Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Checking in before heading out to do some errands that have been piling up.
I wanted to mention, in case any of you are interested, that I've received four comments on the post I wrote that was published through Grand Rounds. Two are soundly negative, one is, well, probably negative (the one by Anonymous announcing that I helped confirm that person's decision to leave medicine). The one positive comment was from someone who seems to be struggling with Medicine on behalf of a care recipient. Two are obviously from medical professionals. One, well, I'm not sure, I'd guess this person was a med professional from the tone of the comment, but I could be wrong. The only comment that wasn't anonymous was the positive comment.
Am I surprised? I'm surprised that anyone commented, but, since people are commenting, no, I'm not surprised at the negative comments, nor that they are from medical professionals, nor at the authors' anonymity. All the comments seem to be evocative of where we all are (at least in this country) with Medicine, right now. The technique I used to ensure that my mother received appropriate hospital care and that we both received adequate cooperation from the medical professionals involved in her care worked splendidly for my mother and me, and, I might add, was devised after the experience of a hospital stay that showed me what can happen when I'm not prepared to exercise some control (or aware that I need to exercise control) over the situation, thus leaving my mother and myself completely in the hands of medical professionals.
It's funny because Mom and I had a discussion about hospitalization a couple of days ago, prompted by the article featured in an earlier post. Although she is such an easy hospital patient as to be a dream (I, as her medical advocate, am the one who is a "problem"), she does not enjoy being in the hospital and remains aware of the problems inherent in hospital stays. At any rate, we both confirmed that we hope she never again needs hospital care. She even voiced her desire that she die easily, peacefully and by surprise here at home. So do I.
Despite the negative comments from medical professionals, I would not hesitate to use this technique again, if necessary. I hope it is never again necessary.
Am I surprised? I'm surprised that anyone commented, but, since people are commenting, no, I'm not surprised at the negative comments, nor that they are from medical professionals, nor at the authors' anonymity. All the comments seem to be evocative of where we all are (at least in this country) with Medicine, right now. The technique I used to ensure that my mother received appropriate hospital care and that we both received adequate cooperation from the medical professionals involved in her care worked splendidly for my mother and me, and, I might add, was devised after the experience of a hospital stay that showed me what can happen when I'm not prepared to exercise some control (or aware that I need to exercise control) over the situation, thus leaving my mother and myself completely in the hands of medical professionals.
It's funny because Mom and I had a discussion about hospitalization a couple of days ago, prompted by the article featured in an earlier post. Although she is such an easy hospital patient as to be a dream (I, as her medical advocate, am the one who is a "problem"), she does not enjoy being in the hospital and remains aware of the problems inherent in hospital stays. At any rate, we both confirmed that we hope she never again needs hospital care. She even voiced her desire that she die easily, peacefully and by surprise here at home. So do I.
Despite the negative comments from medical professionals, I would not hesitate to use this technique again, if necessary. I hope it is never again necessary.
Comments:
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originally posted by Amanda M: Wed Aug 16, 05:41:00 PM 2006
Gail - that's just too bad, to have negative comments in response to a technique that appears to have worked well in a difficult and hopefully rare situation. Patient advocacy on behalf of a family member is a fine art, and in some cases a firm tone is what works. In my extended family we've dealt with viral encephalitis (I walked into my grandpa's hospital room and in two minutes I knew that he did NOT have pneumonia - the doctor was really nice, and really glad to have someone point out the misdiagnosis - he said, oh, I've been wondering about that...), breast cancer, colon cancer, MS, fibromyalgia and biliary atresia, to name a few. Because my sister-in-law's father is a doctor, her brother a nurse and her sisters are pharmaceutical reps, we know enough about what goes wrong in hospitals (no offense to anyone, but mistakes happen too often for comfort for us) to never leave a family member alone in the hospital...but we also realize that that it's not always possible to stay with your loved one 24/7. The type of letter you wrote seems to be the next best thing if there have clearly been problems.... Squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that. Just sorry you have to go it alone!
Though our approach in general is that of "catching more flies with honey" and working together with docs and other medical professionals, there is a time and a place for saying what you have to say. Power to you for doing that, and it doesn't sound like the results were all bad. (Apart from the negative blog comments that is! Yikes.)
I love to ask questions, and track a loved one's care, and often I find that if I don't understand something, in the process of asking questions the answer sometimes changes....because in the process of helping me to understand the person who is answering the questions develops a deeper analysis of the issues at hand....
Keep on keeping on, and I hope things go much better from now on.
Best wishes to you and your mother,
Gail - that's just too bad, to have negative comments in response to a technique that appears to have worked well in a difficult and hopefully rare situation. Patient advocacy on behalf of a family member is a fine art, and in some cases a firm tone is what works. In my extended family we've dealt with viral encephalitis (I walked into my grandpa's hospital room and in two minutes I knew that he did NOT have pneumonia - the doctor was really nice, and really glad to have someone point out the misdiagnosis - he said, oh, I've been wondering about that...), breast cancer, colon cancer, MS, fibromyalgia and biliary atresia, to name a few. Because my sister-in-law's father is a doctor, her brother a nurse and her sisters are pharmaceutical reps, we know enough about what goes wrong in hospitals (no offense to anyone, but mistakes happen too often for comfort for us) to never leave a family member alone in the hospital...but we also realize that that it's not always possible to stay with your loved one 24/7. The type of letter you wrote seems to be the next best thing if there have clearly been problems.... Squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that. Just sorry you have to go it alone!
Though our approach in general is that of "catching more flies with honey" and working together with docs and other medical professionals, there is a time and a place for saying what you have to say. Power to you for doing that, and it doesn't sound like the results were all bad. (Apart from the negative blog comments that is! Yikes.)
I love to ask questions, and track a loved one's care, and often I find that if I don't understand something, in the process of asking questions the answer sometimes changes....because in the process of helping me to understand the person who is answering the questions develops a deeper analysis of the issues at hand....
Keep on keeping on, and I hope things go much better from now on.
Best wishes to you and your mother,
originally posted by Paula Martinac: Thu Aug 17, 05:23:00 AM 2006
Gail - My sister and I have also found that only firmness with medical personnel and vigilant surveillance can prevent disaster when my dad's in the hospital. My dad is *not* competent, which is completely scary, so if we're not there and haven't laid down aome sort of law (making us "pariahs," too), who knows what they'd do to him? (In my experience, most ER staff act like they've never treated a person with dementia.) I have a long list of horror stories, too, as do we all. Good for you for standing up for your mom.
Gail - My sister and I have also found that only firmness with medical personnel and vigilant surveillance can prevent disaster when my dad's in the hospital. My dad is *not* competent, which is completely scary, so if we're not there and haven't laid down aome sort of law (making us "pariahs," too), who knows what they'd do to him? (In my experience, most ER staff act like they've never treated a person with dementia.) I have a long list of horror stories, too, as do we all. Good for you for standing up for your mom.
originaly posted by Mona Johnson: Thu Aug 17, 12:22:00 PM 2006
Gail,
Maybe you would have gotten better responses to this post if it were on a different carnival such as the Patient-Consumer Parade...
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Gail,
Maybe you would have gotten better responses to this post if it were on a different carnival such as the Patient-Consumer Parade...
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