You bring up an excellent point, here. EARLY DETECTION AND ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS.
18 months ago, when Mom drove SIX HOURS the wrong direction from a ONE HOUR trip she had been making most of her life, and ended up in a small Central Illinois town I guess to be smaller than "8-light", first of all--did she stop because she realized she'd been driving six times longer than she should have, or was she out of fuel?
In either case, it was by the grace of God that an off-duty nurse from the local hospital happened to be at the gas station Mom was wandering aimlessly around, recognized something was seriously awry with her, sought help, and got her taken to the hospital. THE NURSE saw signs of imminent trouble. After 3 days in this hospital, THE DOCTORS never hinted at anything anywhere near this serious. Nor did her doctor back home, 6 hours north, when he examined her afterwards.
18 MONTHS LATER, here Mome is in Dogpatch, and it is HERE that we finally find a doctor with the cognitive skills to order a contrast CT Scan, and thus make an accurate diagnosis.
Thanks to those with MD certificates in LaSalle, IL and Delavan, WI, to hell with "early detection".
Would having diagnosed this 18 months ago made a difference? Well, I'm no M.D......but given the fact the the medications for the illness "keep the patient at the level they are at", as opposed to allowing them to worsen, at least for the immediate future, I have to believe that YES....earlier detection would have left Mom healthier, more active and more in touch with reality than she is now.
But if there IS a bright side to this, at least she doesn't have to be bothered knowing who the President is!
1 comment:
You bring up an excellent point, here. EARLY DETECTION AND ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS.
18 months ago, when Mom drove SIX HOURS the wrong direction from a ONE HOUR trip she had been making most of her life, and ended up in a small Central Illinois town I guess to be smaller than "8-light", first of all--did she stop because she realized she'd been driving six times longer than she should have, or was she out of fuel?
In either case, it was by the grace of God that an off-duty nurse from the local hospital happened to be at the gas station Mom was wandering aimlessly around, recognized something was seriously awry with her, sought help, and got her taken to the hospital. THE NURSE saw signs of imminent trouble. After 3 days in this hospital, THE DOCTORS never hinted at anything anywhere near this serious. Nor did her doctor back home, 6 hours north, when he examined her afterwards.
18 MONTHS LATER, here Mome is in Dogpatch, and it is HERE that we finally find a doctor with the cognitive skills to order a contrast CT Scan, and thus make an accurate diagnosis.
Thanks to those with MD certificates in LaSalle, IL and Delavan, WI, to hell with "early detection".
Would having diagnosed this 18 months ago made a difference? Well, I'm no M.D......but given the fact the the medications for the illness "keep the patient at the level they are at", as opposed to allowing them to worsen, at least for the immediate future, I have to believe that YES....earlier detection would have left Mom healthier, more active and more in touch with reality than she is now.
But if there IS a bright side to this, at least she doesn't have to be bothered knowing who the President is!
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