Customer Reviews

What to Ask the Doc: The Questions to Ask to Get the Answers You Need

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This is a book consisting of lists of questions sorted by illness and medical procedures; ADHD, anaesthesia, congestive heart failure, broken bones, Alzheimer's Disease, MS, Diabetes and more. Plus there is a glossary of medical terms, and interesting info on why certain things happen the way they do in the hospital (for example, why can't you eat solid food for a while after general anaesthesia? Answer; your gut goes to sleep, too and needs to wake up! If you eat before the doctor or nurse hears the noises of a once-again active gut, you could throw up if you try to eat.)

Don't wait to find this book when you have a medical situation at home--this is a valuable reference to have handy if you should ever need it. Doctors often forget to tell patients and family valuable information because the time spent with the patient can be limited. Make the most of your consultation time with this list of intelligent and necessary questions.

I bought the book after hearing the author interviewed recently on WGN radio. You know how everyone tells you to write down your questions before going to the doctor. I always mean to, but I usually end up "winging it." Here you can just grab the book, bookmark the page that deals with your particular condition and bring it to the doctor's office. There's usually time in the waiting room to read through the recommended questions in the book and even make notes in the margins. I think it's a great tool to have around when medical situations come up.

This book has so much information and covers so many situations - from what to ask in a triage/ER situation to what to ask about fevers! Who hasn't left a DR. appt. with a hundred questions they forgot to ask? What a useful tool during a stressful times when your family member is faced with a serious illness or injury! This book is easy to read, really accessible to everyone is a perfect companion. My in-laws are frequently traveling to Dr. appts and outpatient procedures and I will make sure they have a copy!

I cannot beleive that this has not been written sooner! Finally a guide for families that lets us know how to get information from our doctors. When my mother was in the hospital critically ill after surgery, I did not have this book. It would have helped me to read the chapter ¨A Guide for Families¨ and the one about pain after surgery. These nurses speak from experience and have written a straight-forward book that lets patients and families know what to ask the docotr!

What an innovative concept! How often I've found myself fishing for questions to ask the doctor and draw a blank. Now we can rest assured and carry this "secret weapon" to the doctor's office. I'm sure there will be lots of nurses that will be able to recommend this to family members and spend less time on the phone answering all of those usual questions. This will certainly be a stocking stuffer this Christmas. Great book!

The collaborative work of Margaret Fitzpatrick, Linda Burke, and Daryl Lee (three Chicago area critical care nurses) What To Ask The Doc: The Questions To Ask To Get the Answers You Need is an ideal guide for the non-specialist general reader who needs to clear responses from doctors and nurses with respect to sixty-six different health care issues, settings, services. Enhanced with fifteen informative articles covering diverse difficult issues including "End of Life Decisions" and "Who's Who in the Healthcare Setting", What To Ask The Doc is highly recommended, exceptionally practical, inordinately useful reading for anyone faced with medical emergencies or healthcare situations ranging from pediatric procedures to menopause.

This book offers a list of questions for ~65 situations, only one of which I found suitable for the elderly person I bought it for. She is very intimidated by doctors and other med staff, so I was hoping the book would give her the ability to overcome that, acknowledge her concerns, give direction in how to compile questions to ask, and realize that we're in a time where the patient has to be very proactive to get things done. Since she wouldn't have questions on 95% of the topics (like acne, ADHD, scarlet fever), the book isn't worth the money paid. I would have returned it, but couldn't find the receipt.

Those with Internet access would probably find this information easily on their own, but it is nice to have this all in one reference.

My one complaint about this book has to do with the glossary at the end, which explains the roles of various staff who care for patients, including RN's, PA's, nurse anesthetists, fellows, etc. There is no mention of nurse practitioners (NP's). For many patients, an NP is the primary care provider. I find it upsetting that the nurses writing the book would mention PA's but not NP's, who are midlevel providers within their own discipline.