alt Hacker News"do your own research" may get mocked, but it's often the best strategy. You just have to make sure it's the right place, professional guidelines, pubmed, and anyone referencing those is usually best. A good doctor won't have issues discussing something from that kind of source.
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jimbooonooo • today at 12:41 AM
respectfully, a majority of the "do your own research" crowd are not reading any PubMed or professional guidelines.
Right, and the approach here isn’t to take the research at face value. It’s to take the research and derive questions, and then ask your doctor. You can be aggressive.
I had a rare and very complicated surgery for my cancer. I researched it heavily, and going into the appointment I already knew how the surgery should be performed. I asked the surgeon many questions, including how often he performs this surgery, for how many years, and how many complications he has. He was a bit offended. I also asked him how he would do the surgery, and he told me a rarer, more complicated method that is typically reserved for pre-chemo patients (chemo melts your insides, makes some surgery more complicated).
I told him this was unusual, not standard of care, and that I was skeptical. And he methodically laid out why I was a good candidate even though I’ve had chemotherapy. The surgery was very successful, and he was a fantastic surgeon.
But you still have to push. And if you don’t get the answers you need, you go somewhere else.