Is There A Doctor In The House?

There are answers. I think many assume that because someone is a "doctor" he/she is supposed to have all the answers. They don't! Some will try to find a solution while others seem to take the easy way and just give a textbook answer based on the described symtoms.
My wife had a problem when we lived in Atlanta and she went from one doctor to another. The problem in going to a new doctor was the high fee because you were a new patient. $245 just to step into their sanctuary as a "first-time patient." She was eventually diagnosed as having Osteoporosis. One doctor asked her if her mother had "osteoporosis" and she said no. Then the doctor said, "they you don't have it either."
Often they just don't listen to what you are saying and jump to conclusions. Who knows better than the patient where it hurts?

There are good doctors worldwide. Finding one you can believe in (trust) is very important. It could save your life. It pays to shop around. The first clue is whether or not the doctor is listening to what you are saying.

Rainbow just called me from the hospital emergency room and could use some positive thoughts and prayers. He feels fine, but his limbs aren't working. He's laying on a stretcher waiting for help. He'll fill in the details when he can.

Rainbow just called and said that he knows what it is. It's compression on a disk in his neck and he'll need surgery. He's being taken care of in the hospital, and they are looking into where he'll go next to have the surgery. He'll worry about the money to pay for it later. The best thing that happened was that his friend and owner of the RV Park called 911 and an ambulance came and took him away to the hospital when he couldn't stand up any more.


It's a relief to know that he's on his way to being better, and he needs all the positive thoughts, energy and prayers he can get right now!

Helen, let Rainbow know that he's in my prayers. Glad there is an answer for him and hopefully he is in good hands.

Helen,
thanks for the information. Knowing that they found the problem and will work to resolve it is great.
Keep us posted. We do care.

Sounds like good news. I imagine it will work out fine for him now.

Abe's post reminded me of the old medical school joke.
What do they call the person who graduates last in his class?
They call him doctor.

It was up and then down with the news from Rainbow.

He's being treated for pneumonia (of which he shows no symptoms) and high blood pressure. He'll have a CAT scan tomorrow on his chest. But the doctor said that he may send him home tomorrow, and he could be back in the same situation as before.

For now, he's been treated very well, and he was in very good spirits before the doctor came in with the latest news.

He appreciates all the good thoughts and prayers.

I feel for him, with this mix of diagnosis. The compressed disc sounds like a more likely candidate for causing the problems.

I hope it isn't as serious as I fear.

He will need the surgery, which is a 6 to 7-hour operation. But they plan to send him back to the neurologist he originally saw that required the money up front for the diagnosis.

He's had the MRI he needed, and they know it's a disc in his neck. But he doesn't know how he'll get the neurologist to do the operation without insurance.

He'll know more tomorrow after they get the results of the CAT scan.

It's a downright crime that it is like that in this country. Things need to change, and quickly.

He's in our prayers.

Sounds a little like "Catch 22" to me.

People realize how sad the system is only when they are personally faced with it.

Thank you, Helen, for all the updates. I will send prayers and positive energy his way.

My husband says that doctors only have licenses to practice, and that is all they do: practice.

I agree with your husband, Sue. When Doctors retire, they no longer 'practice' because they have learned how. (Some of them, anyhow!)

I think there is more broken than just the payment system. We need doctors that listen, get to know us as people with illnesses, give comfort and resources for help when they cannot find answers or simple cures.

I was on a panel for a social work convention in April with that message: that comfort, listening, are important and sometimes are not part of medical treatment.

My son-in-law is a doctor, and I will speak out for him, that besides graduating he has been required to pass many many exams. He is a Navy doctor, still trying to decide on a specialty. He knows a lot about illness, but I have avoided asking him what he thinks my illness is, because only three years out of medical school, he sometimes tends to only see doom and gloom. He has to keep practicing and seeing how people can recover from lots of serious illnesses.

When I had cancer treatment, I had the most wonderful doctor in the world. Whenever I went to see him, he, my husband and I would have hour long conversations.

One time he told me, "Sometimes people get better who shouldn't and sometimes people get worse who shouldn't. There is something more going on then we see with medical procedures."

My hopes and prayers are for Rainbow. I think he is a determined person reaching out and that is a good thing.

Carol

Carol,
lots of wisdom in your post.

Carol Troestler wrote:

One time he told me, "Sometimes people get better who shouldn't and sometimes people get worse who shouldn't. There is something more going on then we see with medical procedures."

I've seen that too Carol. Great post!

Carol,

I agree with you about the doctors needing to be more compassionate, and I praise you for speaking out about it. You know that good ones are out there. If all could be like those good ones!

I talked with Rainbow today. He wants to thank everyone for their concern and good wishes.

He thought he was going home yesterday, but they kept him today, too. They told him that he has high cholesterol. He's still not very concerned about the high cholesterol, high blood pressure or pneumonia, of which he has no symptoms. He just wants to be able to walk and use his arms. His one good arm is now losing strenth. They told him that the operation costs $80,000, and that they haven't heard back from the hospital where the neurologist that could operate resides. He figures that he already owes them money, and they may not be interested in taking him on.

There is someone at the hospital trying to get him Medicaid. He was turned down for disabilty, but he has a lawyer working on that. With a couple people working on it, maybe something will come through.

He still has the neurologist connection in Mexico and will have the copy of the MRI that the doctor needs. So if they send him home tomorrow, as they say they will, he'll try the Mexico hospital. The owners of the RV park where he lives have been very helpful and compassionate.

Rainbow's been in the hospital since Friday and is complaining how they wake him every two hours from midnight on. He was a little bit down, but he has renewed hope that things will work out. He's got the MRI. That's one step closer.

I told him that he should try and get the hospital to find someone who could give him a massage. Maybe it would relieve some of the pressure on his spine. I said that it could be his project for the day. He gets someone to sit him up in the chair during the day, but he's very bored with daytime TV.

He seemed to be in good spirits and is waiting to see what happens next!

Thanks for the update, Helen. This must be very trying for him. Not only is he incapacitated, but he must worry about costs as well. And if they send him home knowing he cannot care for himself, they should be shot!

I agree, there are some very good doctors around. The problem comes whne you start shopping around for one. Usually it's when you really need one. Maybe folks should interview doctors for the position of caring for them before they are needed.

Helen,
excuse my curiosity, but may I assume that you have a family connection with Rainbow?

Hi Abe,

No, Rainbow and I have no family connection. We met through Publish America when he had questions as to how the woman he loved could stay with an ex-priest who had abused little boys. I recommended my book to him to help him understand the power the ex-priest held over her.

He helps to promote my book wherever he can, and I've helped him edit his new book. We've become friends, and we talk occasionally by phone and through email.

Helen,

I'm glad you have contact with him.

I have wonderful author friends. It is one of the best things about being a published author. A couple of years ago, Abe and his wife spent two days with my husband and me in Germany. Some here have also given me info for my Cuba book, and others give a lot of support and friendship over the internet.

Thanks for the information and I'm hoping for good things for Rainbow.

Carol

Carol,

I've made some wonderful friendships through being a published author. How fantastic it must've been to meet Abe and his wife in Germany! All the way from Wisconsin! Being published has opened so many new doors, and I'm so grateful for that.

I know Rainbow will enjoy reading all the comments when he gets back to his computer. He still has a way to go, but he's making progress towards being well again.

Zada, I agree with you that those in charge of sending him home in the state he's in should be shot! They know what his problem is, but they're treating things that are not going to make him walk again. He's so frustrated because he feels fine, but he just can't carry himself or even use one of his arms. And now the other arm is getting worse.