Making the best medical decisions for you is vital to Healthy Survivorship, and not only because doing so optimizes your chance of the best outcome. If you end up with a disappointing treatment result, your prior decisions affect--and may determine--your happiness.
Drs. Groopman and Hartzband wrote a must-read book to help you make the best decisions for you. As the title suggests, the premise of Your Medical Mind is that if you understand the thoughts that shape your view of your medical situation and your choices, you will be alert to thoughts and feelings that can lead you away from the best decisions for you.
What, exactly, is the "best" medical decision? From my perspective, it's an informed decision made after dispassionately reviewing and thoughtfully weighing the pros and cons (the advantages and disadvantages) of your options, and then making a final decision in keeping with your values. Healthy Survivors know...
- There is no single "right" decision for everyone. There is a best decision for you.
- You don't have to do all the reviewing and thoughtful weighing. If you are not up to it or, for whatever reason, don't want to make the decision, you just need the person making the decision to be well informed about both the options and your values.
In upcoming posts, I'll discuss key ideas from Your Medical Mind that can help you make the best medical decisions in your pursuit of Healthy Survivorship.
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