Thanks for telling us about this book. At an important moment, my second opinion meant the difference between a surgery in three months and a surgery within a week. The second opinion was the surgeon I hired—a decision that likely saved my life.
Thanks Christina. It's a wonderful book and as you can testify, we could all use a little guidance when it comes to navigating the health care system. Sending big hugs.
I love this interview. Thank you Rebecca for writing this book, which I plan to purchase, and thank you Stephanie Raffelock for asking such wonderful, important questions and giving a shout out to my Substack.
Rebecca, I love your idea about writing to medical system personnel early on to achieve buy-in before one gets sick. I think it's so important to empower oneself and have an advocate. I am a breast cancer survivor, and unfortunately, during my diagnosis and treatment, I had no one to advocate for me, so I advocated for myself. I ran across so many obstacles in trying to get the quality medical care I needed and deserved, but I was also lucky to have some great medical people on my side. And these stellar individuals formed my community.
I did get a second opinion, even though I loved my oncologist. The second-opinion oncologist was awful and basically told me I would die if I didn't get the treatment he recommended -- a treatment so different than what the first oncologist told me. But although it was upsetting to hear his doom-and-gloom prediction about my life, getting the second opinion was still useful because it pointed out that the first-opinion oncologist was the much stronger candidate to take care of me. And I will always be grateful to him.
I wrote a book that emphasizes the importance of self-advocacy to get what you need and deserve in our medical system, titled Calling the Shots in Your Medical Care. I hope you can check it out; the link is below:
Oh Beth, I just knew you would add so much to this conversation! And thank you for the link to your book. What you shared here, I know about you: You summoned your courage and got what you needed. That's a whole other conversation -- how do we summon the courage when the world seems so bleak? Thank you for such a thoughtful and insightful comment.
Hi Stephanie, summoning up the courage is a good topic, indeed. I think intense fear helped me summon up the courage to advocate for myself. I knew that I would more than likely die if I wasn't assertive and forceful enough to get my needs met. Too much was at stake. I think we women are more courageous than some in society think.
Beth! Thank you for this thoughtful comment. Sounds like you did an amazing job advocating for yourself and what an interesting story about your second opinion process. It’s all so complex and fraught, but I really have seen over time how advocacy and communication can help. I appreciate the support and I will check out your work immediately! Cheers, Rebecca
This is an important topic and I will let my friends know about it. Very good topics in the interview and the state of our medical care is far inferior to the pre-insurance days. I thought having a femal doctor was the answer but I was wrong, several times. They also do what they were taught and what the insurance company dictates. Like your example of the 'nurse in the silo.' Fragmented. An advocate is needed and in other areas of life, too. Best wishes on your launch and thank you, Stephanie, for this live interview with Rebecca. I'm restacking.
Thank you, Prajna, for the interest and support and for caring so much about this. That’s what makes the difference for so many women, people who know how to advocate and act!
Dear Stephanie, thank you so much for this interview with Rebecca and for remembering how dear this topic is to my heart/life. I listen and share this important book. Congratulations Rebecca
Thanks, Prajna. I know that you are both advocate and activist for women's health care. . . and you do it with such grace and deep caring. Sending big hugs.
This is all such great advice - Thank you Stephanie and Rebecca! I look forward to reading the book. It's also timely for me - I'm in CA and heading toward surgery on both hands in the near future. The treatment info I got from the surgeon I met with didn't match up with the treatment a friend received, and I've been wanting a second opinion. I'm excited to learn about SecondOpinion.org and look forward to finding out more.
Margo, thank you for listening! Sounds like you’re doing right by yourself and on the right track. I hope there’s a lot in the book that you will find useful!
Amazing to have this conversation with you! I’m honored to tell the stories of so many women navigating health journeys. While the system was not built for us, there is a lot we can do to make these journeys better. It starts with experience, knowledge and confidence, but it’s really about compassion and communication! Thank you, Steph, for this wonderful talk. More to come!
Thanks for telling us about this book. At an important moment, my second opinion meant the difference between a surgery in three months and a surgery within a week. The second opinion was the surgeon I hired—a decision that likely saved my life.
Christina, thank you for listening and I am so glad you got that second opinion. Sounds like you did great self-advocacy!
Thanks Christina. It's a wonderful book and as you can testify, we could all use a little guidance when it comes to navigating the health care system. Sending big hugs.
Hi Rebecca and Stephanie,
I love this interview. Thank you Rebecca for writing this book, which I plan to purchase, and thank you Stephanie Raffelock for asking such wonderful, important questions and giving a shout out to my Substack.
Rebecca, I love your idea about writing to medical system personnel early on to achieve buy-in before one gets sick. I think it's so important to empower oneself and have an advocate. I am a breast cancer survivor, and unfortunately, during my diagnosis and treatment, I had no one to advocate for me, so I advocated for myself. I ran across so many obstacles in trying to get the quality medical care I needed and deserved, but I was also lucky to have some great medical people on my side. And these stellar individuals formed my community.
I did get a second opinion, even though I loved my oncologist. The second-opinion oncologist was awful and basically told me I would die if I didn't get the treatment he recommended -- a treatment so different than what the first oncologist told me. But although it was upsetting to hear his doom-and-gloom prediction about my life, getting the second opinion was still useful because it pointed out that the first-opinion oncologist was the much stronger candidate to take care of me. And I will always be grateful to him.
I wrote a book that emphasizes the importance of self-advocacy to get what you need and deserve in our medical system, titled Calling the Shots in Your Medical Care. I hope you can check it out; the link is below:
https://www.amazon.com/Calling-Shots-Your-Medical-Care-ebook/dp/B01IL91PPU/ref=sr_1_1?crid=30QKWWRZKDUIH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8lBa34-kTjc3LR-A9WvEVA.gDFC_8WzDL39Vll1_0fmArz4C0E1HmlyT4PoezWZBvM&dib_tag=se&keywords=Calling+the+Shots+in+Your+Medical+Care&qid=1752512488&sprefix=calling+the+shots+in+your+medical+care%2Caps%2C94&sr=8-1
Oh Beth, I just knew you would add so much to this conversation! And thank you for the link to your book. What you shared here, I know about you: You summoned your courage and got what you needed. That's a whole other conversation -- how do we summon the courage when the world seems so bleak? Thank you for such a thoughtful and insightful comment.
Hi Stephanie, summoning up the courage is a good topic, indeed. I think intense fear helped me summon up the courage to advocate for myself. I knew that I would more than likely die if I wasn't assertive and forceful enough to get my needs met. Too much was at stake. I think we women are more courageous than some in society think.
Beth! Thank you for this thoughtful comment. Sounds like you did an amazing job advocating for yourself and what an interesting story about your second opinion process. It’s all so complex and fraught, but I really have seen over time how advocacy and communication can help. I appreciate the support and I will check out your work immediately! Cheers, Rebecca
Thanks, Rebecca! I say in my book that I saved my own life twice, and this is completely true. I am so looking forward to reading your book.
This is an important topic and I will let my friends know about it. Very good topics in the interview and the state of our medical care is far inferior to the pre-insurance days. I thought having a femal doctor was the answer but I was wrong, several times. They also do what they were taught and what the insurance company dictates. Like your example of the 'nurse in the silo.' Fragmented. An advocate is needed and in other areas of life, too. Best wishes on your launch and thank you, Stephanie, for this live interview with Rebecca. I'm restacking.
Thank you so much for this thoughtful comment, Shellie! Truly appreciate the support and feedback.
Thank you, Prajna, for the interest and support and for caring so much about this. That’s what makes the difference for so many women, people who know how to advocate and act!
Dear Stephanie, thank you so much for this interview with Rebecca and for remembering how dear this topic is to my heart/life. I listen and share this important book. Congratulations Rebecca
Well done 👏👏👏👏👏
Thanks, Prajna. I know that you are both advocate and activist for women's health care. . . and you do it with such grace and deep caring. Sending big hugs.
This is all such great advice - Thank you Stephanie and Rebecca! I look forward to reading the book. It's also timely for me - I'm in CA and heading toward surgery on both hands in the near future. The treatment info I got from the surgeon I met with didn't match up with the treatment a friend received, and I've been wanting a second opinion. I'm excited to learn about SecondOpinion.org and look forward to finding out more.
Margo, so glad that you found this useful. And thank you for sharing your story -- woishing you the best with a second opinion. Big hugs.
Margo, thank you for listening! Sounds like you’re doing right by yourself and on the right track. I hope there’s a lot in the book that you will find useful!
Amazing to have this conversation with you! I’m honored to tell the stories of so many women navigating health journeys. While the system was not built for us, there is a lot we can do to make these journeys better. It starts with experience, knowledge and confidence, but it’s really about compassion and communication! Thank you, Steph, for this wonderful talk. More to come!
Rebecca, I had a such a good learning experience interviewing you. Thanks so much. I know your book is going to help lots of women.