If you are a person with more than one medical malady, but the maladies hide each other or overshadow each other, beware. It seems to me, our medical system is not adequately designed to accommodate you. If you see a hip doctor, that can take quite a period of time and you may not be referred back to the back doctor until the hip has been replaced and it is evident you still have a problem.
In my case, I'm partially lucky, for my hip doctor has indicated he will be sending me back to the back doctor before all my hip issues are resolved.
I do not know that I'll agree to have anything done. But, I wish I could get a complete diagnoses.
And, I've decided here is how I should go about doing it: I should list all my symptoms, asking the doctor what each of them might mean. If I have pain in the joint by my testicles and that is determined to be a hip problem, great. But, if I also say my leg tires after only 50 yards of walking, what is that? I should ask the doctor if that also indicates a hip problem, or if I need to be referred to another specialist.
I should take each of the symptoms and request the doctor tell me what each of them indicates.Then, when that is done, I should ask him what the symptoms of a bad hip (or bad back) are, that I can more fully determine what my problems are, and whether I need to see other specialists, as well.
Having our medical world divided into so many specialties has its problems. One malady gets treated while another is overlooked. True, the family doctor (general doctor) is responsible for getting us to all the specialists. But, sometimes he sends us to just one specialist at a time. I would say we need to take more responsibility for our own care. And, the way to do this is to list all the symptoms, and demand that each one of them be diagnosed.
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