Patients' Perspectives:
Advocates' Quick Question Responses

This document is NOT intended to provide you with medical advice.  You should consult qualified practitioners in your area for such information.

Last week, I asked you for your top two things that you wish your doctors knew.  Below, I have summarized the answers.  Most of these issues probably come as no surprise to any of you and I appreciate your contributions to this body of information.  You can be certain that you'll be hearing more about most of these issues in the future from Southern California!  ;-)

These are summarized in no particular order.  If there is no number in parentheses at the end of the topic, only one person mentioned that issue.  If there is a number in parentheses at the end of the topic, it indicates the number of people mentioning that issue.

The question posed to you was:

What are the two things you wish your doctor(s) knew about but don't?

  1. Learn to listen to what patients say about their bodies (2)
  2. Become more knowledgeable about current research
  3. Know that cancers can be caused by viruses
  4. Understand how unsettling "we aren't certain" responses are (this person would like more "absolute" information)
  5. Know about PET (positron Emission Tomography) scans
  6. How to cure cancer
  7. Know which treatment(s) will benefit which patient(s)
  8. Understand how anxious patients are while waiting for test results (2)
  9. Understand how important it is to discuss test results ASAP, however briefly
  10. Know current treatment recommendations and check before recommending a particular treatment modality
  11. Have more realistic statistics about recurrence
  12. Ask about environmental exposures during history and physical
  13. Read the current patient's chart (this person describes as "rattling" when a doctor doesn't know the details of the patient's history and treatment at an office visit)
  14. Understand that everybody is not the same "shape" and that different body shapes which don't conform to the doctor's ideal are healthy
  15. Work on the overall well-being of the patient (7), including
    1. Understanding that the psyche and soma are in the same physical being
    2. Knowing that patients should participate in physical fitness programs
    3. Having a "better" attitude towards patients
    4. Understanding nutrition and issues about nutrition for cancer patients (2)
    5. Understanding that other considerations have an impact on the patient's medical treatment besides the doctor's recommentation for a particular treatment (2) (one of these people had a conflict between a family wedding and a treatment and the doctor wouldn't consider postponing or advancing the treatment by one day)
  16. Understand patients use complimentary therapies and often don't tell their doctors about this practice
  17. Know how CAM (complimentary and alternative medicine) affects treatment modalities recommended for a particular patient
  18. Explain things better, especially including diagnostic information (3), including:
    1. Taking time to explain the information presented, particularly at diagnosis
    2. Explaining why I get each test and why I don't get some tests that my friends get
    3. Paying more attention to the details of side effects, especially fertility issues, osteoporosis, and cardiac conditions
Thank you again for your participation.

For more information, please send email to:

The Webmaster

or, answer our very short survey

Legal stuff:

None of the essays entitled Patients' Perspectives is intended to provide medical, legal, or psycho-social advice. For those kinds of information, you should contact qualified practitioners in your local area. We do intend to convey our members' experiences with the various procedures involved in cancer treatment from the perspective of the patient to help educate patients and their caregivers. 

Copyright 2001 You Are Not Alone
Most recent update: 07 May 2001 12:46
To comment on the content of this page, send email to:

The Webmaster