Whenever you get medical advice from a doctor that is hard to digest, we often would want to get the advice of another doctor. How many times have you taken the advice of a second doctor, simply because of the reason that we are not satisfied with the first doctor? It happens all the time and in this article, I’ll be writing about online doctor consultation and how it can be used to get second doctors opinion easily.
Surgery or not?
One of the most difficult decisions to make even with your friendly doctor’s advice is whether to go for surgery or not. There are so many situations in which a second Surgeon’s opinion should be sought for and some of the examples are:
- Hernia repair
- Cyst excision
- Lipoma excision
- Cholecystectomy ( Gall bladder removal)
- Bypass surgery for coronary artery disease
- Varicose veins
- Cosmetic plastic surgery
- Thyroidectomy ( Removal of the thyroid gland)
- Palliative or curative surgery for cancer
- Amputations
- Laparoscopy vs open surgery
- Robotic surgery vs laparoscopy
If you think about each of the above conditions for a minute, you’ll understand the difficulty in reaching a decision that the patient has to make before agreeing to be cut with a knife!
Last week my uncle underwent an angioplasty for a major block in his left anterior descending coronary artery and the decision not to go for an open bypass grafting was made by consulting to other cardiologists who were my friends. For an ordinary person, such a luxury may not be available and that is where a service like Dofody comes into play. By making a small payment within the app or through the website, anyone can talk face to face with a Cardiologist or any other specialty doctor for that matter and get their opinions. This can help you to come to make an informed decision proactively.
The next time when you have been advised surgery as a treatment option, always consider getting a second opinion because your surgeon is going to give you half a dozen surgical options and you may not be able to choose or reject without expert advise.
Palliative vs Curative
I hope all of you are aware of the palliative care services and what it means. If you would like to know more about palliative care go to this article:- Pain and palliative care program in Kerala
Most patients are diagnosed at the last stage of cancer. In such cases, the Oncologists and the Surgeon might advise the patient to undergo a palliative surgery. In such a type of surgery, the bulk of cancer tissue along with a small part of the normal tissue is removed mostly through open surgery with the aim of relieving the patient’s symptoms. Palliative surgeries though effective in some circumstances, may not be well tolerated by the patient. Moreover, the cost of doing such surgery can even make the patient upset. In early cancer stages, surgery has a very promising role in even curing the patient. Here there is no argument that surgery needs to be done. This type of surgery is called curative surgery and for conditions other than cancer, curative surgery is an obsolete term.
In India, palliative care services are still gaining popularity and patients might find it difficult to access a palliative care specialist doctor in their locality. Whether to go for a palliative surgery or curative surgery can be easily decided by using the Dofody app, where palliative care specialist doctor services can be availed with the tap of a few buttons.
If you know someone who has been diagnosed with a terminal stage of cancer and if the doctor is advising for a palliative surgery, do remember to use Dofody!
Procedures
There are certain medical and surgical procedures that are not only costly but invasive too, whenever you face a situation where the doctor has advised you to undergo such a procedure, you will be in a dilemma. Wondering what such procedures could be? Here are a few examples.
- Angiogram
- Angioplasty
- Central venous catheterization
- Ryle’s tube feeding (Nasogastric feeding)
- Peritoneal shunts
- Dialysis
- Suprapubic catheterization
- Ascites fluid tapping
- Pleural fluid tapping
- Nails and wires for fixing fractures
- Plastering for fractures
- Pelvic traction
- Urinary catheterization
I know some of these procedures may be unfamiliar for you, so if you want to know more about the above-mentioned procedure, simply leave a comment below or just ‘Google’ it. Even if you are hospitalized for such a procedure, how good would it be to get a second opinion from a doctor who has expertise in that field? What if there is another option?
Medicines
I have known several babies, even infants who were started on anti-tuberculosis therapy (ATT) because their ‘Mantoux test’ came positive! ATT is not even just costly, but the course runs for a whopping six months! and the parents unaware of the fact that free medicines available at Govt Hospitals were finding it difficult to find the medicines from local medical shops.
Chemotherapy medicines are also costly and if you dig around a little bit you can find similar medicines that are affordable.
Getting a doctor’s help in choosing a treatment option or in avoiding some costly medicines is like a bonus feature when it comes to online doctor consultation. Before starting a long duration treatment like ATT or anti-Leprosy treatment, try to get a second doctor’s opinion from Dofody.
Tests
Did you know that getting a CT Scan of the abdomen is equivalent to 50 X-Rays? There are some investigations that should be avoided unless it is the best option available. CT Scan is an excellent tool to diagnose bleeds, bone structures, and other internal abnormalities, but if it is done repeatedly chances of cancer oncogenesis comes into the picture and you certainly wouldn’t need that. MRI, on the other hand, is completely safe and is free from harmful ionizing radiations. PET Scan is similar to CT Scans.
Getting a 2nd opinion from another radio diagnostician or Oncologist before proceeding to the CT room suddenly becomes a good idea, isn’t it?
Looking for a second opinion? Get started with Dofody by creating a free account here.
Did you ever use any online doctor consultation service to get a 2nd opinion? What do you think about this article? Kindly share it with your friends if you found it helpful.
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