Posted on 09/01/2013 7:00:40 PM PDT by Black Agnes
We've very nearly had our first obamacare victim in the family. We'll see next week.
Daddy goes in for open heart surgery in Houston sometime next week. Prayers would definitely be appreciated...
My father is a heart patient for 25 years. Had bypass surgery in 94 and clean arteries after that. Had a mild clotting incident in '05 and was put on warfarin. Warfarin leads to aortic stenosis (calcification of the aortic valve) in some patients, particularly older men.
Daddy started noticing symptoms of heart failure last spring (spring 12). He wasn't given any medical options. Just 'let's wait it out'. (which I find now is death for this type of thing. the earlier you operate the higher the chances of success, the longer you wait the weaker the heart the bigger the risk of death...)
Fast forward to this spring. He had a major episode and they did a balloon catheter on him. Said they could do that repeatedly (a lie). 3m later he has another episode and now they mention transcatheter valve replacement. But, they tell him they don't use the size he needs so he has to participate in a clinical trial that's testing that size.
So, daddy has a cousin in TX who is a bigwig with marathon oil. Who has a buddy who's an even bigger (retired) bigwig with marathon oil and a donor to Texas Heart Institute. A phone call is made on a Tuesday and daddy has an apointment with a Dr. Fish on a Thursday.
During that appointment the doc tells him that transcatheter has a much higher risk in HIS age group of knocking clots loose and causing problems. And since daddy's had open heart surgery before and knows what that recovery is like they can replace the valve with the correct size that way. But his only concern is with daddy's lungs...
My dad was like ...'what's wrong with my lungs?'...
'Well, you are a heavy abuser of nicotine and have smoked for 60+ years it says here in your medical record and that sort of risk factor concerns us'...
**Daddy's never smoked a cigarette in his entire life.** ...
They were death paneling him because he was supposedly a smoker.
We're still wondering how THAT got on his medical record and how many OTHER older white people have that?
And the great part is...with Obamacare you have no rights to see your medical record...unlike Experian. To correct things that might death panel you w/o your knowledge.
So here's the rundown.
Baptist (Jackson Heart) wasn't going to do open heart surgery on him, at all. Didn't even present it as an option with risks due to his 'smoking'. Just told him 'we'll wait and watch'...Which we find out (from reading pubmed and his asking the surgeon and cardiologist in Houston) is the WORST thing you can do with heart failure from a replaceable valve...
So here we are, a year and a half later with GREATLY reduced heart function, waiting for heart surgery in Houston...
Again, prayers appreciated...
Which makes me wonder another thing. Lab results. How will you ever know if that ‘normal’ result was really normal. And not suspicious or cancerous?
With ACORN and with access to our records.
That early suspicious pap may be labeled ‘normal’ by someone with access to your voting or political contribution record. When in reality you’ve got early stage cervical cancer. That now won’t get caught until way later in the game when it’s symptomatic.
I don’t know. I just know he’s got supplemental. I’ll have to ask my mom.
Thank you! We’re as optimistic as we can be right now. Considering.
Prayers that this nightmare doesn’t get worse for you and that your Dad gets the treatment that he needs and deserves in a FREE country!
Thank you, from both of us. I need a valium.
That’s good to know. I’ll make sure to tell my mom before they do surgery.
God bless you for that example of your dad. I feel much better having read that.
My mom is chomping at the bit already. I’ll make sure she knows that’s illegal.
It seems to be a new thing too, this ‘we can’t do that’ stuff.
I remember when my pedi retired his nurse (who was also his wife) called my mom and asked if she wanted to come by and get my and my brother’s records. Mom has them in manilla envelopes just under our baby books.
Thank you very much. He is a veteran also. He babysat the DMZ in Korea in the late 50’s. All of his brothers are veterans too. Including one who was career navy.
His kind don’t deserve this. Death from heart failure sucks. Especially for someone who, until last year, was still as active as my dad.
I just said a prayer for your father and you.
Thank you. We appreciate it.
Get all the info. and opinions you can.
DNR, is not bad in itself from what I’ve heard, but it’s the misuse of it, that’s the problem it appears, as they use it as an excuse to give patients less treatment.
May God bless you all!
He’s got a surgeon, they’re planning on sometime next week for surgery (week of the 9th). He got referred to a surgeon the very next day.
None of this ‘watch and wait’ he’d gotten from the first practice. That’s what they do on the NHS in the UK. And by the time they ‘can’ do surgery the victim is either dead, or too old for it.
I will pray for your daddy. God is in control, all is well.
As for getting his medical records, no lawyer is needed. A simple written request, cc’ing the state medical board will get the records in record time. It’s amazing how effective this is.
LOL. That’s a GREAT idea!
I do know he doesn’t want to be on life support. I would hate for him to be denied any sort of ‘necessary’ treatment though.
“..I would hate for him to be denied any sort of ‘necessary’ treatment though.”
Exactly.
btw, my Catholic religion teaches that food and water are ordinary means, but of course there are exceptions, if the patient is too sick to eat. In my brother-in-law’s case, they couldn’t give him hydration because he was building up too much fluid in his body.
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