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...
For maybe different reasons......
Nothing more, nothing less...
Money for the dumbass's and money for the scum sucking lawyers....
The dumb and ignorant among us...make law.
My prayers are with you and your family. May HE heal your father and comfort family and friends.
Amen
Prayers for your father, dear Black Agnes.
Thank you. This has been most disturbing for all of our family. My dad’s the bedrock of the family. The oldest of a slew and the grandkids love him to pieces.
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