Get second, third and fourth opinions.

Woman has 140 lb cancerous tumor removed

It seems like more people trust their doctors than don’t. I ponder over this phenomenon every day. What’s wrong with second guessing and researching on your own? This is our life we’re talking about, right? So often we second guess our own instincts about other aspects in our lives like relationships, but rarely do we question our doctors. We may call our family for advice about work, or call our friends about our love life, and we talk to our co-workers and ask, “what do you think?”. I know I ask others what they think all of the time, but while I’m asking, I do my own thinking and answering. I question a person’s point of view, just like I do my own. In the end, I know that I’ve asked people I trust and I add to it my own research and come to my own conclusion.

In Oprah’s recent Dr. Oz show, the perfect demonstration on why second opinions are so important gives the audience a grotesque and alarming point of view.

” One reason this tumor grew so big over approximately two decades is that Linda never sought a second opinion about her unexplained weight gain. ‘Just because you have a doctor for 20 years like I did and trusted him, make sure you have it checked out [again], ‘she says. ‘Second, third, fourth.”

What kind of life has this woman faced and what kind of life does she have ahead of her?  I hope that when it comes to our health, people choose to in the end, to think for themselves and get second, third, maybe fourth opinions.