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Monday, November 10, 2008

Modern Medicine, The Latest Advances, and Overall Poor Care

Medicine sure has come a long way, and we are lucky to be living in the here and now, even compared with just 25 years ago. 25 years ago they put you in the hospital when you were sick, and the doctors came to you. Now, if you can get an appointment, you go to see the doctor, or an assistant, hoping it is the right specialty! The mother in law is having, what we hope, is a slight kidney problem. I will spare her the details, but she went to the ER in extreme pain. They put a catheter in and sent her home with instructions to go see a specialist! She has an appointment to see a neuphrologist on Thursday, she got lucky and there was a cancellation!

I think that's a sin! A 77 year old woman does not belong home, with a catheter, waiting for Thursday to come see if anything is wrong. Have hospital's become scheduling stations for the specialists? We all know that come Thursday they will send her for tests, probably the obligatory MRI, then send her home for another 3 to 5 working days before anyone is available to read the test results. Upon having the results analyzed, another office visit will need to be scheduled, you can't miss out on that co-pay!

You would think for the cost of health care, there would actually be some "CARE" in the overall process. These new office complexes, with their flat screen TV's, large waiting areas with plush seating, rented plants and artwork, and casts of thousands support staff are just fluff. I would love to go back to the days when you went to a doctor and he made you feel better. Did Dr. Miceli even have a waiting room, I can't remember? I do remember it wasn't a modern glass office building with an elevator! It was that little house down in Essex that you felt better when you left. In the mean time we wait for Thursday. I'm making chicken soup, maybe that will make it feel like it used to be while we bask in all this advanced medicine!

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