Receiving a complicated medical diagnosis can throw your world into chaos. It interrupts your life with a new reality, and that can be hard to process. Where do you turn to make sense of your situation?
Mayo Clinic experts share their advice on receiving a difficult medical diagnosis and who they would turn to for support.
Edward Ahn, M.D., Pediatric Neurosurgery: Well, I would do all the research that I could to see what the recommendations are. But then I immediately go to my family and give them the honest truth and then talk about expectations with everyone altogether.
Ann Kearns, M.D., Ph.D., Endocrinology: I think the first thing that I would do would be to reach out to my family for support and have them understand what it might mean to them and to me. And then I would of course engage with my health care team here.
Edward Laskowski, M.D., Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: And my faith in God is really the fabric of who I am. So I would really look to Him to strengthen me and encourage me throughout this and guide our physicians to the best treatment.
Dr. Kearns: I have a primary care doctor that I have a lot of faith in who would be able to guide me through the process and the journey.
Lisa King, R.N., Transplant Center: So the first thing I would do is pray, to ask for strength and guidance. The second thing I would do is talk to my family and sit down and tell them, "This is what I've heard. This is what we're going to do, and this is how we're going to fight this."
Nolan Peterson, Wellness Coach, Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program: Talk to God about it. And then my co-pilot investment in my life, my wife, that would be the very next person I'd be talking with them about this and what's next? Let's do this.
Jen Welper, Executive Chef, Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program: Pray. I would take some time and reflect. I like to always be careful with how I react to things, and so I think I would take time and just kind of sit with it. And then just, I guess, figure of what my next step was.
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