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GORD
I read Kooldaisy's account and MAN did I
identify with her!
I complained to two family physicians starting in 1982 and continuing on until
1989, providing details that in my view were clearly referable to the heart:
profound fatigue, exercise toloerance so poor that I had to hire folks to do
everything for me around my home and yard. Anything involving using my hands
above the level of my heart, even shaving or changing lightbulbs caused pain in
the arm muscles and got me very short of breath in mere moments. My breathing
was "wheezy" so I was treated as asthmatic and drugged accordingly. The symptoms
persisted. I was always very interested in anyting medical and had a current
copy of the "Gold Standard" for general medicine, "Harrison's Principles of
Internal Medicine". I read everything in it on heart disease, and came to the
only conclusion that fit all my symptoms: congestive heart failure (CHF) caused
by idiopathic (no other specific cause ientified) dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM),
a degenerative disease of the myocardium, the "pumping muscle" of the heart.
I then went about trying to convince the dufus doctors that I in fact had CHF
and basically got laughed at. How could some dumb patient come up with this
diagnosis while they thought I had severe asthma??
The last straw was being given a scrip for prednisone, a steroid appropriate for
asthma but potentially deadly for someone with advanced CHF to the point of
having lung congestion so bad that they wheezed and gurgled when trying to
breathe. I fortunately knew better and went homke to suffer some more. That same
evening, the lung congestion became so severe that I could NOT breathe at all
lying down. I went to my recliner, resolved to spend the night upright. A fellow
night-owl buddy phoned at 11 PM at which point the congestion had advanced to
the point where my speech was barely understandable. He rushed over, helped me
into his car and drove me to Emerg. They easily determined by simple X-Ray that
my lungs were fluid-filled and they gave me a potent diuretic IV that had me
peeing in minutes and over the next two weeks in hospital, I lost FORTY POUNDS
simply by peeing every twenty minutes night and day, My lungs cleared, and my
elephant-sized legs shrunk back to normal. Then came the investigations to find
why I was water-logged. Like I said, it took almost two weeks, but the diagnosis
was finally made: CHF as a result of IDCM!!! I had been vindicated but almost at
the cost of losing my life. I began amassing an enormous library on cardiology
and read intensely and spent time in the local Medical College Library tracking
down references to the literature in the textbooks. I know that reading medical
bpooks is NOT everyone's cup of tea and believe me, a lot of this stuff flies
over my head at 30,00 feet. I obviously got enough from what I DID understand to
be able to self-diagnose accurately, even an uncommon cause of heart failure. I
do have some college including biology, chemistry and microbiology; and a
medical dictionary is always within reach! My knowledge literally saved my life!
So I urge everyone to do what Kooldaisy reports - if something is not right,
keep hammering at your doctors and as she did, change doctors if they will not
listen or just token-listen and do or find nothing.
Medicine has become very complicated, and few physicians are frankly even able
to keep up, especially those in general or family practice. Do as much research
as you can and since all of you have computers, use the enormous resources of
the internet to do so. Do Google searches on what you have or THINK you may
have, and look at the tons of sites that cater to the layman and reduce the
subject down to understandable terms.
I'll conclude with the further report that my research led me to two drugs that
seemed appropriate but which I had NOT been prescribed. I trottted down to my
cardiologist on two separate occasions and told him I wanted the drug in
question and his answer: "You're absolutely right! Here's a scrip." Now he sends
me all my reports, even scan results, without comment, for me to evaluate, with
the option, of course, to call him if I need to discuss something. The envelopes
are addressed to DR. Richardson!
Regardless of what our medical issues are, we must sadly educate ourselves as
much as we can to intervene when our physicians fail to provide satisfaction.
Would you get a mortgage or a car loan without checking out the market? Would
you buy stocks that make the headlines and not seek expert financial advice?
Well then - do the same prep work and research on your medical issues and BE
PREPARED when you walk into the doctor's office. If your doc is old-fashioned
and rejects patient input, you DEFINITELY need a new one!
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