Medical update

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

On 2006-07-17, penned:

That seems rather insensitive to me...

Maybe he meant to make it less gross or scary to Tweed.

I have no doubt that he meant well by doing it, and yes, humor can
help one deal with difficult situations. My last doctor (before I had
to join an HMO) used to make all sorts of irreverent jokes about my
medical issues, and I enjoyed it very much. But then again, I didn't
have anything scary wrong with me, and I don't know what my needs would
have been in that case.

That's why I said it was insensitive, rather than outright nasty. I
think this is a tricky area, and if a doctor's going to use humor, they
should pay attention to how the patient is feeling, and how he/she responds
to lighthearted remarks, and take the cue from that. If the patient is
very upset and not open to looking at his/her situation lightheartedly,
jokes might come across as callous, or at least, clueless. It's not
enough to mean well - I think a doctor also needs to pay attention and
be sensitive to the patient's needs.

Anyway, none of this has any bearing on how Tweed felt about it - but
I hope it wasn't too unpleasant!


Joyce

"Christina Websell" wrote:
I will be in hospital for 4-5 days and will be unable to do much for 6
weeks. It's worse that I expected. He gave me a choice to live with it, or
get the surgery. I've opted for the surgery.
I can hardly buckle up my shoes and I am fed up with the noises it makes.
The doctor seemed to think this was okay and funny. It isn't. It makes my
colleagues feel sick to hear it squelching and it makes *me* feel sick to
know that they hate it when I can't do anything about it.

Let us know when it's scheduled. That's a considerably longer
recovery time than I thought, but it does sound much bigger than any
regular hernia. You're right to go for the surgery. I don't see how
a hernia like that could just be okay to have indefinitely.

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:22:32 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:

Well, I finally got my hospital appointment about my hernia today.
Very nice doctor. Shook my hand when he came in and explained everything.
After he'd examined me he said the defect in my muscle wall was quite large
(as big as an orange) and that an incisional hernia was quite a different
thing to repair than the normal sort of groin hernia.
It won't be as bad as my ovarian surgery, but apparently it will be quite
bad.

I will be in hospital for 4-5 days and will be unable to do much for 6
weeks. It's worse that I expected. He gave me a choice to live with it, or
get the surgery. I've opted for the surgery.
I can hardly buckle up my shoes and I am fed up with the noises it makes.
The doctor seemed to think this was okay and funny. It isn't. It makes my
colleagues feel sick to hear it squelching and it makes *me* feel sick to
know that they hate it when I can't do anything about it.

Many purrs for an easy op and a quick recovery... let us know when
it's scheduled so we can start the purr-motors running fullblast.

Christina Websell wrote:
Well, I finally got my hospital appointment about my hernia today.
Very nice doctor. Shook my hand when he came in and explained everything.
After he'd examined me he said the defect in my muscle wall was quite large
(as big as an orange) and that an incisional hernia was quite a different
thing to repair than the normal sort of groin hernia.
It won't be as bad as my ovarian surgery, but apparently it will be quite
bad.

I will be in hospital for 4-5 days and will be unable to do much for 6
weeks. It's worse that I expected. He gave me a choice to live with it, or
get the surgery. I've opted for the surgery.
I can hardly buckle up my shoes and I am fed up with the noises it makes.
The doctor seemed to think this was okay and funny. It isn't. It makes my
colleagues feel sick to hear it squelching and it makes *me* feel sick to
know that they hate it when I can't do anything about it.

Tweed




Rats, Christina. Sorry the news wasn't better. Our gang is revving up
the purr-motors for your recovery to be quick and as painless as possible.

--
Sam, closely supervised by Mistletoe

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
Well, I finally got my hospital appointment about my hernia today.
Very nice doctor. Shook my hand when he came in and explained everything.
After he'd examined me he said the defect in my muscle wall was quite
large
(as big as an orange) and that an incisional hernia was quite a different
thing to repair than the normal sort of groin hernia.
It won't be as bad as my ovarian surgery, but apparently it will be quite
bad.

I will be in hospital for 4-5 days and will be unable to do much for 6
weeks. It's worse that I expected. He gave me a choice to live with it,
or
get the surgery. I've opted for the surgery.
I can hardly buckle up my shoes and I am fed up with the noises it makes.
The doctor seemed to think this was okay and funny. It isn't. It makes
my
colleagues feel sick to hear it squelching and it makes *me* feel sick to
know that they hate it when I can't do anything about it.

Tweed


I think you're making the right decision, if it makes you feel so
uncomfortable and self conscious. Keep us posted re dates and stuff.

Jeanette

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote:
I will be in hospital for 4-5 days and will be unable to do much for 6
weeks. It's worse that I expected. He gave me a choice to live with it,
or
get the surgery. I've opted for the surgery.
I can hardly buckle up my shoes and I am fed up with the noises it makes.
The doctor seemed to think this was okay and funny. It isn't. It makes
my
colleagues feel sick to hear it squelching and it makes *me* feel sick to
know that they hate it when I can't do anything about it.

Let us know when it's scheduled. That's a considerably longer
recovery time than I thought, but it does sound much bigger than any
regular hernia. You're right to go for the surgery. I don't see how
a hernia like that could just be okay to have indefinitely.

Well, apparently it is. If you can tolerate the noise that is! After my
examination was finished the doctor said "well, there's good news and bad
news. The good news is that the muscle wall defect is so large the hernia
is unlikely to strangulate as that usually occurs with a small hole. The
bad news is - although we *can* repair it - it's not a nice operation."

So, in theory, I could leave it alone and wouldn't be in any danger. In
practice, it looks unsightly, it bulges my midriff right out, especially if
I have just had a meal and it can be noticed if I don't have a very loose
top on. It makes unacceptable noises (I haven't forgotten that one of my
colleagues said "OMG, you sound like a spin dryer..") it makes it difficult
to bend down. It has to go.

Tweed
you have all sent such supportive messages I'm going to try and reply to all
individually over the next day or two. Thanks everyone.

"Kreisleriana" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:22:32 +0100, "Christina Websell"
yodeled:

Well, I finally got my hospital appointment about my hernia today.
Very nice doctor. Shook my hand when he came in and explained everything.
After he'd examined me he said the defect in my muscle wall was quite
large
(as big as an orange) and that an incisional hernia was quite a different
thing to repair than the normal sort of groin hernia.
It won't be as bad as my ovarian surgery, but apparently it will be quite
bad.

I will be in hospital for 4-5 days and will be unable to do much for 6
weeks. It's worse that I expected. He gave me a choice to live with it,
or
get the surgery. I've opted for the surgery.
I can hardly buckle up my shoes and I am fed up with the noises it makes.
The doctor seemed to think this was okay and funny. It isn't. It makes
my
colleagues feel sick to hear it squelching and it makes *me* feel sick to
know that they hate it when I can't do anything about it.

Tweed



Oh my dear Christina. This is just awful, nothing to say except I am
so sorry you have to go through more !@#. My boys are purring for
you.

Thanks, boys. I have to admit that I had hoped the operations were in the
past now. Ah, well. Maybe *this one* will be the last.
When I was in my late 30's I wondered where all the money I paid monthly
into the National Health Service went. I didn't need it myself at the time.
It serves me right, I suppose. I think I have pretty well bankrupted my
doctors over the last 5 years. They have to pay for every hospital
consultation and admission and every operation out of their own budget.

I do have to commend them, they don't hesitate to refer a patient to
hospital if they think there might be something wrong that they don't know
about. Which is most things, actually! They haven't bothered to keep up.

I have been asked a few times why I don't change my doctor and go to a
totally different surgery where the doctors are up to speed. I say, well at
least they recognise their shortcomings and I have a better chance of a good
diagnosis in hospital.

Tweed

I have been asked a few times why I don't change my doctor and go to a
totally different surgery where the doctors are up to speed. I say, well at
least they recognise their shortcomings and I have a better chance of a good
diagnosis in hospital.

Tweed

I wish you all the best, Tweed.

--Fil

"Irulan" wrote in message
. ..
poor baby. Hang in there. Glad you made the choice to have the surgery. It
ain't gonna be fun, but if repaired you'll feel so much better all around.
We will constantly purr and pray for everything to go well your way.

Lily & her mama


Thanks, Lydia. If I can get through the last surgery I will get through
this.

Tweed

"Karen" wrote in message
...
I"m glad you are getting it done. Rotten about the recovery time, but my
guess is you will beat that by two weeks! When are you having it done?

Probably November.

Tweed