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SeniorNet - Chronic Conditions
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Home  Enrichment    Health 						
Chronic
Conditions									
by Michael Castleman
INTRODUCTION
Bad news: You have
high blood pressure, or diabetes, or asthma, or heart disease, or any one of
dozens of chronic diseases. Your doctor said your condition "can't be cured,"
but can be "managed," a process you'll need to deal with "for the rest of your
life."
If you're newly diagnosed, chances are you feel a little frantic: What's
to become of me? If you've had a chronic condition for a while, chances are you
feel victimized, perhaps depressed, and no doubt hassled by the medication you
have to take and the adjustments you've had to make.
Having a chronic disease is
certainly no fun. It's perfectly reasonable to feel shocked, anxious, and
saddened when diagnosed, and depressed and irritated as you cope with your
condition over time. Allow yourself to feel those feelings. Don't deny them.
Then, when you're ready, move emotionally past them. The fact is, the vast
majority of chronic illnesses are NOT the end of the world. You CAN learn to
live with this. And strange as this may sound, in the not-too-distant-future,
you might even come to feel that in some ways, your condition has improved your
life.
Every chronic condition is different. But the approaches to coping with
them are more or less the same: 
UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE NOT ALONE.
Having a
chronic illness is often isolating. You might think you're the only person in
the world who has to spend time and energy hassling with what you have to do to
take care of yourself. Not true. The fact is that almost half of Americans of
all ages have some chronic medical condition, and among seniors, the proportion
is more than half: Arthritis affects 32 million. High blood pressure is a
problem for 22.5 million. Allergies affect 20 million. Some 16 million have
diabetes. Heart disease afflicts 14 million. More than 5 million have asthma.
You may feel isolated. But you're not. You're a member of a very large club.
There's a lot more to this than: Misery loves company. The prevalence of chronic
conditions means that help abounds: specialists, resources, books, counseling,
support groups (for example, SeniorNet's "Health Matters" RoundTables)--you name
it. 
BECOME THE CAPTAIN OF YOUR MEDICAL TEAM.
A chronic condition usually means
ongoing contact with one or more medical specialists. For people who are used to
having just one family doctor, this can be disconcerting. It takes time to make
the rounds of all your doctors. And sometimes they may make conflicting
recommendations, leaving you feeling anxious and confused.
Think of your doctors
as a team and yourself as the captain. Don't abandon your family doctor. That
physician knows you best and can provide valuable perspective on what the
specialists say. But don't limit yourself to your family doctor, either. To get
the best care, ask for referrals to one or more specialists who focus on your
condition. Don't worry that asking for referrals will offend your family doctor.
Family doctors make referrals to specialists all the time--and consult them whey
they feel the need.
When you see a specialist, ask that doctor to send a report
back to your family doctor. That way your family doctor, the physician you know
best and are probably most comfortable with, can help you interpret the
specialists' findings and recommendations. If you must see several specialists,
which often happens when dealing with cancer, encourage your various
doctors--pathologist, surgeon, medical oncologist, radiation oncologist--to talk
with each other and come to a consensus on what's best for you. This may take
some assertiveness on your part. Here's a tip: Obtain all your doctors' e-mail
addresses and forward each one's recommendations to the others. Your physicians
may disagree at first. That's not unusual. Medicine is as much an art as a
science. That's why it's a good idea to share all your doctors' recommendations
with all your other doctors. Then they can discuss your situation, and come to a
consensus on treatment recommendations.
Frequently, a doctor urges you to begin
some type of treatment "right away." When faced with many chronic conditions,
prompt treatment is a good idea. But it may not mean you have to begin treatment
IMMEDIATELY. It's also important to feel comfortable with your treatment plan,
and to check in with your family doctor, or other doctors if you feel the need
to do so. Email allows you to check in with your doctors usually in 24 hours. If
a specialist seems eager to begin treatment and you'd like a day or so to
consider it and check in with your family doctor, say so. Then negotiate.
Except
in the case of surgery, once you begin a treatment program, you're rarely locked
into it. Medications can be changed. Treating a chronic condition is a process,
not a single event. Try to take a long-term perspective. 
 
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