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  Introduction

  Bill was 61 years old and eagerly anticipating retirement from the police force in another year. Yet suddenly, he was contemplating his own mortality in his last months on the job.

  The doctor’s words had hit him like a sledgehammer.

  “You have a brain tumor and you need brain surgery,” Bill recalls of that stressful day he sat alone across from his neurosurgeon. “I was completely blown away.”

  Though he had noticed his symptoms had been getting progressively worse — numbness of the face, dizziness, and hearing difficulties — he never considered that cancer could be the cause.

  “The doctor told me I had an acoustic neuroma, which is basically a brain tumor. He said that I had to have surgery as soon as possible to have it removed. I left the office in a fog and just sat in my car and cried.”

  Because he didn’t want to alarm his wife, Bill called his union benefits office. The office called us.

  We listened to Bill’s story and when he was finished, we explained to him that traditional surgery is not the only treatment option for an acoustic neuroma. We pointed out that gamma knife treatment, which doesn’t actually involve a knife but uses beams of gamma radiation, is often used in the treatment of acoustic neuromas.

  We recommended that he get a second opinion to explore this option. Bill heaved a huge sigh of relief.

  A week later, Bill was seen by another neurosurgeon whose facility offered the gamma knife treatment.
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  “I liked what he said a lot better,” Bill remembers. “He looked at the same MRI that I showed the first neurosurgeon. He said that acoustic neuromas are typically not fast-growing, so rather than go in quickly to remove it, he wanted to watch it for another six months and get a repeat MRI, then see me back in the office.”

  Six months and another MRI later, Bill returned to the second neurosurgeon for the follow-up appointment. Though Bill’s symptoms had improved since that first visit, he was understandably anxious.

  The neurosurgeon greeted us cordially and put Bill’s MRI on the light box.

  “That’s interesting,” he said. “It’s gone. The tumor is gone.”

  • • •

  Bill’s story is true and it reveals a universal truth in healthcare: Whenever you get a diagnosis that is serious or life-threatening, you should get a second opinion. Studies have shown that getting a second opinion alters the diagnosis 30% of the time.

  Your doctor would get a second opinion, if he or she were the patient. Yet only 20% of patients do. Why? It’s usually a combination of things: Fear. Confusion. Inertia. Concern about offending the doctor. And lack of knowledge on how to proceed.

  On top of all that, this decision must be made at a time when you are under enormous stress. You’ve just been told by your physician that you have cancer. You’ve been told that you need surgery, followed by chemotherapy. Your world, your life as you know it, has been turned upside down. All you want to do is “get it out.”

  The thought of getting a second opinion — and the time and energy that goes into it — is overwhelming and frankly, not a priority. Who would you go to, anyway? You are focused on beating cancer and you want to start that battle right away! Full speed ahead!

  Most of our patients tell us that they not only don’t know who to go to for a second opinion, they haven’t a clue how to make it happen.
• About the Author
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  Two phone calls, 17 years apart, changed the course of Betty Long’s life.

  The first came in 1982, when her father called to tell her that her mother had pancreatic cancer. Four months later, her mother was dead and Betty had shifted gears and decided to become a nurse.

  The second call came in 1999. Betty’s uncle was in intensive care. A procedure was needed and her elderly aunt asked plaintively “what should I do?” With that question, Betty again found a new calling.

  In that moment, the seed for Guardian Nurses Healthcare Advocates was planted.

  With 25 years of experience as a Registered Nurse and Administrator, Betty Long knows the healthcare system inside and out. As a caretaker for elderly relatives, she saw firsthand how difficult it is for patients and families to make the healthcare system work for them.

  She founded Guardian Nurses Healthcare Advocates to provide a voice for patients and families who feel they are not being heard. The company’s Nurse Advocates offer strong and independent support for corporate and private clients all over the United States.

  Long has seen how healthcare works at every level. She began her career in 1986 as a critical care nurse. She later earned a masters’ degree in healthcare administration and went on to leadership positions in hospital administration and healthcare consulting. She also has management experience in long-term care and outpatient services for seniors. Nationally, Long’s advocacy work has been featured on The Dr. Oz Show, National Public Radio’s Marketplace and in The New York Times.

  Dr. Mehmet Oz also invited her to participate as an expert on the Sharecare website he created with Jeff Arnold. Sharecare is an interactive social Q&A site on which leading physicians, nurses, hospitals, clinics, authors, healthcare companies and non-profits share their collective expertise and answer consumers’ questions.

  In 2008, Long was honored by Glamour Magazine and Tag Heuer North America during the Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year gala at a reception hosted by Uma Thurman.

  The Guardian Nurses’ success story also has been featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Business Journal, the Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, and the New England Healthcare Journal.

  Long serves on the Advisory Board of the Professional Patient Advocacy Institute and is also a contributing editor for Employee Benefit News, a monthly national magazine for employee-benefit professionals. She is frequently in demand as a speaker on healthcare advocacy for healthcare professionals, human resources professionals, insurance companies and groups and for consumers. Long shares practical healthcare advice each month in the free Guardian Nurses email newsletter, The Flame.

  “Parents and families get phone calls like the ones I got every day,” Long says, “calls that change the course of their lives in an instant. Cancer. Multiple sclerosis. Heart attack. Alzheimer’s. Nurses know how the healthcare system works. We can make it work for you.”

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