VENT – docs and rib pain
- This topic has 7 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 14 years ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Linda, I totally agree. My husband had one in the ER that was so rude I reported her. Was told she was having a bad day. Yeah right! Ours was worse. In all fairness, we had one doctor in ER that was very kind, compassionate and understanding. He said to ask for him when we came in as if he was there he would make sure we were taken care of immediately.
Kim, Good luck to you and your family. I hope you run into some of the good ones, too.
Darla
Hi Kimmie,
Sorry to hear about your insensitve doctor. I just had a round with one of those last week. I’ve come to conclude that there are quite a LOT of rude, insensitive medical care out there, and it is rare when we find someone who is not. Maybe it’s because they deal with the same thing on such a routine basis that they get too complacent. No matter what, if they can’t handle it they should no longer be in the profession. That IS part of the profession.
Well, my rant is done too. Hope you are finding today a better day, and that your mom has found some relief from her pain.
Good luck, and hope you hear better news soon.
Linda
Thanks everyone.
Julia, it’s ironic how so many events surrounding my mom’s cancer have occurred around holidays. Last Memorial Day weekend we had to wait for her biopsy results. Last July 4th weekend she was in the hospital recovering from her liver resection. Christmas Eve we found out her scans were clear. Now this.
Gavin, no she does not have a stent. I asked her this morning if she’d taken anything for the pain and she said, “No, maybe I’ll try motrin.” I said no, go for the heavy stuff, so she took a painkiller, Percocet I think.
Crappy thing is, my father has vascular dementia and we’re seeing unprovoked anger starting to come through more and more lately. Mostly mad when we try to help with their house – lawn mowing, fixing stuff, etc. He had another tirade this afternoon. So mom drove to my sister’s house, which luckily is very close. She parked the car in her garage, shut the garage door, went upstairs and is sleeping again. Now I’m worried my dad will get in the car and go looking for her, since he’s not supposed to drive alone anymore.
When it rains, it pours. Buckets and buckets.
Kim
Hello Kimmie….oh, the joys of dealing with medical institutions something all of us could write stories about. I am sorry to hear the upset this has caused your Mom. Generally, I give it three days before checking in with the physician’s office. If I don’t receive an answer then I make sure to call daily.
I am hoping for a quicker response re: your Mom’s current pain.
Best wishes coming your way,
MarionHi Kimmie,
Sorry to hear what you and your mum are going through right now with the doctors. That is not right and it’s not good either. Does your mum have a stent inserted? My dad had one and he used to get a sort of stabbing pain in his right hand side and lower sort of back area. He thought it could have been down to the stent or where they had the drain in. He spoke with his doctor about that pain and was told that it could have been down to where the drain was.
Of course it could be down to your mum having pulled a muscle when coughing as you say. My mum has copd and coughs an awful lot each day, one of the side effects from copd. She has had a lot of pain over the last 4 months or so and her gp has said this is down to her having pulled or strained muscles when coughing. Is your mum taking any pain killers for this and do they work if she does?
Best wishes to you and your mum,
Gavin
Kimmie,
I had rib pain too and had xrays, ct scans and all sorts of other test and nothing showed up. It finally went away and the doctor thinks that it was most likely a result of either too much time in bed or pulling something. They are going to give me a bone scan just to make sure during my next ct slot though.Hopefully like my pain, your mothers just disappears.
And oh those doctors. I hate the waiting and have had my share so i
can really empathise with your mother.Kris
I’m sorry I can’t help with info on the rib pain, Kim, but I can join in your frustration & rant with you!! How upsetting & frustrating & downright RUDE of him!! My sister was left on tenterhooks last August when the whole Team went off for the Bank Holiday & put the presentation of her results back a week, too … without telling her until after the event. Grrrrrrrrrr!!!
I hope all goes well tomorrow & that someone can give you info to help her with the pain.
My best to you & your mum.
Julia
My mother, 63 years old, was diagnosed with a large liver tumor (8cm x 6cm x 10cm) in May ’09, which had not spread anyhere else. Liver resection in July, chemo started in August (gemzar and cisplatin) for 6 cycles. She finished up chemo last December, and her scan showed no evidence of cancer.
We were happy for the first 6 months of 2010, March bloodwork was great, even the CA 19-9. June bloodwork showed elevated CA 19-9, and the CT scan confirmed several smaller tumors throughout both lobes of her liver. Chest x-ray was clear.
So we met with her surgeon on 6/29, and he confirmed what we knew, that surgery is not an option. He talked about possible palliative chemo, but to weigh the quality vs. quantity. He said she’s probably looking at 6 months, maybe a little more with chemo. (Those damned statistics.)
The surgeon said he would present her latest scan/info to the Tumor Board at their meeting last Friday to get their feedback and recommendations. I should say that we’ve been very very pleased with the surgeon from the start, he was knowledgable and wonderful last summer, getting her tumor out with clear margins.
After not hearing from him and leaving many messages, his assistant called my mother yesterday to say the surgeon “didn’t have a chance” to present her info last Friday, but will this coming Friday. Granted, it was a holiday weekend, but still! And I was shocked that HE didn’t have the inclination to call my mother, his assistant did. ARGH!!!
I’m sure docs in the oncology field deal with very sick patients every day. And some of them, like my mother, will not be cured and will die from cancer. So why would they not be responsive, heck at least show common decency and not let my poor mother go crazy for over a week without hearing from him??? My mom is the sweetest, nicest gal, but she said she totally let in to the assistant on the phone. “I know this isn’t your fault, and I’m not shooting the messenger, but I am DYING from CANCER and have been on pins and needles waiting for his call!!!”
On top of all this insanity, she woke up this morning with bad rib pain. She described it as how you feel when you have pneumonia, when you cough or sneeze it hurts. It is intermittent, and she can lay a certain way to alleviate it for a time, but it eventually hurts again. Sometimes it’s a stabbing pain. So of course I start worrying, are there mets in her lungs? Or her bones? Could she have a blood vessel or duct in her liver that’s being pushed on by one of the new tumors? My mind is starting to run away with me. She does have seasonal allergies, so maybe she just pulled a muscle from sneezing or coughing.
So anyway, she has a message in to her oncologist about the pain, and to let him know the craziness with the surgeon. She adores her oncologist, we all do.
Thanks for letting me vent. And any input on the rib pain is appreciated.
Kim
- The forum ‘General Discussion’ is closed to new topics and replies.