When you are disabled, you often have to go to the doctor more often than non-disabled people because you have a lot of health conditions that require multiple specialists to treat. Medical appointments can be stressful because you are given so much information, and appointments aren’t usually more than ten minutes. A ten-minute doctor’s appointment is plenty of time for non-disabled people who are not experiencing a lot of health problems, but it may not be enough time for a disabled person who is having a lot of symptoms. Disabled people often have a lot of complex health issues, and there is not enough time to address them all because there are not enough hours in a day that allow doctors to spend half an hour with each patient. If you are having a lot of health issues, it so important that you adequately prepare for your appointment to ensure that all of your symptoms are addressed because if you aren’t organized a lot of the time you forget something important. How can you prepare for medical appointments when you have a lot of complex health issues? In this post, I am sharing how you can prepare for medical appointments when you are disabled.
Get there early- If you have a doctor’s appointment, it is so important that you allow yourself enough time to get to that appointment on time because the last thing you want to do is arrive late to your appointment. Before you leave your house, turn on the news and see if there are any accidents that may make it take longer to get to your appointment. You should never give yourself just enough time to get to your appointment because you never know if you will run into some traffic that makes it take twenty minutes longer to get to your appointment. Arrive there early because your doctor may be able to see you early, but if you arrive late, you might be waiting longer because they are going to see the people who arrive on time first. You always want to get to your appointments a little bit early because sometimes you may have paperwork to fill out, and you want to make sure there is enough time to do that. If it’s a new doctor, you might want to give yourself even more time to get there, just in case you get lost. Arriving late to an appointment often causes more stress, and you don’t want to be stressed when you arrive at the doctor’s office, because that is how you forget important details about your health that your doctor needs to know.
Make a list of your most concerning symptoms- When I have a health issue, sometimes I am experiencing a lot of symptoms, but doctors’ appointments are not long enough for me to be able to explain every symptom in great detail. I make a list of some of the most concerning symptoms that are affecting my quality of life to ensure those symptoms are addressed. After I have talked about my most concerning symptoms, I may mention some of the minor issues I am having if there is time. As a disabled person, I think that having a list of your symptoms from most to least can be super helpful because when you are organized, it’s less likely that you will forget to tell your doctor something important that they need to know.
Write down any questions you may have- When I go to the doctor for a health issue, sometimes I have a lot of questions, but I forget half of them because I didn’t write them down. Write down any questions you have on a piece of paper or make a note in your phone to ensure that all your questions are answered, and you don’t leave that appointment with unanswered questions. Doctors give you a lot of information at appointments, especially if you have chronic health issues, and it’s easy to forget questions you want to ask when you are given so much new information.
Make a list of any new medications and the dosage of them- These days, everything is on a computer, and your doctor can easily look up what medications you are taking, what they are used for, and the dosage of them. You still should know what medications you are taking because sometimes the computer does not have an updated list of all your medications. There have been times when I was taken off a medication, but the computer says that I am still taking it. Doctors are always going to ask what medications you are taking, and it’s so important that you don’t rely too much on the computer and know what they are and the dosage of them.
Call ahead to confirm your appointment- A day before your appointment, your doctor’s office should call you to confirm and remind you of your appointment. If you don’t get a reminder call, it might be a good idea to pick up the phone and call them to make sure you are still on the schedule, and your appointment was not canceled. There is nothing worse than showing up to an appointment, only to realize there was an error and your appointment was scheduled for a different day. If you miss the reminder call, you probably don’t need to call them back, but if you don’t get anything, you might want to call to confirm your appointment.
Get imaging done before your appointment-If you are going to the doctor and know that your doctor is going to order blood work, it might be a good idea to get that done before your appointment, so you have your results the day of the appointment and don’t have to come back to get the results. Sometimes doctors won’t pre-order imaging, and you have to go to the appointment first, but a lot of the time, you are able to get your imaging done before your doctor’s appointment. You will save yourself a whole lot of time by getting your imaging done before your appointment, because you will be able to discuss the results and won’t have to go back a second time for the results.
Bring an advocate with you-When you are disabled, sometimes it can be difficult to get your doctor to listen to you because most doctors are ableist and think you are unable to speak for yourself. If you struggle to get your doctor to listen and take you seriously, I would bring an advocate with you who can help get your needs met. Advocacy at doctors’ appointments can be exhausting sometimes because doctors sometimes don’t listen to disabled patients, and you need someone else whom they will listen to.
Bring something to entertain yourself- You can always tell when someone doesn’t go to the doctor very often because they don’t bring a book or something to entertain themselves with, and that is a rookie mistake anyone with a chronic health issue would know. I never go to the doctor without my headphones because you never know if you are going to get right in or have to wait three hours.
When you are disabled with a lot of health problems, often you get a lot of information at doctors’ appointments, and it can feel overwhelming because it takes time to process all this information. Doctors’ appointments, in my experience, are a little less stressful when you are organized and prepared for your appointment because arriving unprepared often causes more stress. Before you leave your house, double-check and make sure you have everything you are going to need for that appointment. There is nothing worse than arriving at an appointment only to realize you forgot your insurance card. Be prepared for doctor’s appointments because it will make an already stressful appointment a little less overwhelming. How do you prepare for your doctors’ appointments? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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