At the age of 48 I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer.  As you might imagine I was stunned as anyone would be, but not by in large concerned.  As an RN who has treated patients with this condition, I knew it was caught early and that my prognosis was excellent.  It was what happened after the diagnosis that I found compelling.

First was the matter of treatment choices of which there are many.  Thankfully I wasn’t in a great hurry to treat the problem based upon a very low Gleason score, (a scoring system designed to stratify rick based cancer cell morphology) .  The ”what” part of the decision process ( i.e. what treatment choice) took about 6 months for me to work through and in the end I decide on minimally invasive surgery.  Then the challenging decision, who.

Based off of over 15 years experience as a Critical Care RN, I knew that the “who” decision is the most important decision affecting outcomes.  Certainly the treatment form plays a role, but the individual who performs and manages the treatment is the big variable.  Hence the problem, how do I find the individual who would provide me the likelihood of the best possible outcome?

When I was actively working as an RN, this would be an easy decision.  I had a pool of resources across numerous facilities and I knew who to go to for the best possible care and outcomes.  The problem I was facing is that I left nursing over ten years ago, and with that lost my “inside” advantage.  I had to do some calling around, and I did.

My research has led me to plan on going to Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan who had, at the time of my surgery, over 200 Prostatectomey’s with the DaVinci Robot.  I had followed the outcomes literature and had planned to fly from Southern California to Michigan for the surgery.  Fortunate for me, I also found another equally successful program utilizing the same approach in Orange County and ended up having my procedure there.  I was in and out of the hospital in 26 hours, one week of home limited activity recuperation and was back at work, and in the air, in about 14 days.  My outcome has been excellent and I am very grateful for the candor and skill of the surgeon.

The reason for this story has to do with choices.  If I were restricted in my choices in any manner, I would have had a much poorer outcome.  Having discussed my situation with guys older, and younger than I, my outcome is astonishingly better.  But what if I did not have the ability to choose “who”, what if I had to go to the surgeon based upon his or her seniority or availability, what then?

As we look for “fixing” healthcare, consider this story as not at all unique.  Hearing politicians use the first person proclamations: “I’ll let you choose your own plan”, or “I’ll let you go to the physician of your choosing”, are frightening.  Just the notion that the government has the power, presumed or otherwise, to dictate the choices who’s outcomes I have to live with, is unacceptable.

Know this: in the end, it is the patient who does the healing and it is the patient who does the dying, health care professionals are at best, participants, coordinators, supporters and facilitators.  Neither we nor the Government will ever change that. The value of the internet doesn’t stop at providing information in the form of content, it is also a tool to find and take advantage of expertise well outside your local area.  A national healthcare plan that encumbers one’s freedom to choose, is no plan at all.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Tom