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Sorry
Hi Al. I apologize for the disappearing act. I'm still here, just up to my reproductive parts in alligators at the moment. Mom has developed pneumonia, despite my best efforts and pleadings with her doctors. It seems that the ongoing battle with physician complacency extends well beyond cancer treatment options.
At the first sign of a bad-sounding cough, I took her to the doctor, who pooh poohed it as simply a cold. I asked if he thought we could get a chest film and perhaps a sputum sample, but more pooh poohing and a "let's wait and watch" was ordered. After a few days I had had enough. She spiked a temp and I demanded a prompt re-visit. Even after hearing the rattle in her chest, I had to INSIST on an immediate broad-spectrum antibiotic to be safe. I also requested a chest film. After putting on my Mr. Hyde face, he agreed. I rushed off to the hospital to get the film, and waited there for it to be read. I was informed that the doctor had not ordered the film be read STAT. After more Mr. Hyde from me, the tech acquiesced, and the film showed infiltrate suspect of pneumonia. When I called the doctor back to inform him (nice when the patient has to report test results to the physician), he had left for the day.
Anyway, we are trying to clear up the pneumonia now, as we (?) seem to have caught it before it got way out of hand. Mom has been sleeping in the recliner to aid her breathing, and the simple act of her swallowing one pill, let alone the many supplements I have been giving her, has become a monumental task. I have begun opening many of the capsules and putting the contents in her teas and juices during the course of the day.
Needless to say, our daily routine has become very complicated. If you are wondering why they didn't hospitalize her, it's because the area hospitals are fighting a losing battle with MRSA bugs, and it was far safer for her to be at home than catch something they can't fix. As if all this weren't enough, our little dog became restless and stopped eating. I held him in my arms the other night to comfort him, and he died at 5:30 in the morning. These are the times that I get a little crazy, so I just have to withdraw from my ususal frenetic pace of online posting and researching.
I have discovered that when you reach a certain age, doctors develop an underlying, almost dismissive attitude towards the patient, and decide in their minds that a person should have a less than aggressive approach to their treatment, whether it be for a cold or their cancer. When you ask for aggressive treatment, they look at you as if you were trying to raise the dead. I am tired and fed up to my same alligator-chewed private parts with spending all my energy begging, pleading, and threatening doctors to do what is right for Mom rather than what they feel is worth doing.
I will NEVER, NEVER stop getting in their faces, and may even approach the local media to do a story on inadequate care for the elderly. Who the hell are these people that decide your loved one has lived long enough, while their Mothers and Fathers sit in high-end care facilities with one of their personal physican friends "keeping an eye on them" as a favor? In case anyone forgets, if Mom had had the proper staging investigation (sentinel node biopsy) in the first place, she wouldn't have had to go through everything twice, i.e. radiation and additional surgery. I think I am going to have a Mr. Hyde mask made and simply wear it to all of her appointments to begin with. Maybe that will do the trick. I apologize for the rant, but I just can't help it when it comes to getting a doctor to do what they are supposed to, BEFORE the fecal matter hits the rotary oscillator. My advice? Keep the "ugly face" on at all times, and always have a large notebook with you in their office. The more furiously you write things down in their presence, the better care you will receive. It doesn't matter whether that care is better because they are afraid of litigation, or is done out of the goodness of their heart. JUST INSIST ON IT. I have to go now. I hear a large, wet reptile scratching at my bedroom door. Take care all.
Sincerely,
Tom
Last edited by Tom; 01-10-2006 at 08:53 AM..
Reason: Too many spelling errors
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