Hello, and thanks for your time :)
I figured I'd write a blog to explain why I have little trust in our modern medical system. I had already written a blog about some of my misadventures, but I figured I'd expound on it a bit. Back in 2008 when I had my heart attack, I spent that Friday and Saturday night in the hospital. I rarely had any visitors or staff come in. Just the occasional nurse who wanted to inject something into my IV and vanish. After a couple days my hips began aching badly from the bed, and I could not get comfortable, making matters worse. They ignored my concerns, so I checked myself out on Sunday. It was AMA (Against Medical Advice), but they got an ear full before I departed. I was better off at home. I did a followup with a specialist who did an ultrasound and a stress test, where it was determined that I basically sprained my heart (the membrane surrounding my heart was badly strained). I was working too hard in a very hot environment.
In 2010 I was having problems with my knees. They would just 'go out' on me while I was walking. Sometimes I'd fall down, other times I could catch myself. So I arranged a meeting with a surgeon. They did tests and images and determined that I had a torn Meniscus in one knee, and frayed ligaments in the other. They did the surgery on the first knee, but the surgeon had already determined I was only in there for painkillers. So I didn't get much relief after the surgery. Within a month after the surgery, I started getting really bad pains in my calf and foot. The doctor was 'too busy' to see me so I went to the ER, where they determined I had a DVT (blood clot) in my calf (more than likely from the surgery). I was admitted back into the hospital where they injected me in the stomach with Heparin twice a day. After 2 weeks I was released and after a few more weeks could go to physical therapy. A year had passed and my right knee was in seemingly better shape. I gave the surgeon the benefit of a doubt, and agreed to have the next surgery on my left knee. After that next surgery, in the recovery room, I noticed I was already bleeding through the bandages before I even got off the table. They sent me home anyway. Something in the back of my mind told me this was going to be rough. I was unable to climb the driveway to my house as it had just snowed 9", and the driveway is 50 yards long and up hill, I had to stay at my mother's house. The trip down the driveway to go to the ER took me a half hour due to snow depth and crutches. Again having to deal with no painkillers, I toughed it out. After a week my entire leg was throbbing. When I looked at it, it was frightening. It was swollen twice the normal size and it had started turning black. My entire left leg all the way up to my waist was black and swollen. It had developed an infection from an apparent shoddy surgery. The surgeon was not concerned about it at all, and ordered his assistant to remove the stitches, then left the office. Since he prescribed nothing at all for the condition, I was forced to deal with it myself.
I began taking massive quantities of Vitamin C and Garlic. Garlic is a known antibiotic, antibacterial, so that was my option. It was all I could do to tolerate the pain, and sat awake, in pain and in tears until I was so exhausted I would fall asleep. After another month of recovery I was able to walk without crutches and started physical therapy on it. To this day, my left knee feels better, but my right knee still gives me some trouble.
I thought I was out of the woods by then, as I was on over 12 different medications, including Gabapentin for a condition known as Bilateral Neuropathy. It's like a chronic pain that was prescribed from a Sleep Study, where they determined I had a sleep disorder. Probably from the pill cocktail I was taking. I was taking cholesterol medicine, blood thinners, anti depressants, anti anxiety medications, along with a dangerous med called Cymbalta. After developing bad reactions to all of it, I was told to stop the Cymbalta. Little did they tell me that you're supposed to ween yourself off of that medication over a period of months due to it's addictive toxicity. So the after effect of stopping that cold turkey took it's toll on me. It felt like I was going through withdrawals from smoking crack. I don't remember much for about 5 months. After that I stopped taking ALL the meds so my system could recover. At that point they were not controlling my blood viscosity more than they were controlling the viscosity of my triglycerides and the other meds. I'm still drug free.
In 2015 I was at the grocery store with my mother. She said we needed cheese so I walked over to the section where it was. I looked at the display and my vision stopped working. No matter where I looked, all my brain would recognize was the first look at the display, even if I turned around. I did manage to take a few steps, and at that point I had no idea where I was, or who I was. After a few seconds everything went black. I remember waking up in the ambulance, then again in the hospital. For some reason, my brain just shut off. They were not concerned about WHY it shut off. My mother had to beg them to do an MRI to make sure there wasn't a tumor or anything. What happened when I blacked out was even more troublesome. I apparently fell straight back. And in doing so I hit the ground with my elbow. This ended up fracturing bones in my shoulder socket in 3 places. My Humerus was snapped and scraping everything inside. From what I am told, I laid in a hospital bed for 15 hours before they decided to get working on my shoulder. They were able to set everything back in place without invasive surgery. I was surprised they did it with no surgery, but was told it took 3 doctors working together to get it back in place. It bothered me after that but I was told "It is what it is, and we cannot fix it". So I just waited out the recovery time, and tried to go through physical therapy on it, which didn't work out so well. I finished the therapy at home by myself using improvised but practical methods.
On a different note, there is a story about my mother that solidified my distrust in the medical system. For a few years she had dealt with recurring sinus and respiratory infections, as well as urinary tract infections. They always manged to reduce the problem, but never got rid of it. Eventually they all came together in her body and started wreaking havoc. She told me that she was weak, nauseous, and dizzy, and her temperature was going up. She said she would wait until morning and call the doctor because she is pretty tough too. Apparently it overloaded during the night and she couldn't keep anything down and her blood pressure was dangerously low. I checked it and it showed 90/45 and her pulse was about 160. I called an ambulance which had to also navigate through 10" of fresh snow to get her and take her to the hospital. When she got there they put her in a room and forgot about her through the end of the shift. It wasn't until the next shift came in that they decided to do something. I was still at home trying to get my old truck started. They ran a couple tests on her and some surgeon there figured it was her spleen and had decided he was going to remove her spleen. She said no and he disappeared. A few hours later a nurse came into the doorway and told her she had the Norovirus. Again my mom told her no, and she also disappeared. The doctors there told her that if she wanted to stay she had to prove to them she was ill. Her average temperature is 96.6 and she had a fever of 99.8. They were thinking if it isn't over 100 then there is no fever. That would be our equivalent of having a temperature of nearly 102! She WAS running a fever, but their textbooks and antiquated medical training told them different.
They agreed to do a simple blood test and found her white blood count was through the roof. They also found out that she had advanced Septicemia. It only made sense to me because of all the infections she had, that it was now in her blood, but they wouldn't listen to me. It took them 2 days before they started doing something about it. I was told that if they had waited another day, that she would have gone into Septicemic Shock, from which there usually isn't a recovery.
As you can see, the healthcare in this area is atrocious. When I feel the need to go to the doctor, I'm anticipating a hospital stay, or my life is in danger. I don't go for minor things like punctures, sprains, infections, or a scratchy throat. I'm pretty tough and I have a high pain tolerance. I also know a good deal about holistic care, and that is my mantra.
It's 1am now, so I'm closing this blog for the night. I'll work on it tomorrow. Goodnight/Day to you 💜😇
Forgot to add my abdominal mesh debacle, which is in my blog Medical Debacle. That's another disturbing medical issue they just drag their feet on. Still waiting for my appointment to have it removed, which is in 3 weeks.
7/15/21: Recently there was another debacle with my Mother. A few weeks ago she mentioned that her ear and neck were stiff, but she felt it was from yardwork. A week later she called the clinic to be seen. The nurse said it sounded like Mastoiditis. We got to the clinic and she went in. I did not, just to avoid the ill environment in clinics these days. I waited in the car for an hour. She came back out and they told her it wasn't Mastoiditis (without lab tests), and they tested her for strep throat, which came back negative. So we went and picked up groceries after we ate lunch. We stopped at the pharmacy on the way home, to pick up her antibiotics, but the pharmacist never got the order. We were told they wouldn't call in the prescription until her Xray was read. We had to drive back to the hospital and have an Xray done. It was a 40 mile round trip back to the hospital. They had a radiologist read it and the prescription was called in. She only got a 5 day supply of Augmentin. She took the pills as prescribed and didn't feel any better, so she called them back. They prescribed an additional 3 days. After the 3rd day, still no better. We went back to the clinic again today. This time they decided to draw blood and run some tests. They didn't even bother to run any tests on her the FIRST TIME she went in. They will be calling back tomorrow with the results. This incompetence is most taxing.
Weeks ago they had the opportunity to properly diagnose and treat her, but they failed miserably, which they do repeatedly. Had I been her physician, I would have already had her admitted to the hospital where I could observe and run the required tests to find out exactly what it is. It is an infection from everything I have learned. I'm sure they will find elevated White Blood Cell counts consistent with a lymph node reaction consistent to an inner ear infection. I'm also hoping they test for sepsis as she also has an unusually higher pulse and BP as well as a fever, dizziness, balance issues, and nausea. This condition can work its' way into the spinal fluid system where it can also cause Meningitis. They cannot fix this with lazy doctors and pills. This will require hospitalization and intravenous treatment, whether it be viral or bacterial. I'm thinking it is a bacterial event, as it doesn't seem to have any contagion potential. They are just guessing, which is childish and incompetent. She has had advanced Sepsis before from another infection, and the dumbass doctors just left her laying around for a day before they decided to do anything. They told her she had to convince them she was sick. Two days in, some P.A. walks in and tells her she has Norovirus, because that is what was trending in ER/Admissions, yet they did no tests or anything to diagnose it. And there was a surgeon there insisting she have her gall bladder removed because 'that is the problem'. She was probably a day or two way from going into Septic Shock, which would induce coma and death, by poisoning the system from the inside. The doctors told her she did not have sepsis, because she would already be dead, and judging by their lack of knowledge and compassion, that they would have allowed it. The medical profession in some parts of this country are worse than third world villages, but charge patients 100 times as much for the same neglect.
2/25/22: After a few visits that I had concerns about, they just blew it off. The mesh implant in my abdomen has now fully contracted into my abdominal cavity. I had a CAT scan done and they again said they couldn't locate it, but continued with a list of other things they want to look at. If they cannot locate a foreign body in my abdomen, they sure as hell aren't touching anything else. So they have no concern about my quality of life, and the mesh will continue to flap around unless it decides to attach to my liver or intestines. I recently went back to have them check my wrist as it has been giving me great discomfort. A few years ago my mother had gotten very sick and I took her to the ER where they admitted her. I came back home only to find that the water line to the kitchen sink was frozen and the fitting busted. I planned out the task as to what I would need and on my way back to the hospital, I purchased the parts I needed. When I got Mom back home and settled in, I went back out to get the parts from my truck. I slipped on the ice on the step and went straight down on my wrist. It immediately sent throbbing pain all they way up to my neck. Something broke. My mother needed care and I needed to get the water running again, so broken wrist or not, I finished the repairs and rested the remainder of the day with ice on my wrist. 2 weeks ago I had an appointment with a Dr to have it checked. They did an X ray and determined that there were fractures in my carpal bones. Their treatment? Use a soft brace and just go home. "Yes there are fractures, but we're not going to worry about it unless it gets worse". Well, at this point I cannot do 1 pushup or hold a bowl of soup without pain. It bothers me when I try to play guitar or violin. I feel the bones rubbing together when I push a door open or reach back to grab my seatbelt. I have no idea how they define 'worse'.
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