Misdiagnosis led to swine flu death

I am posting this, not to add to the rampant fear regarding H1N1, but to emphasize how we all are our own best advocate when it comes to our own health care.

Back in 1994, my mother became very ill. Pain in her chest area. She had been to her primary care doctor. Couldn't find anything. Two days later, I took her to her heart specialist. Nope, nothing wrong, but this clown of a doctor felt the need to take me outside the exam room and explain that "elderly people, especially women, tend to whine".

A day later, when I went to check on her, she was laying on the couch, crying, and wanting to die. "No one believes me", she sobbed. I believed her. I called her primary doctor's office, and asked to speak directly to him. Leave a message, they said. So, my message to him was "My mother is dying, and I have no experience dealing with this type of situation. Any advice?"

He returned the call within two minutes, asking if I was serious. I said yes. He said to get her to the ER. And so I did. Five hours later, after doing nothing more than hooking her up to an EKG, watching her blood pressure, and taking her temp, the hospital said they could find nothing wrong, and were getting ready to release her.

Something in me snapped. I had had enough. In a loud voice I informed them that they damn well better find a bed for her, and run tests until they found out what was wrong, because I would not be taking her home, and that I would be staying at the hospital to make sure that she wasn't "released" and sent home by some other means.

Three days later, we had a diagnosis. My mother had an aortic aneurysm, and it was bigger than the heart itself. The surgeon said he had never seen one so large. By that time, she was very weak. She had to be stabilized for two days before they would even consider surgery.

Mom was right after all. She was dying, and no one in the medical field had wanted to take her complaints seriously. She lived another 20 months. She eventually died from a stroke that cut off the blood supply to her bowel, which was a result of kidney failure requiring dialysis, which was a result from the surgery to repair the huge aneurysm, which was the result from doctors dismissing her pain as "whining".

Watch the video. Do not be dismissed. Demand the best treatment available. Don't be bullied by doctors who don't even know you.

I am sorry for those of you who have no insurance. I wish this advice would apply to you as well.

Misdiagnosis led to swine flu death
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/33387620#33387620

they call everything Swine Flu these days. Ingrown toenail? Naww, it's Swine Flu!

My dad died of an aortic aneurysm, 3 weeks after a complete physical. Had a pain on the side of his chest, he thought he pulled a muscle. Died in his sleep at age 51.

Please get yourself checked, aortic aneurysms are genetic. My dad's dad died from it, and my dad's sister had one repaired.

It changed me forever. I do not take No for an answer from doctors. And no one else should, either.

aortic aneurysms can be sneaky...

not all are genetic, but some are

some result from atherosclerosis and/or hypertension

It needs to be shouted from the rooftops!

When someone says they have pain, by God, believe them.

BIG kick and recommendation!

:kick:

sometimes the actual "care" part of health care is dangerously lacking. My mom suffered for many months with intermittent stomach pain. She went from doctor to doctor, all of whom told her they could find nothing wrong. Finally, she couldn't take it any more and asked us to take her to the emergency room. I had to fight to get her admitted, and it was only after a full week in the hospital that her problem was discovered - a cancerous tumor in her intestine. Fortunately, surgery to remove it was successful and the cancer hadn't spread. Nevertheless, there was a lot of medical incompetence in her case, and I suspect she's not alone.

This summer I went through hell trying to find a doctor to properly diagnose and help me deal with my elderly father's dementia. His GP told me to find a good neurologist. I called every neurologist in the area, and no one was willing to see him for weeks. Meantime his condition was deteriorating rapidly. UCLA Medical Center, which is about 40 minutes away, has an excellent geriatric psychiatric unit. I did everything I could to get him help there to no avail. The waiting list was long and I could not even get him an appointment with a staff physician. It was a feeling of total helplessness. Finally I found a psychiatrist who prescribed some meds and sent us on our way. My dad gave up on life shortly thereafter. He collapsed and died at home. I just hope that I didn't miss some opportunity to prolong his life or give him a better quality of life in his last days because of the inadequacies of our health "care" system.

I agree that in the fight to get decent health care you have to be proactive and must refuse to take "no" for an answer. If lack of insurance doesn't kill you, medical indifference and incompetence may. I am sorry for all that your mom has gone through. I know where you are coming from.

if it was the health care that was lacking or the reluctance to run the proper tests because of the insurance guidelines that hospitals bow to.

I suppose it doesn't matter in the long run. It ends up being inadequate care either way.

Here's the kicker I didn't add to my op:

It was an internist, not the heart specialist that finally dx'ed her.

My sister-in-law was running the cafeteria of this hospital at the time. She received a call telling her to ready a private room for an emergency meeting that night. That meant drinks and snacks. She watched every one of the doctors who had seen my mother, along with the head of cardiac care, and the hospital administrator go into an hour-long meeting.

I know why they were there. Time to get their stories straight. And, I'm willing to bet the farm that the term "whiny old women" didn't enter into that discussion.

kidney failure from surgery from misdiagnoses. I don't see swine flu in there anywhere?

The woman that died should have gotten treatment for swine flu. The doctors should have known about the false negatives.

I am just saying to be assertive. Don't just take their word for it.

The rapid flu test takes under 15 minutes and if the result is positive, you most likely have influenza. If it is negative, you still might since there are a lot of false negatives. As time has gone on with these tests, more people are getting treated presumptively on symptoms rather than waiting days for the more expensive involved blood tests.

We had a person in nursing home/rehab facility I work at with classic influenza signs/symptoms but the rapid flu test was neg. Still got started on Tamiflu since it is now apparent that a negative rapid flu test means little.

Yes, be assertive.

And I am sorry about your mom, sounds like a nightmare.

Yeah.."especially women"...The doctor was most likely male.

A lot has been written and reported on the different treatment given to women...One study showed that women and men coming to a doctor reporting chest pain, got markedly different treatment...Men were sent to specialists, women were told to "relax" and sent to psychiatrists!...I'm not kidding.

I'm so sorry to hear about your mother....My advice to women and to CAREGIVERS of women is to be VERY careful, especially when dealing with male doctors...To those who want to argue with that, I suggest you do some research first.

Especially happening to us women. And, yes, the part that stays with you forever if you survive, is that no one believed you. Or worse, that the doctors misdiagnosed the symptoms as something occurring from stress. You never forget, and you never trust the professional fields again.