How do we take charge of our health

I am a psychologist specializing in issues related to how people interact with the health care system and am interested in understanding the successes and failures that people may have experienced in working with physicians, nurses and other health care professionals.

I am not only interested in this topic from a professional position but also from a personal perspective...

My daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer over two years ago and has undergone medical treatment during this time with little success. Her tumor is "non-responsive" and she is in the final throws of dealing with chemo treatments that are less and less successful. While she has been courageous in her battle against her cancer, the experiences she's had with the health care system is what set the stage for her failed treatment.

She suspected that she had problems with her breasts over 10 years ago when she was in her early 30's. Her breasts were "lumpy" and spoke to her doctors about her concerns. They did mammograms and she was examined on a regular basis, all leading to a diagnosis of "you can't have breast cancer". It wasn't until she insisted on a blind biopsy that the medical specialists were able to confirm the diagnosis.

While we can't necessarily complain about her care following diagnosis, it is very clear that the prediagnosis care set the stage for the challenges and pain that she and her family have had to suffer.

Now she is a pretty bright, assertive and competent young woman and the fact that she was unable to efficiently use the system to identify a life threatening illness does not bode well, in my mind, for how most "regular" people deal with the health care system.

And it is not just the patients...it is also the physicians and other health care professionals who are reporting significant unhappiness about the state of their own health care experiences.

What has been your experience and what have you learned that can help others