Last week I saw my Pulmonologist. Although I was nervous after recent events that he would have doubts about me I was pleasantly surprised to find him just as warm as ever and I think in fact that his learning of the ER debacle only cemented our bond further. Much as these cliquish people would like to see all my doctor/patient relationships destroyed they are not getting their wish. My pulmonologist was hoping I would have already gotten in to Dr. G’s clinic by now, and was appalled at what had happened to me at the ER in December.
This is the one doctor who the evil Dr. M. and his group of bullies cannot screw around, intimidate, nor manipulate, as he is very meticulous about his documentation and he backs up his diagnoses with good, hard data. He is not arrogant (which is nice), but he has the courage of his convictions and is genuinely a good guy who really wants to help his patients. I told him I figure my chances now of ever getting into Dr. G’s clinic are most likely blown due to the actions of those ER doctors and their libelous statements. He said he was not so sure about that. Seriously, I could just hug him right now!
He is the one doctor whom none of the 4 person wrecking crew tried to attack; they knew that if they dared try challenge his work that he would mop the floor with them, as his positions are backed up by 3 sleep studies and he’s pretty iron-clad.
What they didn’t realize is that Dr. T., who is a perfectly good neurologist (but works in the Sleep Lab) looked at those sleep study tapes in order to diagnose my Myoclonus. She, unlike Dr. M., does have a background in Movement Disorders and it was not hard for her to diagnose by seeing the movements in action. Dr. M. and Dr. T.T.J. (neither of which have published in medical journals had arrogantly decided to disregard Dr. T’s diagnosis based on the gross tests done at Piedmont Hospital. I guess they underestimated her. She has published on sleep disorders as early indicators of neurological disease, by the way.
Nice try, dufuses, but it’s not always due to a structural lesion. It can be neurochemical or electrical in origin and still be very real.
Sometimes doctors in the ER really make fools of themselves when they think they know everything.
My Myoclonus continues to this day (and not only upon falling asleep, although mostly. It also manifests in my shoulders when I get too cold), and it has responded to Keppra at 1000 Mgs./day, reducing the severity and how long it goes on quite a bit. It was Dr. T. who put me on it, and Dr. W. (the admitting neurologist at Piedmont) who increased the dosage to an optimum level. Although it’s not a cure, the fact that it vastly reduces it tells us that the drug is acting on some pathway in the brain. It is highly unlikely to be placebo effect or chances are by now I would be back to being kept awake until 7 AM each night. Thankfully I am not.
It’s been more than disappointing; the non-advocacy provided by Emory’s “Patient Advocate”, T. J., who showed her obvious bias after only our second phone conversation, and still has not answered my questions entirely regarding whom she asked what during her mickey mouse investigation, but I believe that eventually I will be vindicated and those who sought to discredit me and sabotage my healthcare will suffer the consequences of their malicious actions, and so will she for being so dismissive of my very legitimate grievance.
I have had shortness of breath on and off throughout the appearance of these neuromuscular symptoms which seems to come in clusters and then I don’t have it for a few weeks or months, but then it comes back. I’ve had it several times over the past few weeks, and again tonight while sitting upright.
Tomorrow morning I go for some pulmonary function tests which will likely add some more data which will help flesh out my condition further. Dr. M. and his bunch of groupies are probably not capable of understanding the significance this has in neurological disease or at best have a very basic understanding of it, but I’m pretty certain it will completely escape them as it applies to a condition as complex as mine. If they are reading this post I will leave them to vex over it all night.
On Friday I will go into the Lion’s Den (the dreaded Emory General Neurology Department) where I have an appointment with one of their neurologists I’ve never met. I was going to cancel it, as this woman has no reviews online (good or bad), and I don’t like going in blind after what happened, but on second thought figured even though it could be a trap given Macdonald’s connection with the department head, there are ways in which it could actually end up being helpful. (I won’t elaborate on that just now as I don’t want to show my hand to certain people who may not have the best of intentions). I will see what this woman is about and go from there. I just hope she’s not sneaky like Dr. H. and hope she’s not rude or a cold fish. My trust has been violated so I will not be so quick to believe her words and intentions as I might have been before the traumatic event happened. She will no doubt have to earn my trust. First hint of deceptiveness or working against me and she’s history.
Mayo Clinic is a no-go. After my initial inquiry at the particular location I checked on it turns out that they have nothing available until next January and so any patients with conditions of a neurological nature are not being booked at all right now.
My GP is finally coming to terms with my Dysautonomia after he received the erratic BP readings from my Piedmont records (which weren’t initially included, but housed in another department), and realizes that I am probably not going to feel any better until it is treated with IV saline infusion. Home healthcare is willing to send a nurse out to do the infusions but in order to prevent infection on an outpatient basis a port (central line) will need to be put in my chest; a minor surgical procedure. Although this is not a cure it should help me feel better and get my autonomic nervous system to work more efficiently, as it did in the hospital.
Right now I have no energy, my pain has gotten more frequent and intense, I’ve felt faint more often lately, my constipation is still an ongoing problem despite being put on Linzess, it’s a struggle to hold myself up against gravity, and I feel as though I need to sleep 15 hours for every 1 hour of being up even to go to a doctor’s appointment. I just feel crappy all the way around. Increasing my salt intake and drinking ice water constantly has not been cutting it and each morning I wake up feeling so dehydrated I can hardly tolerate it. Ravenously thirsty, and as if my kidneys are toxic; head-achy and back and core achy.
As of yet the order has not been written, but he has agreed to it, so I think now it’s just a matter of when it will be written, as he knows I can’t go on like this forever. It is taking alot out of me just sitting up long enough to write this post. If it’s the wrecking crew he’s afraid of then screw them in the bootie, I say! The treatment options I pursue are my choice. Every patient should have the ultimate say as to what is and isn’t done with their own body.
There really needs to be a new Patients’ Bill of Rights drafted to address these types of issues. I’m sure there are many others who are going through similar struggles as I am. I’m going to be voting for Bernie Sanders in the upcoming Presidential election as I believe he most closely exemplifies the principles I stand for surrounding healthcare. I have written the Dept. of Health and Human Services periodically to bring some of these issues to their attention as they impact patient self-determination in ones healthcare.
To give input on healthcare topics important to you, write or call them toll free;
HHS Headquarters
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20201 Toll Free Call Center: 1-877-696-6775
The current Secretary is Silvia Mathews Burwell
If your healthcare rights have been violated, in addition to filing internal grievances with the facility, state facility regulatory agencies, and if the offender was a doctor, the state Composite Medical Board (as I did), you can file a Federal grievance through the Office for Civil Rights . I may consider doing this if the hospital continues to leave the libelous charting up on their electronic records system posing as “professional opinion”.
There are several online forms broken down by type of complaint such as HIPPA, Patient Safety/Confidentiality, and Assurance of Compliance
PatientsRightsAdvocate.com 