Do You Trust Doctors?

[sleepy]

WARNING. BULLSHIT ALERT. The following may just be more of my family's hi-jinx. But I assume everything is real, at face value. I have no choice.


My 88 year old Mother went to the hospital on April 30. She asked to. She had quit eating meals and resorted to snacking and too much coffee and tea, and would get up 5 or 6 times a night to do so. Me and the family coaxed her to eat, and we bought all kinds of food for her. But she slacked off on it.

The doctor said Congestive Heart Failure with fluid in the lungs. This was on dehydration (I assume due to the excess tea and coffee that she insisted on) and malnourished. He immediately put her on these meds:

amiodarone: for heart arrhythmia

digexin: for heart arrhythmia

Bumex: a Diuretic (Doctor prescribed it 'for regional Edema; regional water/fluid retention in the lungs.

Potassium: She had low sodium and potassium counts

On May 8, she was moved to a Rehab Center where they also give her Zoloft (for depression) and coumadin (Blood thinner). And Megace (an appetite stimulant).

She has refused to eat the whole time at the hospital and then at the rehab care center. The nurses said that she was up to eating 30% of her meals. The Megace is not improving her appetite. She is at the Rehab to eat and to get up and start walking. Instead, she has lost 12 lbs. since April 30. My Sister says that she is all skin and bones.

Each of those meds by themselves have the side effects of weakness, loss of appetite, inability to stand or walk, while the Bumex can cause stomach pain. It blocks passage of urine and uric acid, and this can inflame arthritic joints. She says that she hurts all over and cannot stand or walk, even with physical therapy. She was confused this morning and complained of a headache. Another side effect.

Background: She had a few mild strokes many years ago, so she occasionally misinterprets things, but was able to take care of herself up until she went on her recent coffee and tea binge. This affected her ability to hear, which was when me and family started monitoring her.

In November 2009 she suffered red swollen leg calves with severe foot cramps. She was taken up the street to the local Pacifica Hospital where the did an ultrasound and determined no DVT (no blood clots). So, for the swelling and foot cramps, they put her on Demerol, Vicodin, and Ativan ALL AT THE SAME TIME. She also has a humpback spinal issue (Narcotics Not Recommended for humpback spinal issues) and is elderly. Those narcotics don't mix AT ALL, and certainly while refusing fluids and food while being constipated. The doc wanted her to stay on those narcotics for Another Month while working out at a rehab care center.

We said No Way! She came home and she was WIPED. I bought grain bars and Ensure and anything that she might eat, and y'know. Within several days and nights, she got up on her own and started taking care of herself.
One month later, her foot cramps returned, so she went to Providence Saint Joseph's Medical Center in Burbank, across from The Disney Studios.

Dr. Patel diagnosed DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis; blood clots in legs. This in opposition to the previous diagnosis of no DVT). He overrode her consent with a Psych evaluation while her cramps put her in severe pain. And then he planted a Vena Cava Filter (a blood clot filter in her main heart vein) and dosed her with coumadin, a blood thinner. I visited her one night. She was bleeding pink fluid at the nose. I told the nurse to inform the doctor. They ignored it. When Mom came home, she was again WIPED, and her diapers were full of deep purple-black for the insane internal hemorrhaging caused by the coumadin. She refused to take the coumadin and I tried talking to Dr. Patel, but he did not cooperate. He gave me the "I Am The Doctor" crap and refused to listen.

So I refused to give her the coumadin after seeing the insane hemorrhaging (a side effect). And y'know. Several days and nights passed, and then she got up and started taking care of herself.

Last year she had an issue. She was diagnosed with hypertension and put on, I think, blockers. But they can cause sudden death if you forget to take them or quit, and I didn't like that prescription for someone who forgets or refuses when all they needed was an adjust of their hydration and nutrition. And the other thing is, she is high strung. When the paramedics arrive to pick her up, her blood pressure shoots up over 200, but then comes back down. We stayed away from that one also.

This time, she had arrhythmia, possibly due to skipping meals and hydration.
There is a strong possibility that her heart issues would clear up if she just eats. But the meds can cause loss of appetite. Her supervising doctor this time is the same Dr. Patel who loused her up with the coumadin and hemorrhaging issues.

Something else. She had been complaining of her throat filling up with fluid/phlegm before she went to the hospital on April 30 last month. This fluid could be running down the back of her throat into her lungs when she sleeps on her back, which is usual for her. But Dr. Patel says 'it is Congestive Heart Failure with fluid in the lungs'. No sinus issues. So where is the phlegm coming from?

When she went to the dentist two years ago, the x-ray showed sinus infection. Dr. Patel held off on checking the sinuses because she could not sit up at the time. But he then launched into his versin of "Dr. Killdare" using 6 meds instead.

Footnote: The amiodarone and digexin heart meds require close monitoring. The amiodarone can increase the blood level of the digexin too high. And amiodarone is Not Recommended for the elderly. But her specimens are monitored once a week. The nurse will only report acute incidents in the mean time, I believe.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

sorry about your mom, sleepy. if the laws weren't insane she sounds like she might be a decent candidate for cannabis as an appetite stimulant and pain reliever.


re: the topic,
i certainly trusted my father, but for a long time he could be kind of stick-in-the-mudish about recognising alternative medicine. but his patients kept asking him questions about this or that, so eventually he got wise, or at least more open.

one thing i learned about doctors in general is that each patient has to be their own primary care provider, reading up as much as possible about healthy lifestyle, their conditions, and available treatments. simply assuming that a doc is going to diagnose in a perfect sense is going to lead to inevitable oversights... which works hand in hand with our tendency to turn to medicine only when something is wrong.

 

[sleepy]

Yeah, she is showing signs of severe side effects from the meds, and I'm thinking that if the patient doesn't complain of the issues which correlate to the listed side effects of a med, then some doctors will ignore the signs, or worse, decide to gamble with them.

When I see that, I see ugly, and I told my Mom to Get Mad and complain about her aches and pains and about the meds. But that doctor appears to be administering other drugs to relieve The Side Effects! That is Unforgivable, and he is gambling with my Mom's life.

I feel like punching him out.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

that certainly sounds very frustrating.


unfortunately i think a lot of that is related to the heavy pharmaceutical aspect of the industry. my parents both had issues with the daisy chain of med side-effects when they became especially ill.

near the end, my dad even tried out a treatment that wound up destroying his thyroid function in order to extend his life, or quality of life. in this case it was a known and anticipated side-effect... but it was decided to be worth the loss at the time.

personally i've pretty much always had significant side-effects from the main med i take. it's definitely a PITA that never goes away, altho of course i wouldn't be alive without the med, so there's that. however what i've been able to do is to add some natural supplements allowing me to ease off the stuff somewhat. funny how supplements introduce a complex chemical cocktail to the body yet typically produce little side effects, yet the pharmas work with surgical precision yet typically produce a range of side-effects.

never underestimate synergy... is perhaps the right saying.

 

[Shockman]

Being a doctor is not a character trait. There are doctors you can trust and some that you can't. I think I can spot both at the git, but am sure I can eventually. I think 2 out of 10 those I have encountered have not earned trust. 2 out of 10 if you count dentists have earned nontrust.

I think dermatologists, chiropractors, and psychologists in particular may be especially skewed towards getting you back over getting you out. On the other hand surgeons, and trauma specialists, and MDs that are not in bed with certain pharmaceutical companies are generally trustworthy, especially surgeons where stats are very important to them.

 

[sleepy]

Well, things are looking up. I've been talking to the nurses and the administrator and my Sister has too, and last night the rehab had a psych come in to evaluate.
She's lost 12 lbs. since April 30, and the psych decided (Finally!) to wean her off the Zoloft due to Known Side Effects that her primary doc ignored completely.

Out of 5 Stars, Dr. Patel has a rating of 1.9. He is still a Pulmonary Specialist at Providence Saint Joseph's. And he is a Surgeon. Perhaps a Cutthroat...

I mentioned in the Games thread about the .22 caliber hole in my sinus when County USC (that George Lucas university) yanked the embedded tooth that was on my cleft palate (split-skull). That extraction was under the supervision of one of the university's dental Professors. They are a film school and A School of Medicine and Dentistry. He's one of those who are teaching the students to be responsible dentists???
Well, unless their Agent returns the call, I guess...

 

[sleepy]

Btw, I sometimes benefit from parsley. Take a blender and a pint of good water, add parsley, romaine lettuce, 3 inches of a carrot and a pinch of salt. It seems to help to cure Pancreatitis, and is very fast for eye problems.

The leafy green vegetables cannot be underestimated, and the chlorophyll is useful to me. Iceberg lettuce is less likely to help maintain the liver, but Spring Mix greens taken fresh and raw, and Romaine are.

 

[sleepy]

Well Shit!

I visited Mom yesterday. She complained of leg pain creeping up from her foot.
So I pulled back the covers. Her toenails are Yellow with crusty brown patches on the skin and a pungent stink. She was having trouble with her feet and legs for a number of years, swollen calves with deep reddened skin. But the Doc says DVT (blood clots) and no infections.

But the redness has faded and there are clearly deep greenish-brown regions between the toes, while the toe tips are glowing fushia-pink around her Yellow nails.

Her current diagnosis is congestive heart failure. I took her pulse twice. It came in at 60 bpm on the first, and 67 bpm on the second. But the pulse was irregular, going like one......two......three four five six seven...eight......nine...ten eleven twelve...

Now, congestive heart failure will do that, but so can conflicting heart meds, amiodarne and digexin simultaneously administered, and those feet could be signs of a myocarditis fungal heart infection. But the Doc says No Infection.

Don't the yellow toenails from a fungal infection take time to yellow? I thought that the nail has to grow in the presense of the fungus in order to turn yellow and chip.
So, if that is true, she has been hospitalized since April 30. Did the doctor overlook the feet, even as, in 2009, he diagnosed DVT in the leg? In 2009, the toenails were not yellow. But she had foot cramps and swelling caused by the feet (Doc says the leg). But he is the same Doc currently, and he referenced his 2009 diagnosis.
But didn't look at the feet???

They say she has an enlarged heart. Edema. She is on Bumex, a diuretic which prevents passage of urine and uric acid. Bumex retains urine and uric acid. Doesn't urine and uric acid cause edema as Uremia, particularly in diabetics?

And oh yeah. I called about the fungal infection when I got home last night. And today my Sister informed me that they have discovered she has a severe bladder infection, possibly due to a urine catheter gone wrong, and is currently on antibiotics.
How long would a bladder infection take to become a severe infection? SHe's been in the rehab for 19 days.

Hell, Yes. I would hope that her dismal heart problems are a myocarditis, but they've ignored those feet since 2009, or overlooked them due to the masking effects of the deep red chaffing that looked like Gout or an infection to me, except for the DVT diagnosis. And myocarditis cannot be ignored for very long without causing permanent damage.

 

[Coil_Smoke]

Clusterfuck to boondoggle, creepy to scary, modern medicine is a horrible state of affairs. We are left to fend for ourselves and loved ones. That is we have to defend ourselves from the pharma- insanity- sickness for profit- legislated murder- anything but healthy- medical racket.

My mom went to total care nursing whenI became to ill to care for her. I was proud of the fact she was on no meds, quite healthy but her *mind was gone*. I got all kinds of crap and basically accused of abuse ..."ALL PEOPLE OF HER AGE MUST BE ON SOME KIND OF MEDICATION"...I disagreed.

*I blame Aspartame*

 

[Coil_Smoke]

Things I have found to work:

Calcium will smooth a bad cardiac rhythm. FAST!
Calcium stops leg and foot cramps.
Magnesium also helps with cardiac rhythm and facilitates absorption of calcium. Magnesium is so important for many other body functions. Almost every American needs magnesium. Fluoride blocks magnesium absorption.
Be careful with the potassium supplements.
Selenium is required for all of the above.

I like the chelated supplements. They do cost more but their organic structure aids absorption. Thing is, any form of these "ium's" is way better than none. Calcium Carbonate works. Magnesium Oxide saved my life. I would have died from heart failure twenty years ago. I found a copy of the book 'Nutrition and Vitamin Therapy' on the ground outside my apartment. MAGNESIUM IS A MIRACLE

I hope there is some help here for 'Sleepy's' family and yours...

 

[sleepy]

Now here's a trip!
Mom's U.T.I. They gave her Levaquin. Levaquin is Not Recommended for patients who have a heart arrhythmia, Long QT Syndrome, Refeeding Syndrome, or who are also on Coumadin. The rehab Doc switched her to Keflex.

The Doctor who prescribed the Levaquin was the same doctor who diagnosed heart arrhythmia and who put her on Coumadin. Apparently, he has only stabilized her Phosphate, Magnesium, and Potassium levels to curb a rapid heartbeat, but he has not dealt with any eating disorders or Refeeding Syndrome. Both can cause the arrhythmia.
He put her on amiodarone and digexin right away.

The Hospital Administrator today suggested that "She needs to see her Cardiologist", but could not reveal any treatment information, or even verify whether her assigned Pulmonary Doctor is a qualified Cardiologist..due to Liability Issues as I put it to her. She told me that's it.
All of which is code for "Get a Real Doctor".

A Pulmonary Specialist is a Lung Doctor who treats lung diseases with medications, but is not a Surgeon or a Cardiologist.

 

[sleepy]

Jeez Bill. You mention David Geffen in another thread, about The Mafia. The doctor that fucked up my Mom is a graduate of the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA. Her meds left her on her back for 40+ days at a rehab center for physical therapy. They propped her up in a wheelchair for 2 hrs. a day, then threw her back in bed, unable to sit up or feed herself. It was the meds. And they Ignored the side effects causing the malaise. I smelled fish after she was on them for a week, and I told them so.

During that time, she developed Two U.T.I.s. The 'rehab center' sent her to the hospital a week and a half ago For Being Dehydrated. The doctor at the hospital who performed the second opinion is a partner of the House Doc from the rehab center!
And the House Doc is a Resident of the hospital. The hospital was chosen by the House Doc.
The hospital nurse discovered Bedsores. The House Doc and the 'rehab nurses' Didn't Know Anything Abut Them! She developed bedsores on her back larger than a 50 Cent Piece, and my siblings finally had to fight them to release her to a decent hospital.
The 'rehab center' wanted to keep her. When she got to the decent hospital, she was Dehydrated Again!

She had bedsores on her feet. The decent hospital performed a Dermabrasion on both feet to save them from amputation.

Less than 12 hrs. after being off the meds (all non-narcotic) while at the decent hospital, my Mom was able to feed herself again, after 40+ days and nights of a Zombie Existence.

Somebody with a diploma from Geffen is Garbage there.

 

[sleepy]

Oh, did I mention the part about my Mom in the 'rehab center', dehydrated. Zonked on bad meds. Laying on raw bedsores For Weeks and, by the last week of her stay Was Screaming Constantly? The 'rehab center' told us that "she was disturbing the other patients", and the house Psych wanted our permission to Drug Her 'so that she would be quiet'.

 

[sleepy]

Well...
My Mom is in isolation. Her second U.T.I. is a superbug strain of e-coli. And we can't visit her or touch her without wearing gloves and masks, so that we do not become infected.