why we need patient advocacy!

[Guest guest]

To quote actor Evan Handler ( Charlotte York's Harry Goldenblatt on Sex and the

City)

? " I learned that I must always remain in control, double-check everyone's work,

and trust no one completely, " Handler wrote of his approximately eight months in

the hospital. " I must have been sheer hell to be around. But I know that my

cantankerousness saved my life on several occasions. "

He recovered from Leukemia and aol health states

[ " In his books " It's Only Temporary, " and " Time on Fire, " Handler wrote that

during his months in the hospital, he was given intravenous drugs that were

supposed to go to another patient, that nurses tried to give him medications his

doctors had forbidden for him and that staff members refused to follow the

hospital's posted hygiene precautions for immunosuppressed patients like

himself " ]

In this conversation with CNN Medical Correspondent Cohen, Handler

discusses firing your doctor, tattooing medical directives on your stomach and

the importance of not doing exactly what you're told.

Cohen: Were you a " bad " patient?

Evan Handler: The irony of " bad " patients is that they actually do better for

themselves. ... There were hundreds and hundreds of instances where my being a

" bad " patient saved my life.

you can see and read more here

http://news.aol.com/health/article/its-better-to-be-a-bad-patient-actor/199619?i\

cid=100214839x1210836277x1200654820

ALWAYS advocate for yourself and family members!!! and never be afraid to be

called a " bad patient "

Finette