PATIENT2PATIENT NEWSLETTER
September 1, 2003

Please visit our Web site at: www.Patient2Patient.net

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In This Issue:

* Quotation of the Month
* New Addition to our Patient Best Practices Subscriber Series: "The Ten
Most
  Important Questions to Ask Your Doctor"
* New and Updated Patient2Patient WebGuides
* Sponsorship Report
* Feature Article: "Finding a Doctor, Part 4 - Understanding Your
Treatment"
* Humor

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 ~ Quotation of the Month ~

"Patience - in time the grass becomes milk."

 Unknown

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~ New Addition To Our Patient Best Practices Subscriber Series ~

"THE TEN MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR DOCTOR" will be available
to current WebGuide subscribers as of September 15th.

Current subscribers will be able to log in and enter their password on
the Subscribers page to download a copy of the "The Ten Most Important
Questions To Ask Your Doctor," available in both Word and Adobe Acrobat
(pdf) format.

Upcoming guides will include: "How to Get an Effective Second Opinion,"
"Surviving and Thriving in the Hospital," and The Ten Most Important
Questions to Ask in the Hospital."

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~ New and Updated Patient2Patient WebGuides ~

The latest update to our PARKINSON'S WEBGUIDE is available September
1st. It incorporates two outstanding new sites: A news site that allows
you to search for Parkinson's articles and a diet/nutrition site that's
extremely user-friendly. As usual, we've updated the rest of the
Parkinson's sites to indicate any changes to the navigation or areas of
interest.

Our ALZHEIMER'S WEBGUIDE will be available September 15th, and the
EPILEPSY WEBGUIDE will be available October 1st.

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~ Sponsorship Report ~

Patient2Patient gratefully acknowledges the creation of the Joyce Paik
Memorial Fund to help support the sponsorship of a Cancer WebGuide.

If you know of an individual, organization or group that may be
interested in sponsoring a Patient2Patient WebGuide, please contact
Andrew Robinson, Executive Director at Sponsorship@patient2patient.net

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~ Feature Article: "Finding a Doctor, Part 4 - Understanding Your
Treatment" ~

In our earlier newsletters, we discussed how to use the Internet to
locate a medical specialist and how to determine if that doctor is
"right" for you.

Similarly, the questions below will help determine if your treating
doctor has the necessary background and experience for your needs. They
will also help you better understand any treatments he/she is
recommending, what complications you might face as a result of them, and
help you uncover all your treatment options

First of all, when you first meet a new doctor or specialist you should
learn everything about their background that's vital to your situation.
More important than what medical school they attended is their
experience treating patients with your illness.

For example, you may see an oncologist, a doctor who treats cancer. But
how many patients with your specific type of cancer has this oncologist
treated? The more familiar they are with your specific condition -- the
treatments, complications, medications, tests and procedures -- the
better. So ask them the following:

a) Do you have specialized experience or training for my particular
condition? What other condition(s) do you specialize in? What is your
background and training for these condition(s)?

b) How many patients like me have you seen and treated for this
condition? (By "like me" we mean patients that are your age with similar
complications and are at the same stage [or degree] of this disease.)

c) How have those patients been similar to me? How have they been
different? Have any of them had my particular physical problems or
complications?

d) What treatment do you recommend for me? What does it involve and what
do I have to do?

e) What are the expected results or benefits from this recommended
course of treatment?

f) How many other patients have you treated with this regimen? Have
their conditions been very similar or different to my own? What
resulted?

g) What side effects can occur from this treatment? What additional
complications can I anticipate due to my particular circumstances?

h) How long before I can expect to see improvement from this treatment?

i) How do we monitor improvements or changes?

j) If we aren't seeing the intended results, at what point will we
embark on another course of therapy or treatment?

k) Do you ever use other types of treatments for my condition?

l) What other treatments are used by other doctors or at other medical
centers? Do any doctors you know use these treatments?

m) How do those treatments compare with the treatment you are
recommending for me? Have there been any comparison studies or trials?
How long have they been in existence as compared with the treatment you
are recommending?

One way to get a deeper sense of your doctor is to make your questions
more personal.

Oftentimes patients want to know their doctor's gut feeling about a
course of treatment as opposed to their clinical views. You want to feel
your doctor's emotional connection to you and the gravity of your
situation.

So ask your doctor this question:

Doctor, if your wife or child or parent were facing this illness, what
treatment would you recommend for them?

We consider this to be the "ultimate treatment question." Don't be
afraid to ask it.

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Humor

Wife: Doctor my husband thinks he's a satellite dish.

Doctor: Don't worry I can cure him.

Wife: I don't want him cured I want you to adjust him to get the movie
channel.

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Feel Good!

The Staff of Patient2Patient

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We welcome your comments about this newsletter and our WebGuides -
Feedback@patient2patient.net.

(c) Copyright 2003 Patient2Patient, LLC.  You are welcome to forward
this issue to someone you know, in its entirety (without cutting).