3 Quick Tips on Medical Testing
January 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment
This is a short, but important bit about three simple ways to protect your health when getting lab work/testing done. Speaking up or doing research is the best way you can ensure you receive quality health care.
This information is from a sidebar article in some women’s magazine (I ripped out the page months ago but it has no publisher info on it). I’m repeating the information here. I don’t intend to plagiarize; if I could find this bit online I’d just link to it.
- When getting any test done, don’t assume the lab has your doctor’s stamp of approval – she may be sending it to the lab your insurance provider requires. Ask her if she feels the lab is reliable; if she doesn’t, consider having your test sent elsewhere – especially if she is concerned about a particular symptom or condition.
- To find out if a lab has had severe or repeated problems, go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/clia/.
- To get the best breast ultrasound, use facilities accredited by the American College of Radiology (www.acr.org). Also ask your doctor if the practitioner who will read your ultrasound is trained in breast imaging.
Actually, #3 good advice for any test – find out if the person examining your specimen or scan is experienced and reads that type of test regularly.
Girls, bug your doctors with your questions. In modern American medicine, the squeaky wheel gets taken care of.
New Review!
January 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Book 1: The Foundation has been reviewed by The Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality. You can read the full review here.
It’s a very positive review and an important one to me. Because it’s highly unlikely these books will reviewed by the usual book-review outlets; getting a positive review from an academic source means a lot. It’s nice to know my work has passed muster with those who take sex seriously.
The minor negative points of the review made me realize, as ever, that I need to work on communicating clearly. There’s several writing lessons right there. On the other hand, points that I felt would be viewed as negatives weren’t even mentioned (maybe he ran out of room).
I’m quite happy with the review, so please go read it. (It’s also posted on the book’s site here.)
On a personal note: last night I recieved a message from Dr. Morrison. I was too nervous to open the e-mail. This morning I finally did, adrenaline pumping, dreading the news. It was a simple message that my review was up. Turns out there was nothing to get overly excited about. But I’d managed to ruin breakfast for myself as I was too wound up to eat. I spent the next hour pacing around until I burned off the energy. I’m sure there’s a lesson to be learned there, too.
