The importance of knowledge

Why should you be an educated patient? Everyone tells you to go find out about your ailment. They tell you to look on line (but not too much and beware of Dr. Google) and find out what you have so you can ask your doctor the right questions. And where does that get you? Often on information overload to say the least, or with a queasy feeling in the put of your stomach as you try to figure out what it all means.

But what if you didn't look things up and do you own research and blindly listened to your doctors, ignoring your gut? Most of the time, you are fine because the doctors are smart, educated, went to medical school, and your ailment isn't that complicated.

But those times where you have a complicate ailment with a difficult diagnosis and poor prognosis? How important is your knowledge then? It can be very important. It can lead you to ask the better questions, bring more information to your doctor, and could even save your life.

Here is the story of Marci who died of brain cancer. But she was proactive and listened to her gut and found a better doctor who gave her the right diagnosis and therefore the right treatment. She also then did what she wanted to do in the remaining years of her life. This is what knowledge can do for you and why it can be so important.