• April 25, 2024

When health is threatened by a disease such as cancer, your doctor may present you with various study options to arrive at a diagnosis; These studies can be invasive, but essential to know with certainty the type of cancer that affects you.

Once the presence of cancer has been confirmed, the range of possibilities is not very great: chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery or a combination of them.

Given this scenario, we must make a decision for the doctor to schedule the surgery or the start of one or more of the treatments. That is when the concern arises: What if I ask for a second opinion?

A second opinion is equivalent to having the possibility of having a broader view of the procedures, risks and results that are expected, and therefore having the opportunity to make informed decisions about the person's life and health.

All patients have the right to seek it; in fact, there are countries where it is legislated that a patient must have that opportunity and is facilitated access to it via telephone or via the internet, putting the doctor and the patient in contact for an assessment and a treatment proposal.

What can be obtained?

Many times patients want to look for it but they are reluctant to think that their doctor will be upset or they will be offended if they wish to do so. This should not be like this.

The doctor should explain the concerns, fears and doubts, as well as the desire for a new assessment to suggest a place or a specialist of your trust that really helps.

If you do not have this information, you should go to the institutions that certify the doctors of each specialty (advice) and request a directory of health professionals certified by them, to locate someone who can give this important second opinion.

Hence, the importance of the doctor-patient relationship in an atmosphere of empathy and harmony that favors the candid expression of all the concerns arising from the treatment plan that was previously exposed.

Nobody else, except the expert, will be worried because that second opinion comes from someone with the necessary knowledge and experience, who will provide valuable information and join through their knowledge, to the effort to return the person to his health. "The principle of being patient is to start with oneself." bojorge@teleton.org.mx

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