Dr. Knows Best?

Has the doctor ever said: "Ms. X, from what I hear, your symptoms are probably related to..."
Not to knock on the medical profession, but "Do no harm" sounds more like an electrician's motto "Don't get them shocked" or an accountant's motto, "Don't get them audited." The medical profession is not always a mechanical, procedural 1+2=3 diagnosis.
It's guesswork sometimes. We all have friends or personal experiences of hospitalizations with tests that provide no answers to the symptoms we were experiencing. If you've never experienced it, just go to hulu.com and watch an episode of House - it'll guarantee a headache.

I had a conversation with my uncle a few weeks back regarding two very different medical approaches.
Consider, sometimes, that private hospitals have lawsuit fears to consider; government funded HMO's and the like do not since the money just keeps pouring in.

In Private Hospital, my uncle was diagnosed. They asked whether he was experiencing pain or discomfort. The tests showed there was a problem, but the problem was stable for now. They then told him, "You need to have surgery right away." This was a week before Thanksgiving.

My uncle decided to go to the VA Hospital because the sound of surgery and coins bouncing off the sidewalk didn't appeal to him. At the VA, they diagnosed him with the same situation. They asked him whether he was experiencing pain or discomfort. The tests showed there was a problem, but the problem was stable for now. Next, the doctor said, "Well, you need surgery." My uncle, not eager to go under the knife (no one is), said that there was too much going on around the holidays. He asked if they could wait until after the new year. The doctor asked, "Well, what is your body telling you?" What an interesting question!! What is your body telling you? A serious medical problem, stable, no pain, and so what is your body telling you? So they decided to wait.

The second scenario provided the patient, my uncle, with choices and options and treated him like a contributor to his medical well-being. The first scenario went right for the knife. Unless my uncle had the assertiveness to say, "I don't want surgery right away," he would have been under the knife that week.