Rod and Karen respond to listener feedback.
Twitter: @rodimusprime @SayDatAgain @TBGWT
Email: theblackguywhotips@gmail.com
Blog: www.theblackguywhotips.com
Voice Mail: 704-557-0186
Podcast (archive): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:10 — 16.3MB)
I didn’t get a chance to listen to episode 2051, “Poor Little Rich Men,” before the last feedback episode. I think it might be time to retire the covers, because I don’t know if you’re going to be able to top that Cranberries cover: Ms. Maiya Sykes did that!
Hey y’all!
Great feedback episode! Just wanted to add to the feedback about that lady who lost her baby doing a free birth. The best free advice I can give about any medical professionals, myself included. Self advocacy. As a doula that’s one of my goals is to teach women and their families to advocate for themselves. It’s ok to ask your doctor, nurse, midwife, or doula LOTS of questions. It’s ok to get a second opinion. You don’t have to stop trusting all medical professionals if you have a bad experience, but unfortunately a bad experience can make lots of people feel that way.
So write down any questions you have before you go to the doctor. You can bring someone with you, which is often a great thing because they might ask a question you didn’t think of. Take notes, don’t be shy about asking your doctor how to spell a medication or diagnosis. Sometimes you might have to “fire†your doctor, midwife, or doula and find someone else that’s actually taking your concerns seriously. I had to fire the GP I had been seeing since I was 18, who I thought she was great. A few months before my wedding I went to her to talk about birth control. She prescribed me one that I would learn later that women with depression, should not take. The fact that I suffer from depression was on my records, so I didn’t think I had to bring it up. But after almost a year of feeling like I was going crazy or wanting to kill myself, I narrowed it down to “it might be my birth controlâ€. So I went back to her and told her what had been happening, and she confirmed that a lot of women said that about Yaz. Apparently Yaz makes women feel crazy. She didn’t say “sorry†or express remorse about missing that detail of my chart, which rubbed me the wrong way. Of course I was young and I just thought your doctor was supposed to know. But doctors are human and they don’t always know all the side effects off the top of their head. Which is why I’m always impressed when a doctor is truthful with me and says “I don’t know, but I’ll find out for you†or they’ll google something right in front of me and “translate†the medical jargon I might not be familiar with. But that also means speaking up and asking the right questions.
So thanks for mentioning that each medical situation is nuanced, because when medical professionals get it wrong or don’t listen to patients it can have a profoundly negative impact.