What We Wish We Knew About Medical Appointments

Medical appointments can be easier to navigate once you know how to prepare, what to ask, and how active a role you can take in your care. We asked our VLN Ambassadors—people who draw on their own lived experiences with vascular health to help inform and support others—to share one thing they do now to better understand their health or prepare for an appointment that they wish they had known to do earlier.

Be Part of Your Care Team

Being proactive, and realizing that trusting your care to a medical system is a shared journey.

I had always experienced the medical system through the eyes of people I loved and cared for. I saw doctors as the final word on what treatment would be implemented.

When I became sick, I went into a life-changing surgery and placed my trust in my surgeon to do whatever he deemed necessary. I didn’t ask questions.

By the grace of God, my surgeon was extremely skilled and found a way to spare most of my foot.

About a year later, I learned about shared decision-making, and I realized I was part of my own care team. The only way I could be an informed part of that team was to research my conditions, know the details of those conditions, and understand my treatment options.

Hindsight is 20/20. Sometimes lessons are learned the hard way.

— Mary

Ask the Questions That Matter

Not only do you have to be your own advocate, but you need to be a well-informed self-advocate by doing your homework before your appointment.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned, particularly from having a rare disease, is that you need to be prepared to ask the “right” questions—the questions that matter. Simply describing your aches and pains is not enough.

To do that, you need to understand your own condition and also understand your provider’s expertise well enough to know what questions to ask. I’ve also learned that with every illness, finding the right solution is a process. Making sure you and your provider have a clearly defined plan with achievable goals is critical.

— Harry

Put Your Most Important Questions First

Prioritize your questions, with the most critical ones first. Usually, you get about 15 minutes with a healthcare provider, so it’s important to make sure the questions that matter most to you get addressed.

— Joey

Review Your Results Before the Visit

Since my primary care doctor requires frequent lab work with visits, I ask that the labs be ordered about a week in advance so I have time to review the results before my appointment. This allows me to prepare my questions and concerns ahead of time and incorporate questions about my lab results into our conversation.

I have always encouraged patients to write down questions before their visits. This gives them a better chance of getting answers to everything they want to ask. I actually need to start following my own advice again, especially since I’ve added additional specialists to my treatment team this year.

— Brenda

There’s no single right way to prepare for a medical appointment. But as our Ambassadors have learned, asking questions, doing a little homework, and taking an active role in your care can make a real difference.