OT: Health ** Abuse by Doctors and Medication

[Guest guest]

Hey Smilin' Effie,

 

> Yo Butch:

>

> >I had suspected a heart problem for better than a year, but I

> >was reluctant to get it checked. Then a buddy who was 36 had his heart

> >checked and they found lotsa problems .. they did a double bypass on him

> >Tuesday of this week .. new procedure developed by a Turk, Dr. Karagoz,

> >that makes a small incision. Anyway, Sahin's problem got me to thinking

> >and then some young doctor friends worked on my hard-head and kicked my

> >lazy ass and pushed me to get myself checked .. which was a good thing.

>

> I am the same way about going to see a quack. Do need to one of these

> first days cuz I get off balance perioadically.

 

I hear you. And I'll tell you it was DAMN hard to get me to go. I had

not been to a doctor since 1994 (February I think) in Tel Aviv, and

wouldn'a gone then but I was down on my butt with pneumonia. After that

trip, it has been 8 plus years and I was doing fine .. but friends who

went to doctors always found something that needed medicating.

 

Made me think of when I was in university, studying abnormal psychology,

and we had to do case profiles on our friends. Each on my friends was a

friggin' maniac and even when I looked into the mirror to shave, I saw

an abnormal creature peering back at me .. ;-p

 

> Just needed to tell you also about one of my 'extra' kids. He is only 48

> and is in critical care unit. Had a heart attach--felt it coming on and

> told his wife to call an ambulance. They tried to take him off the heart

> pump yesterday but had to put it back on because he wasn't getting enough

> oxygen. I just got a call a few minutes ago that they had drained 7 pounds

> of fluid from around his heart. I can't even fathom that. He has never

> smoked, runs every day, eats healthy, etc. But can you even imagine that

> much fluid!!! His breathing is much better now and his recovery sounds

> more optimistic.

 

Good show. Sorry that young feller had to go through all this and I'm

wishing him a speedy recovery .. but mayhaps he can look back on it as

being a lucky break cause they were able to get him to help afore he

went under snakes. When he's stabilized, they'll obviously do the work

necessary to make things right .. and that gives him that second chance

at life that could have not been available if conditions had been even a

little bit different. :-)

 

> You know, Butch, maybe we both had better take better care of

> ourselves from now on, huh? My sick thinking is 'it will never happen

> to me'. Now that is really taking life for granted.

 

You are 100% right on the taking better care part. But I'm still of a

mind that we need to try to avoid hospitals if we can. I'm thinking

that doctors are a lot like lawyers in that they are big time into CYA.

Gonna give y'all a couple of long and boring examples here .. they might

mean nothing to some but maybe not to all.

 

Back in '85 .. I was doing a belated Over 40 Physical with Uncle Sugar.

Have to get one when we turn 40 but I was not in the right location to

get one when I turned 40. Had a contract doctor lady .. not a military

person. Probably a good doctor but barely spoke English. Her job was

to certify that I could continue the five mile runs and other PT we took

on a routine basis .. so there was a fairly big monkey sitting on her

shoulder. Anyhow .. I was a smoker and my cholesterol was (as always)

over 300. She asked me if I ever had pains while running and I replied

in a cavalier manner (a big mistake) something like " All the time, you

ever run five miles? Every part of the body is screaming and telling me

its a dumb thing to do. " Well .. this lady immediately did a referral

to a Cardiologist .. said I was at risk for a heart attack. My choices

were to go along with this or accept a P2 Profile .. which was a death

sentence as far as future promotion was concerned.

 

They sent me to Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, GA. Did a

Stress Thalium test. Test showed great on one side and maybe on the

other so they determined I needed an angio (catherization). Couple of

weeks later, I was admitted to the hospital and I saw dudes walking

around with AN arm bandaged .. and other dudes moaning and groaning in

the bed. Depended on where they got the catheter. I told the doc I

wanted mine in the arm and he said OK.

 

I was on a cold marble slab (reminded me of a morgue) when they tried it

through the main artery in my arm .. which failed and caused a major

hemotoma. So, they withdrew and used the artery in the groin .. and by

that time, I was not a real happy camper. I'm laying there looking up

at this heart monitor and they're running that rascal through my bod ..

first thing I know I see the heart monitor doing a straight line and

zzzzzing .. and somebody is hollering at me to cough but there is no

wind to cough. Then I blacked out. Had a vasovagal attack. When I

woke up, they were sopping a wet sponge in my mouth.

 

The results of the angio was that I was finer'n frog hair .. no sign of

blockage. False positive reading on the Stress Thalium Test. Point is,

all this crap should not have been necessary in the first place. When I

showed the write up to the Turkish Professor Doctor lady, she said she

understood why I had said I wasn't gonna accept another angio .. said

she had heard of such things but it was rare, and they had used massive

amounts of atropine and more than 400% norm of nitro to bring me back.

 

So .. they damn near killed me for no reason. ;-{

 

Second long-winded point. Friend's father here, 76 years old, has had

Parkinsons for 10 years or so. Two plus months ago, he was having

problems with adjustment to new medication .. so his wife badgered him

to go to the hospital. They took him in and did all kinds of tests.

While there he caught forty-eleven different kinds of bacterial and

viral critters - they were sticking him with this and that and even had

to do a catheter in his penis cause he locked up due to these critters.

To make a long story short, he was released a week or so ago. Damned if

he hasn't aged ten years in that two months .. he's too weak to walk to

the bathroom without assistance. Can't take care of himself anymore and

appears to have lost the will to go on. I am 100% convinced that he

would not have been worse for wear if he had gone in as an outpatient.

 

Sometimes we gotta go to a doctor and a hospital .. and we need to know

when those times are .. I reckon. I'm thinking that doctors will cover

their A$$es by putting us through whatever suffering and expense comes

to mind .. even if odds are small we really need it. If I'm 20% greater

risk than the average feller of having a heart attack .. does that mean

I need a bypass? Hell No! It means I need to readjust my lifestyle and

capitalize on that 80% normalcy I'm still hanging onto. Odds are worse

than 20% of being killed or injured in a transportation related accident

sometime in our lives .. but staying at home is not the solutation.

 

Cardiology lady told me that the odds of ANY person over 50 not having a

certain amount of blockage is small. If we live with it, we live with

it. If we let some feller cram a catheter into us, he's gonna recommend

major surgery .. but all the other folks around us whut didn't get the

catheter are just like us maybe.

 

> Blessings and love,

> Smilin Effie

 

And to you .. and good health fer'shur .. and keep smiling .. :-)

 

Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

[Guest guest]

Howdy Folks,

 

> Sometimes we gotta go to a doctor and a hospital .. and we need to know

> when those times are .. I reckon.

 

 

I agree with that, and I agree knowing the times when it is ok to take

care of yourself and not need a doctor.

 

Twice in the past year I have accidentally cut myself deep enough that

most folks would have run to get stitches. I looked at doing that as A.

a way to make my wound last longer and scar more, B. as a way to cost me

money for nothing and C. a reason to put me on meds I don't really need.

I cleansed, dressed, drained and tended my wounds myself. Neither of

them ever developed any sign of infection, they healed very nicely and

are just tiny little scars now. I still haven't ever gotten stitches and

I sure as heck didn't need antibiotics or a tetanus shot which would

have been routine procedure at the emergency room.

 

I see doctors as consultants and firefighters only. IMHO we should be in

charge of our own health and well being, knowing how to maintain it and

take care of most day to day situations that arise with it. The doc is

there if I need advice of if I'm in real trouble and have no idea what

to do about it.

 

Effie, I hope your " son " is on the road to a speedy recovery. Butch,

take care of yourself and when ya get off the dang computer .. have a

chicken doner for me ;-p

 

Have a great weekend folks!

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

 

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