June 17, 2017 Luncheon to Benefit Cancer Research via SlaySarcoma.com!


SLAY SARCOMA!


  • And Slay Sarcoma!
  • Oh! And tell all your friends NOT TO USE THE MORCELLATOR for gyn surgery, because it's not worth the risk to lose your life like other women have!

We believe in the value of every breath and the benefit of each pen stroke waged by Dr. Hooman Noorchashm in support of his bride and mother of his children! We believe there's no stronger advocate in the US who has been a stellar star advocate for a patient! To this end, we are happy to announce that a portion of each sale of The Rebel Patient book will be donated to SlaySarcoma.com in pursuit of efforts to advance cancer research of the uterus.


"Father God,
We ask your continued blessings to abound in this family, and an outpouring of helpers and research supporters to be established and maintained." ðŸ™Œ 

Won't you help?

                    Why?

                                                 Because no one can tell us when it's our time to die.

~ ~ ~~ ~ ~

Additional Articles by Dr. Margaret Aranda

 

~ ~ ~

Read Dr Margaret Aranda's Memoirs:


~ ~ ~

Follow Me: Let's Tweet  and be a FB Caring Friend, too!
LIKE my Public Figure FB Page if you will, please!




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Join The Rebel Patient on Twitter and Facebook

  Follow Dr Aranda on Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | TheChronicLifeDiet.com\ | The MD, PhD Is In


We have to fight to live. And we need your help now.

... and God Bless You.

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