Another Reason to Communicate with Your Doctor

by KYW's medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough

Study after study has shown that communication is the key to better health care.

Here is an example, one that clearly shows the importance.

Many women who need a mastectomy for breast cancer don’t hear about all their surgical options at the time of the first surgery and this is important because breast reconstruction can often start then.

Think about it.  A patient who is interested in having a little bit more surgery at the time of their mastectomy in the form of some type of breast reconstruction can wake up already having their full breast reconstruction or at least partially reconstructed in a staged fashion.  What this means is that these patients are already working towards being put back together and so that original surgery might be a start on the road to recovery.

All it takes is discussing it with the patient beforehand.