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My big news is ready to be sprung! Although, through today’s blog, I’ll announce it “softly” — a bigger announcement is in the works for this week.

You may be familiar with About.com — tens or hundreds of millions of visitors each month go there to learn about 600+ topics of interest ranging from Women’s Issues to Fishing to Poker to Fashion to Football — and now — patient empowerment!

Yes — as of yesterday afternoon, the new About.com Guide to Patient Empowerment was launched — and yours truly is the expert/guide. Take a stroll on over! Let me know what you think! Join the forum so we can chat! And if you ever want to touch base, just link on my name at the top — my email address is right there.

The web address is: http://patients.about.com Why not bookmark it or add it to your favorites?

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An interesting report on the Thursday evening NBC news about differences in the way African American women are diagnosed, treated, provided with preventive medicine, etc…. It actually strikes me as the next revelation in the fact that medical research just can’t be generalized. First we learn that women require different diagnosing and treatment from men for problems like heart disease. Then we’re told that children can’t take smaller doses of adult drugs because “children are not simply small adults.” And now we learn that genetic makeup related to skin color affects the success of diagnosis and treatment as well.

What others are we missing?

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Has anyone else noticed this? Everytime I turn around — for the past several weeks — there have been more ads for health insurance on the TV, in the newspaper. From those plans that “pay you back” to supplemental plans for Medicare…. they must be spending millions if not billions.

Wouldn’t our premiums be lower if they didn’t spend so much on advertising?

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Today is World AIDS Day and it seems there’s not much mention of it in the press. My cousin Tim has AIDS. Tim is in his 50s. As a younger man he was a vibrant and talented actor, appearing in everything from plays to a soap opera in England back in the 1970s. Now, in these later years, Tim is a slave to the medications that keep him alive and by his own estimation, he doesn’t feel like his life has much quality.

My thoughts and prayers are with Tim and others who suffer through such a horrible disease.

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Hope you all had a delightful Thanksgiving and that your leftovers are no longer left over.

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Another quiet week with the arrival of the holiday. I did hear from some folks I’ve not heard from in awhile, with atta-girls for my mention in the Wall Street Journal article this week. Among them, Dr. Allan Showalter who runs a very comprehensive and thought provoking website and blog about medical compliance. He says he’s looking forward to when I finally appear on the cover of Rolling Stone. (hey! me too! isn’t that every boomer’s fantasy? !!) Thanks, my Ozark-bound friend.

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Looks like Dr. Scott Haig has really riled some feathers — both patient-side and physician-side — with his Time/CNN articles about patients who google. Included is my soon-to-be About.com colleague (there’s a hint!) Mary Shoman whose blog was even cited in the New York Times. I posted about the article a week or so ago, and Mary and I see his post differently — but there are a couple of bottom lines to the question. The first one is that if we are to communicate well — patients and doctors — then we need to be able to understand the other’s point of view. And second, that I still believe Dr. Haig misdiagnosed himself. In fact, I don’t think it was so much the fact that his patient had used google to get information about her knee problem; instead, I think she was just obnoxious and honestly, I don’t blame him for not wanting to treat an obnoxious patient.

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My big news? Still on hold for the moment…. fully expect to announce it this week…. and I did give a hint above

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It’s actually been a quiet week. Many are prepping for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, no doubt.

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I received one dozen requests for help this week, and three others wrote to me with stories that make my toenails curl. I still have not been able to reply to them all, but will before the weekend is over. In some cases I can help them find someone who can help them. In others, I can only be a shoulder to lean on. Very sad, very frustrating… and a major confirmation that this kind of work and help is needed. I wish I could clone myself to keep up.

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I’ll be blogging this week about PHRs again (personal health records) — a new site I didn’t know about and one that has some very good information on it, but sucks its visitors into giving away way too much personal information. Watch for a post on Monday or Tuesday this week.

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We’re closer to my big announcement, too — very exciting — hope to make it happen this week!

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Heard this week from a young man in Central New York State where I live. He’s a young adult cancer survivor and has begun a social network for other young adult cancer survivors, ages 18 to 40: http://yacscny.wordpress.com . If you are a young cancer survivor, log on and see what Daniel is up to….

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Veteran’s Day is coming up — a perfect opportunity to thank a veteran or member of the military service. Regardless of your politics, we owe a debt of gratitude to these fine men and women who have worked so hard to protect our freedom. One of those freedoms is to make our own healthcare decisions — an important one!

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And speaking of Veteran’s Day — my radio show tomorrow features an interview with Dr. Ross Moquin who retired as a commander after 25 years in the Navy. He is a surgeon who treats traumatic brain injury — fascinating conversation about the procedures that were developed while he was in the Navy, and how they are being used to help civilians now, including stroke victims. You can listen right on your computer by linking here.

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An Every Patient’s Advocate milestone this week: hit the 30,000 visitor mark on this blog since January. If you’ve been a regular visitor, I thank you — and hope you feel as if you’ve learned something. If so, will you share by making a comment? I’d love to know what has — or has not — been helpful.

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… and stay tuned for a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT soon! My reach is about to be extended big time — and you, my faithful readers will be among the first to know….

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Enjoyed participating in the WSYR Radiothon with Joe Galuski to raise money for the University Hospital / Children’s Hospital in Syracuse, NY. Incredible resource for families with sick children.

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Two good interviews of note on this week’s radio show: Dr. Thomas Welch, chair of pediatrics of University Hospital, and Dr. Matthew Scuderi who will talk about cartilage repair for the knee. You can download the interviews from the radio show website.

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You might be interested in some recent comments made by Marc J, an anesthesiologist, who is NOT happy with some of my posts. In fact, he would like to serve me some “salsa for the chip on my shoulder.” Hmmm…. He also suggested in one of the comments that he didn’t like attacking me on my blog where all my readers could see them — however — as you know, my email address is listed directly under my photo.

I want you, my reader, to understand all sides of the story when it comes to your care. In fact, I think it makes for smarter healthcare consumers — and shows you even better why you need to take responsibility for your own choices in your care, ranging from who your doctors will be, to how you will be diagnosed or treated, to how you will pay for your care, and everything in between.

So here are a list of Marc’s posts, although, please keep in mind that he doesn’t really intend to attack me publicly (uh-huh.)

Comment on Lemon Law for Medical Consumers by Marc J

Comment on How Apologies Lead to Fixing by Marc J

Comment on When Dirty Doctors Can’t be Identified by Marc J

In fact, Marc, you are right. There are definitely times I cop an attitude or have an “edge” to my work. I’ve been accused of that before. It started with my own misdiagnosis, and it continues because I get dozens of emails each week from people who have been wronged by the healthcare system in some way. It’s heartbreaking — and has turned me into a cynic, whereas throughout my life to this point, I’ve mostly been a pollyanna.

Guess that makes me the Ralph Nader of the healthcare system.

And yes, I have real problems sleeping at night. Because I just can’t get the word out fast enough.

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OK — out to do some gardening today! It’s a perfectly glorious autumn day here and I plan to take advantage of it. Included will be cleaning up the pieces of pumpkins left from the squirrels who have eaten right through them!

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Some miscellany from the week, not requiring entire blog posts of their own….

The fires in Southern California have kept many of us riveted to TV and internet news. As reported earlier this week, my daughter, Becca, lives in Carlsbad, just north and east of several of the fires we’ve followed. I’m relieved and happy to report that she and her sigO Ed were never told to evacuate, and it looks like their home will remain standing, as will their neighbors’. Now they must deal with fallout from the smoky air and the ash that has coated anything and everything.

Thanks to those of you who kept them in your prayers.

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My radio show this week features two interviews you might be interested in. Dr. Helen Barkan will discuss migraine headaches, and Dr. Amy Friedman will tell us about kidney and pancreas transplants. My patient tip of the week is “Follow the Money.” If you can’t wait for Sunday, listen to the show from your computer. Same show – no commercials

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Have enjoyed my week here in Sarasota, Florida with my patient empowerment students. Our sessions went quite well and as always happens, I learned from my students as well as vice-versa. Thanks to them for that!

I’ve been asked to return to teach again in early in 2008. Let me know if you’re in Sarasota and you’d like dates.

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Another great article for CNN’s Empowered Patient this week. Don’t Be a Victim of Pharmacy Errors. Some great tips — including some I’d not thought about before. Take a look. Stay Safe!

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For those of you who have followed my column series about Glen and his brain tumor, you’ll want to catch the last in the series this Tuesday. You might be surprised at the outcome — but then again — you might not.

While the series was intended to provide a process for keeping emotions out of medical decision-making, it seems to have stirred a hunger knowledge about Glen’s treatment progress, too.

Stay tuned! And if you want to be among the first to see the last chapter, then sign up for email notification.

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Tune in again next week for “From the desk of….” !

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My friend and colleague Linda Lowen has become the About.com guide for Women’s Issues. Her new guide site launched about one week ago. Of course, women’s issues are people issues, and health care consumerism and patient safety are people issues, too.

If you have interest in a variety of women’s topics, many of which you may not have considered, some of which you’ll want to cheer, and more than a few that might make you go “hmmmm,” then check out — better yet, BOOKMARK — Linda’s new guide site at About.com. I promise you you’ll be fascinated.

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I’m leaving Monday for Sarasota, FL — visiting parents (Happy Birthday Mom!) and teaching three patient empowerment workshops while I’m there. If you’re anywhere near Sarasota and want to come by — the more the merrier! I promise you real tools that can help you. Contact Adult and Community Education for the Sarasota School District.

I do love getting out and speaking to groups — patients and providers. If you have need for a speaker, I keep a speaker resume online. Check it out.

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Speaking of workshops, I spent Thursday evening teaching my “Diagnosis Detective” workshop. GREAT group of people — very participative. On the way out, one of them reminded me of a saying I have heard before: What do you call a doctor who graduated at the bottom of his class? (The answer: “Doctor”) ouch.

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Some of you know I have a “looking for” section to this blog. I get contacted by a variety of people, mostly journalists and producers, looking to make contact with patients to help tell their stories. One posting this week has not been too fruitful, so I’m going to mention it here. If you are anywhere in Central New York State (upstate, not the city!) and are an angry patient who wants to participate in a documentary, the producers would like to talk to you. Learn more on the Looking For…. page.

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A handful of people have asked me about the launch of AdvoConnection. It has been delayed (yes, I really do need to update that blog, too). You’ll know why in just a few weeks — a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! that I can share with you then. I hope.

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Tune in again next week for “From the desk of….” ! (OK. well. maybe.)

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	Want more tools and commentary for sharp patients? Sign up for Every Patient’s Advocate email tips Or link here to empower yourself at EveryPatientsAdvocate.com
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