In our case, we had a family doctor that seemed just fine. We had always liked how he would book appointments at the last minute and phone prescriptions to the pharmacy when we were in a rush. But when it came to something serious like breast cancer, we were to be greatly dissapointed. Our family doctor of 10 years did not push for rapid treatment; we had to. And he did nothing to support our requests to seek treatments not available in Canada. And during the whole period when Dulce was undergoing surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments when cancer first struck, he did not call or visit once during this whole six month period. And it was obvious to me when I visited him on another matter that he was unaware of the the progress of Dulce's treatment. Like many Canadian doctors, he was too busy rushing patients through his office to have time to look out for a patient that really needed him in a life or death situation. Thus Dulce was adamant that she change doctors.
Our next family doctor was a woman. She also seemed fine. We discussed at length upon first meeting her how we wanted to do everything possible, including seeking treatments not available in Canada. At this point Dulce had completed treatments and we were focussed on careful follow up. This doctor seemed thorough. Throughout this time Dulce was suffering various aches due to her surgery and other treatments. Then bouts of a new type of pain began. We sought diagnostic options. Some were provided, but nothing was found. We raised the issue of PET scans, but no support for treatment outside of Canada was offered. Finally our new family doctor concluded that the new pain was imagined and refused to offer any treatment other than anti-depressants. This was the stance she took throughout a two month period as the pain grew worse and worse. Three weeks after arguing about this with our family doctor, Dulce's right lung collapsed, her cancer recurrence was confirmed, and she was told by her oncologist that she might only live six months. We never saw this family doctor again.
Our final family doctor was another woman. She was very different from the first two. She would visit Dulce in hospital. And she seemed to be able to make things happen quickly. And she would listen to our opinions and support our efforts to get treatments not available in Canada. If only she could have been our first family doctor...
The lesson in all this is that one needs to be very sure that they have
the right family doctor. Too many times a family doctor is chosen
because of convenience, or flexibility, and one has no idea how this person
will perform when one's life is on the line. This family doctor must
be willing to be a strong advocate for you as a patient. He must
be willing to listen to your concerns and support your efforts to get the
best treatments possible. And he must be effective in making things
happen quickly within the system. He must be able to coordinate the
efforts of the various specialists involved. And to do all this he
must have a practice that allows him the time required to care for a patient
fighting a life and death battle. You have to be able to trust your
family doctor with your life. So choose your family doctor carefully.
Kevin...