A Good Doctor-Patient Relatio... Video Transcript

Webcast Transcript

Now everybody's experience is different. Everybody's surgery is different. But when you can see somebody who has been through something worse than what you're going through, it really helps. And women are sharing more today. They're not holding back.

ANNOUNCER: Doctors encourage their patients to learn about their disease in many ways.

CAROLE CHAMBERLAIN: Online resources have helped tremendously. I've spoken to a lot of my friends who were diagnosed and immediately got on the Internet. Between organizations like the Komen Foundation, the Cancer Society, Sharing and Caring, here in New York, SHARE organization.

D. LAWRENCE WICKERHAM, MD: I often take time when the patient is first diagnosed with a breast cancer to sort of go over the fact that they are going to be getting lots of information from lots of different sources, and they need to take that information with a grain of salt, whether or not it's Aunt Tillie or Dan Rather.

ANNOUNCER: While being educated about your disease is important, a good relationship with your doctor is vital.

CAROLE CHAMBERLAIN: If you don't like what the doctor says or the personalities clash, it's like a date. You can tell on the first hour of a date. If you don't like him, go home.

Ask a friend, call a medical association, call an organization like the Komen Foundation. They will help you in any part of this country they have teams; they have organizations. With what you're going through as a possible breast cancer survivor, you don't need to be treated like a number. You need to be treated like a human being.

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