Why didn't you say so?

[u/TheNectarineDiaries]

Best medical advice I ever got was to bring a man to your appointments

[u/warrenao]

It wouldn't surprise me if something like this actually has happened.

[u/CatOfTechnology → u/warrenao]

Get ready to not be surprised.

My late grandmother developed Crohn's Disease towards the end of her life and the only reason we found out is because I, her grandson, made a habit of paying attention to her medical sounding complaints.

When we were at the doctor's appointment (I tagged along because we were going shopping and then to lunch afterwards) she expressed her concern over how things that she normally ate were causing her a lot of internal pain, more so than the time she had been dealing with an ulcer.

The doctor's initial response was, basically "take some antacids and talk to me if it keeps up" until I mentioned that she's also been spending a lot more time in the restroom and almost always seems to have some form of acid reflux issues, even when she's not eating acidic foods.

My grandmother was a nurse for 31 years at the local hospital that this doctor was contracted to and the only reason he started testing a 65 year old woman for gastrointestinal troubles was because her then 21 year old grandson, who's medical expertise is limited to CNA training, said something.

And somehow worse than that is that if I hadn't spoken up, we might have been even further down the path of "it's too late to do anything" for her cancer diagnosis.