each year in Canada, according to the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and while the most common error involves medications — the wrong dose, or wrong kind — this shocking statistic also includes death from misdiagnoses.
The patient advocate in me wants to urge patients and caregivers — especially in these unprecedented times — to educate themselves on their health, speak loudly about what their bodies are telling them, and never leave an appointment without all the answers. This is your life, after all. But this means shifting the responsibility of care to those who are often vulnerable — unwell, frightened and desperate.
The thing is, as uncomfortable as it might be to question, to insist, to follow up and, yes, sometimes refuse, how you are feeling is valuable. It’s important and it matters. And isn’t your life worth a few minutes of awkwardness? I think my neighbour would agree. And the guy from the local pub, who visited his doctor five times over a few months to talk about why the shooting pain in his abdomen might not be an assumed muscle strain — he is now receiving radiation for stage four kidney cancer.