Patient2Patient Newsletter              August 1, 2003
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
In This Issue:

* Update: Subscriber Series: Patient Best Practices Guide
* Patient2Patient In The News
* New Advisory Board Members
* Sponsorship Opportunities
* Feature Report: "Finding a Doctor, Part 3 - Interviewing a Surgeon"
* Humor
* Quote

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
~Update: Subscriber Series: Patient Best Practices Guide~

As of August 15th, current Patient2Patient WebGuide subscribers will
be able to download the first in our series of Best Patient Practices
Guides: "THE TEN MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR DOCTOR."

Current subscribers will be able to log in and enter their password
on the Subscribers page and download a copy of the guide in both Word
and Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format.

Upcoming guides will include: "How to Get an Effective Second Opinion,
" "Surviving and Thriving in the Hospital," and The Ten Most Important
Questions to Ask in the Hospital."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
~Patient2Patient In the News~

Patient2Patient has been featured in recent editions of Internet Medicine:
A Critical Guide and  the online edition of SWEPA.com. Text links to the
articles are available on our Web site in the Press section.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

~New Advisory Board Members~

Patient2Patient is honored to announce the appointment of Shimon Slavin,
M.D. as the Chairman of our Medical Advisory Board.

Shimon Slavin, M.D. is Professor & Chairman of the Department of Bone
Marrow Transplantation & Cancer Immunotherapy of the Cell Therapy &
Transplantation Research Center. Dr. Slavin is also Medical Director of
Cancer Immunotherapy of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

Patient2Patient is also honored to announce the addition of Michael
Millenson and Adee Feinstein as members of our General Advisory Board.

Michael L. Millenson is the Mervin Shalowitz, M.D. Visiting Scholar at
Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Michael
is the author the acclaimed book: Demanding Medical Excellence, Doctors
and Accountability in the Information Age.

Adee Feinstein is president and co-founder of Clinication, Inc., an
e-Disease Management company that focuses on improving patient adherence
and on compliance monitoring. Adee has a long history as an innovator in
the design and development of healthcare applications including
specialized rehabilitation managment software.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
~Sponsorship Opportunities~

We've had a number of inquiries about sponsorships for the development of
WebGuides for specific conditions.  If you know of an individual,
organization or group that may be interested in sponsoring a WebGuide,
please contact Andrew Robinson, Executive Director at
Sponsorship@patient2patient.net

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

~Feature Report: "Finding a Doctor, Part 3 - Interviewing a Surgeon"~

In our earlier newsletters, we discussed how to use the Internet to
locatea medical doctor specializing in your condition, and what to
ask to determine if that doctor is the "right" one for you.

Similarly, the questions below will help you determine if a surgeon
(should you need one) has the necessary background and experience for
your needs. These questions will also help you better understand the
surgery procedure ahead of you. Many of them are general enough to
apply to any procedure that your doctor is recommending.

First of all, it's important to keep in mind that surgeons are not
like other doctors - their temperament and manner is often intense,
focused and can be brusque. This is not surprising given what they
do and the responsibility they take each time they operate on someone.

So when it comes to choosing a surgeon, personality is secondary. You
want to find the best surgeon that you can - someone who does the kind
of surgery you need, day in and day out. Of course, it helps to have a
surgeon who is personable, but when the surgeon is operating on you,
personality is your least concern.

When you first meet the surgeon you should learn everything about their
background that's relevant to your situation. More important than what
medical school they attended is their direct experience with the kind
of surgery (or procedure) that they are suggesting. So ask:

a) What kinds of surgery do you specialize in? What's your background
and training for this kind of surgery? How long have you been a surgeon?

b) What particular surgery procedure are you recommending for me and why?
How many times have you performed this particular procedure?

c) How many patients like me have you performed this surgery on? (By
"like me" we mean how many patients have they treated that are your age,
with your stage [or degree] of disease and any other complications. If
you are dealing with conditions or physical problems that make your
treatment even more complicated, ask the surgeon to tell you about similar
patients he or she has treated.)

d) What is involved in this procedure? How long will the operation last?

e) What do you hope to accomplish through this surgery? What has been the
experience of other similar patients?

f) Are there other types of surgery or other treatments that could be
performed for my condition?

g) What portions of the surgery/procedure will you personally conduct and
what parts will other doctors be handling? Who are the assisting doctors
and what is their experience/background?

h) What are the dangers or potential complications from this kind of
surgery? Is there anything about my condition that makes it more or less
likely that I will experience complications? What will you do in case any
complications arise (how are they treated)?

i) Are there any short term or long term effects that I can expect from
the anesthesia?

j) What is the usual recovery time for other patients who've had this
procedure? What is the usual length of stay in the hospital? What is the
full range -- from shortest recovery time to lengthiest? How does my
particular situation affect this estimate?

k) After the surgery, and while I'm still in the hospital, will you
continue to take responsibility for my care or will another doctor?
How often will I see you in the hospital post-surgery?

l) How much more recovery time will I need after I leave the hospital?
Are there certain activities that I'll be restricted from or unable
to do?

m) Once I've left the hospital, is there any further treatment or therapy
I'll need to undergo? If so, what is involved?

The above questions are taken from our upcoming Patient Best Practices
Guide: "The Ten Most Important Questions to Ask Your Doctors."


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Humor

So a man and his friend are out walking their dogs together, and the first
one says to the other, "There's a bar.  Let's get a drink."

"They won't let you in there," says the other.  "You've got your dog."

"Oh, no?" says the first one.  "Just watch."

So he goes in and asks for a beer, and the bartender says, "You can't come
in here, you have a dog."

"This is my seeing-eye dog," says the man, and the bartender grunts but
pours him a beer.

So the second man go in and asks for a beer.

"You can't come in here," the bartender says, "You have a dog."

"This is my seeing-eye dog," says the man, and the bartender says,
"Yeah, sure -- a Chihuahua."

The Man slaps the bar and says, "They gave me a Chihuahua?!?"

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Quote

"It is beyond words to describe what the human body is - what a human being
is."

 A Holocaust Survivor

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Feel Good!

The Staff of Patient2Patient

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
We welcome your comments about this newsletter and our WebGuides -
Feedback@patient2patient.net.

(c) Copyright 2003 Patient2Patient, LLC.  You are welcome to forward this
issue to someone you know, in its entirety (without cutting).