Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
 

basselope

(2,565 posts)
Fri May 13, 2016, 04:52 PM May 2016

THIS is why I hate our current health care system.

And no amount of "tinkering" and "incrementalism" is going to fix it.

Posts like the following... it is a friend's mom, so I have permission to re-post the whole thing.


Hello everyone, sorry that we haven't wrote an update in awhile. During this time we have been pushed both mentally and physically as a family, which has been incredibly tough. From where we left off we were struggling as a family, we had just gotten the awful news that my mom still had cancer, and that the surgery was unsuccessful. From this time we had lost faith in our original doctor who believe it or not .... didn't even come into the room to inform my mom that her cancer was still present in her breast and has become invasive. The doctor decided to send in a nurse with the pathology report with no explanation for what had gone wrong. From that time we consulted a new doctor that we have been working with.

Now as much as this pains me to say, things have just gone completely wrong for us. Her doctor initially seemed great and compassionate, but slowly decided to reveal her true identity. Due to our first surgery not being successful my mom was not going to let herself be misinformed again, and this time she wanted to have all the information to make herself feel comfortable and to make an informed decision. It turns out at Emory doctors seem to have forgotten what bedside manner is. You are only supposed to get 10 to 15 minute max consultations with an alarmed wrist watch that will ring, and continuing to ring to warn the doctor of the overstay. Which is of course, ridiculous. Her Surgical Oncologist and Reconstructive surgeon have completely betrayed our trust in them. They have gone to such lengths as "I don’t have time for this anymore" and walked out of the room leaving my mom confused and helpless. Or the classic "you have taken up too much of our time". The best moment is when her Surgical Oncologist told her that she does not have time to answer any more questions and that the next time was to just sign the consent forms and she would not be seeing her again until the surgery. That is one of the most single handed awful things I have ever heard. To be told that she is not allowed to try and understand, or to get all of her concerns fulfilled prior to a serious surgery is ridiculous.

This brings us to the present, where we have been waiting for her body to heal to be ready for a second surgery. Cancer is tough, as everyone knows it has weakened her immune system and also has really brought on an immense amount of stress. For anyone who knows my mom, you'll know that she has high blood pressure. While it has been managed over the years, the stress and weakness this cancer has brought on has made her blood pressure spiral out of control. Her doctor has increased dosages, added in more medications, I can’t even begin to list how much medicine she is on for her blood pressure on a daily basis as I'm afraid it honestly might scare you guys. Thankfully we have found a good Cardiologist that is helping us through now another very serious medical issue, as some nights I'm more afraid of her having a heart attack or a stroke than her cancer. Her cardiologist even told her on their first appointment that after reading her history he was beyond shocked how she can still come into the meeting with a positive attitude and a head held high. That no one should have to go through all the things she has been though. He then went to compliment her as he was very impressed by how prepared she was.

Due to my mother already having her first surgery it will mean that this next surgery will be more dangerous. We have researched, consulted and decided that it would be the correct idea to seek the best possible treatment for her. My mom is an amazing woman, and either my sister Stasi or I are not ready, nor will we ever be ready to lose her as our mother. We have decided to go to MD Anderson which is in Houston Texas. This now means our battle just got a hell of a lot tougher. Making a move up to Houston while she gets everything done is going to take quite a bit of time. Which will mean we will need to temporarily move to Houston over the summer. I know we can get through this as a family, I know we can beat this awful disease. But we need your help in doing so!

These bills are massive, As we mentioned at the start of this all, we were lucky enough to even obtain health insurance, but with that being said we were at zero in terms of reaching the deductible, so we have been covering 100% of the costs. It pains me to ask as I have learned from my mother to always try and do things on your own, but this time it’s just simply not possible. It would mean the world to me and my family if you all could please help us and support us to get us to Houston Texas to get the proper care my mother deserves. What I would like to humbly ask if everyone who is reading this would ask 5 friends or family to donate 25 dollars each and as they ask them if they will in turn ask 5 of their friends or family to do the same donation of 25 dollars and so it will continue. My mother believes in the power of kindness and by doing this act of kindness all of these 25 dollar donations will add up.

We are incredibly grateful with the generosity of all who know my mother and have donated and also for all the people who donated who do not even know her but do it with their compassion just for her situation. We want to thank you all for your emotional and financial support. So please do what you can if you feel that you are able to do more we are so grateful as we are truly struggling to get through this journey of our mothers third cancer.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this, I hope I've explained everything the best that I can. Please support my mother, that’s all we can ask for heart emoticon Stasi would like to express that she has the best mother in the world, who is caring, loving and who puts her first before herself. My mom would do anything for me and anything to help me. It means the world to me to have her in my life, she is my world and there is not anyone else like her or who could replace her.
We have also created a special Facebook page dedicated to my mother in hopes that it will help spread awareness.

https://www.facebook.com/LisasFight/

-Jordan and Stasi.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»THIS is why I hate our cu...