dealing with Doctors

[briansjacobs]

Ok so I have been up for about 40 hours so this may or may not make any sense. This is meant to be a self help tool for dealing with the hospital when a loved one is sick.

Monday my dad had a stroke and my mom does not handle stress well and as the child that is closest I have kind of taken the position of patient advocate. If and when you have a loved one in the position of needing care the best thing you can do is be their adovacte in the hosipital, meaning to be proactive in their care. How do you do this? well for one at first keep your mouth shut and resist the temptation of killing a doctor, because you will want to!

You need to learn everything about what is wrong with them and become an overnight expert in that field. Sounds hard but you would be amazed what you can find online and most hospitals have free wi-fi so bring a laptop.

Ask lots of questions, be very mindful how you ask and how you treat people, you need them! You will be amazed how much you will get out of people by treating them kindly. You can bother them all do if you are nice enough.

Always go with your gut. Do not be afraid to ask for a second opinion. The Neurologist only gave us one kind of Doctor, after my research I demanded a second opinion because my gut told my something about the first Doctor, well the second opinion was incredible. Much different feeling.

ok, off to bed, and back to the hospital in 7 hours.

[mrsleeve]

Dude that sucks, Best wishes to your pops and to you and the rest of yours

[ck_taft325is]

Hope all gets better, Brian. Never fun, man, never fun. Best wishes from my wife and I. You've got our thoughts and prayers as does the entire family. If you need cookies, let me know. I make a mean ass Chocolate chip...

[joshh]

Good luck buddy. I lost my mom Jan 1st of this year. It's tough. Hang in there.

Is your dad aware of his surroundings? How bad was the stroke? Hopefully it's not a real bad one and he can get back home.

[briansjacobs]

thank you all for the kind words, it is nice to see we can have fun at eachother expense and call eachother names, but at the end of the day we are a family, a very disfunctional fucked up family.

Dad is feeling fine, very aware and sharp as a tack, the only effect so far is a slight droop in his face and a little slurred speech.It was a series of mini strokes and one small stroke. Neuro is expecting a full rocovery so long as he does not suffer another stroke during operation. Problem is one Carotid artery is completly blocked and needs either surgery or a stent.

I have been very fortuate with all my driver coaching to have met and become friends with a ton of doctors. I have been able to lean on them for support and back up in this situation. I am waiting now for a doctors consult to see wether surgery is feasable or not.

[der affe]

i feel for you. my dad has had various on going health problems for the last 5 years (he is 74) my mom has trouble dealing with the added stress, my brother is of little help other than helping out with the patient care end. so i have had to shoulder a lot of the responsability along with my mother.
add to this my own health problems stemming from my Own accident and haveing to be MY OWN patient advociate. talk about thw weight of the world on your shoulders........

i have also been doing some burn counciling along with my friend and his Doc who have started a burn foundation. at least this way i can use my good and bad experiences to make things easier on people who are going through it for the first time and maybe make it an easier, less confusing ordeal to go through.

hope things continue to progress well for your father.

[Pinepig]

I feel for ya man, lost my dad on the 10th last month.

[briansjacobs]

that sucks man, Fortunatly my dad is doing great and is home now, although he is in alot of pain from surgery he is alive and well. I will take that!

I lost my best friend just over a year ago, I still can not take him off speed dial or delete the contact from my cell, every time I get in my truck there is the thought to call him. CANCER SUCKS!

[Pinepig]

that sucks man, Fortunatly my dad is doing great and is home now, although he is in alot of pain from surgery he is alive and well. I will take that!

I lost my best friend just over a year ago, I still can not take him off speed dial or delete the contact from my cell, every time I get in my truck there is the thought to call him. CANCER SUCKS!

Take what you can get and then spend more time if you can. I spent the last couple of years spending as much time as I could with my pops. Once they are gone that's it. His Dr's made some of the worst calls in the last couple of years, if it wasn't for my wife ( RN ) he would have died ten years ago ( had a heart attack right in front of her ).

Glad to hear he's doing better, pain just means you are still here.:razz:

[E30 Cabrio]

I just "Fired" my Dr.

Remember, they work for you.