I always thought that doctors were some of the smartest people in the world, and many of them are. But they are smart humans, simply humans. Yes, they may have given up their twenties to learn about how to cure and help people, but that does not make them gods. I have met doctors that are so caring and so dedicated to helping their patients that I seriously believe that they might be angels. But some, on the other hand, especially those annoyingly and repetitively insisting on being called “Dr.” every time they are addressed, may have a hidden agenda for your health and their procedures.
My mom had a heart attack in 2006 and they performed open-heart surgery and inserted a graft to help her heart get more blood. What the doctors never checked for was that heart attack was a risk on one of the medications she was taking. They believed it to be a blockage in her arteries and so they operated. Many people die during heart surgery, but luckily my mom is okay. But she did recently come close to having another heart attack and when they checked on the graft they inserted last time, they did not want to directly answer any questions regarding the “taking” (“working” or “acceptance”) of the graft.
The nurse even said that she could not answer that question because the doctor decides her raises and job status. That alone was enough to make me start wondering if what they had done had been any help to my mom. I hate to think that since we went to a public hospital, one of the lowest tier hospitals in our area, that the service was sub-par. Also, after they scanned her heart with some electrical imaging technique she was nauseated and had a throbbing headache; she even started crying because it hurt so much. I've never seen my mom cry because of pain, which meant that the pain must have been excruciating.
Anyway, I asked the nurse if she could give her something and they sent the doctor in to check on her. After a quick overview he said that vicodin would be enough to stop the headache and I was relieved. BUT, 1 hour later the written order from the doctor for the vicodin had still not been written and my mom was still in pain. I had to ask the nurse twice before she brought the medicine to my mom, and the nurse said that she wasn't supposed to because the doctor had not written the order yet. Imagine that! You're in a hospital, where they are supposed to make you feel better and they don't hurry to bring you the medicine. Some time may be necessary to get it but NOT an hour. The vicodin was in the exact same room that the nurse was in! The doctor was in another room but had not had the common sense to write the order right then and there. What would it have cost him? A minute, 30 seconds? And my mom had taken vicodin before so there was a history of it in her files so the doctor didn't have to worry about reactions. Even if had been a total stranger and not my mom in pain I would feel the exact same way. These are people that are in pain and I think that doctors may see it so much that they become desensitized to the pain that others feel, no matter how severe it may be.
And the hospital was updating their files to a new system, but for the time being they had ABSOLUTELY NO ACCESS to prior medical records. I could not believe that. It seems like a bad joke that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Also, some of the nurses seemed to hate their jobs. Then why are they there? Especially the ones that greet you and direct you to the appropriate hospital room, they always seem to be bitter. They are notorious (on TV and in movies) for being so rude and insensitive. And in some cases they hate their job so much that they give the patient the wrong medication because they are so eager to get home from their 13-hour shift or simply because they hate their job. I realize that everyone makes mistakes, but it shouldn't happen here, especially with someone's life potentially hanging in the balance. And I have seen some nurses that care for their patients like family, and I feel very lucky to have someone I love in their care.
So if you know anyone that may be in the hospital, even if it's just for a few days, be on the safe side and be there with them. You may have to miss work, pay for childcare, or miss a date, but there is so much that can go wrong and very often does go wrong. Stay with them and help prevent something that could be terrible.
