Encouraging Proactive Patients
Patients can help physicians catch problems early by not minimizing symptoms.

 
Sarwat Mahmud, MD, who specializes in internal medicine and nephrology [science of the kidney], wishes all her patients were as proactive as 74-year-old Dorothy Crawley. A San Pedro resident, Crawley had been feeling “not quite right” and spent considerable effort and time seeking an answer rather than attributing her problems to merely getting older. The day her lab results came back, she was admitted to Little Company of Mary — San Pedro Hospital for what evolved into a six-week stay.

“The doctors were all wonderful,” Crawley says. “They came to see me so often and showed that they were really interested in my well-being. They were all really concerned, and that meant a lot to me. I had good nurses, too.”

 
A blood test had revealed that Crawley had ANCA-positive RPGN, an acronym for inflammation of a particular area of the kidneys. Untreated RPGN has a high morbidity rate and can progress to end-stage renal disease in as little as a few weeks and not more than several months.

“Anyone who has such long-term issues or a generalized feeling of being unwell or who is suffering from edema or weight loss really needs to be under the care of their general practitioner,” Dr. Mahmud urges. “Get a timely diagnosis, by a specialist if needed, get the proper treatment, and, perhaps most important, be vigilant about your follow-up care.”   Continue »

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