He's better...

We went back to the emergency room yesterday, and, after doing a CAT scan, which basically showed that the clot "was not larger, maybe a little smaller", they gave him something for pain, and we came home.   Because some ass-hole doctor put him on oxycontin a few years back, which he doesn't take anymore, he has a very high tolerance for pain meds.  So, what they give him works ok, but he still has pain, and probably will for a while.  Chronic pain is a bitch, if anyone has ever had it.  Thank God I have a high tolerance for pain, or I would be bitching and moaning all the time.   As the southerner's say, 'ole Uncle Arther (arthritis) is a pain in the ass.  Wish he'd carry his ass back where he come from.'

What really bothered me was his blood pressure.  Before they released him, his blood pressure was 145/104.  Now, I'm no doctor, but I think he should be on medication to control it.  I have taken it at home and it has been 189/110.  The doctor said, 'It's not high enough to treat.'  The family doctor  says 'it's not high enough to treat.'  Bullshit!  Can anyone say stroke?  My brother was 32 when he developed high blood pressure and has been on med's ever since.

EJ doesn't like me to talk to the doctor.  Because I have worked in a hospital, and use words like ambulation and affect and vital signs, and ask what are his O2 stats, the doctors immediately distrust me.  Don't ask me why.  Maybe they think I'm trying to show off, but if you have worked for anytime in the health care field, these words become part of your vocabulary.  Anyway, I jumped his ER doctor  about his blood pressure, and she said it wasn't that high.  I said it was.  She said it wasn't.

I ask questions.  Always.  Because I know what fuck-ups sometimes work in a hospital.  I know when they do shift change, some of the personnel sit around a bull-shit for an hour or so before they decide to check on a patient.  And, I know they make mistakes. 

Don't get me wrong.  Most of the people who work in health care are very caring and professional.  But it's the ones who stand around looking like fools that make it hard for everyone else.  I know the first thing you do when you enter a patient's room is greet them by name and wash your hands, which I did not see anyone do. Fuck the gloves, they are not foolproof. I know you always leave a patient with a call light in reach, which he didn't have.  Shit, I saw a lot of things that weren't up to par, but, maybe I'm too picky.  But I know when Medicare and Medicaid come in to do their annual inspection (so the hospital will continue to have that contract), good lord, the whole staff goes into overdrive to correct all the mistakes.   What's even wierder is that they notify the hospital, usually a month in advance what days they will probably be there.  What does this say about health care?  A lot of the things that goes on in a hospital happens because the legal department makes sure their ass is covered.  That's why you sign that statement before surgery saying you could die, because your surgeon might be an idiot or a crack-head or whatever.

You guys can jump me about this, but the best doctors I have dealt with were from India.  You may not be able to pronounce their names, but for some reason, they treat you like a person.  Some doctors from the Philippines also have this trait.   And they will listen to you, and answer your questions. 

I always wonder what a doctor's grade point average was when he graduated from medical school.  What if it was a 2.5, or just enough to pass?   Kinda scary, isn't it?