By Vicki Rackner, M.D.

It all started with a few small black dots. I came home to find a delivery truck parked in my driveway, blocking the garage. I parked on the street and sauntered through the garage towards the kitchen door. Out of the corner of my eye I saw several black dots on the garage floor that mapped to the location of my parked car’s engine. Was it oil? I had a sinking feeling. Somehow I knew that these dots meant serious business. 

I told myself I was being silly. This was just like all the other times I was convinced I was facing some car disaster. Willie, my trusted mechanic at the family-run gas station in town, was always there to offer me perspective…and a solution.  “No,” he would tell me, “You don’t need a new electrical system because your horn doesn’t work.  Let me replace the fuse.” 

I assumed I knew what Willie would say about the black dots.  “Maybe they’ve been there for years.  Keep an eye on them.” I decided to ignore my intuition.

Following Your Intuition

A few days later it was harder than usual to shift out of second gear, so I took my car in to Willie’s garage.  He put the car on the lift and said, “It looks like you’ve got a leaky transmission.” 

“A leaky transmission!” I moaned.  “That’s one of the worst things that can happen to a car, right, Willie?”

“Well,” he said in a calming voice. “Maybe and maybe not. This car requires special tools to do the diagnostic tests.” I told Willie about the black dots on the garage floor and he said, “It would have been better if you brought the car in the moment you saw the fluid leak.”

What should I do? Go through the time and expense of costly diagnostic tests just to see how much the repair would be?  Could I trust the transmission person, who would profit more as the repair bill rose? Should I get a couple of opinions and estimates?  Get a different car that better served my growing family? 

I decided to ask Willie, who has a good head on his shoulders, what he thought. He told me the same thing I tell some of my patients.  “I wish I could tell you what was wrong with the car and what the repair will entail.  I can’t. You need to decide how much time and money you’re willing to invest in diagnosing the problem.  You need to decide if it’s time to get a different car.  That’s all I can tell you; now you need to decide which direction is the best fit for you.” 

Mechanics for the Human Body

As I was going through this drama, I thought, “This is exactly what it’s like to have a medical problem!” 

I had a hunch when I first saw the black dots on the garage floor that something serious was happening.  I delayed getting things checked until I really had an obvious problem, and then I had plenty of decisions to make. If I had listened to my intuition, I would not be in the same situation.

Intuition can sometimes save your life. Many patients insist on medical care or second opinions because of a little voice inside their head (intuition) telling them something feels wrong.

For instance, my patient Melissa had a black dot too. She just happened to notice it on her back as she caught herself in a new angle trying on a bathing suit at the store. She knew before the biopsy report came back that this was a melanoma – one of the most deadly types of cancer there is. She had a potentially life-threatening problem whose only sign was a black dot the size of an eraser head.

Melissa went to get a biopsy as soon as she saw the black dot, but unfortunately, not all patients do that. It is very common for someone to see something on their body that is new, different, or “suspicious,” but ignore it, or hope that it simply gets better on its own. This can be a very dangerous thing to do. Many cancers are treatable if you catch them early. The longer you wait, the more you increase the chances of the situation worsening.

Just as you should get your car checked out if you suspect something is wrong, you should go to a doctor the moment you think something is wrong with your body.

Your Goal is to Make Medical Decisions that Work for You

Your goal as a patient is to make the medical decisions that work best for you.  You need the expert opinions of your trusted doctors. Your goal is not to become your own doctor, nor is it to fix your own problem. Your goal is to make the choice that works best for you at that point in your life. 

When it comes right down to it, that’s your job description as “patient.” When will you see the doctor?  What tests will you undergo to come up with an accurate diagnosis?  What treatment option will you chose? Finally, will you execute the plan as you and your doctor agreed?

Trust Your Intuition

There is a trusted resource always available when making choices.  It’s your intuition.  That small, still voice that told me those black dots on the garage floor meant something ominous.  Dolores found her breast cancer one night when she did a rare breast self exam.  She said, “It’s as if an invisible force directed my hand to the cancer.” 

Your relationship with your intuition may be like your connection with a distant relative you see only at family events. You seek each other out at weddings because you enjoy each others’ company. You share some amorphous quality best characterized as “blood.”  Every time you see her you think, “It’s so much fun spending time with her. I’m going to make an effort to deepen the relationship.”  But, somehow, you just can’t seem to fit the relationship into your busy, cluttered life.

Make the Time for Your Intuition

I invite you to deepen your relationship with your intuition. Here’s how: engage it in conversations.  Consult with your intuition when you’re making choices.  Instead of just going into the kitchen for a snack and standing in front of an open refrigerator, ask yourself, “What do I want to eat?  For what am I hungry?  Is it even food?” Thank your intuition when it serves you. Then, let your conversations deepen.

What if your doctor contradicts the information your intuition gives you?  Get a second opinion. Often it is your intuition that serves you the best. Karen, a 25-year-old mother of two was in a wheelchair because her body was weakened by cancer. She said to me, “I was 20 when I found my breast lump.  I went to my doctor and he told me I was too young to have breast cancer.  I asked for a mammogram and he said no. I figured the doctor was right.  After all, he’s the doctor.”  The doctor wrote in Karen’s chart, “Patient believes she has breast cancer.  Reassured. ” (Meaning his treatment for her breast lump was to reassure her that she did not have breast cancer). But Karen did have breast cancer.

Do not discount or devalue your intuition.  If your doctor tells you something that does not ring true, get more information. 

Your intuition serves you well.  Your intuition will tell you when it’s time to get help.  When you want to hear the right choice for you, just turn up the volume of your small, still voice.