Re: Scary times YES

[Guest guest]

People who come to this group came here because they are hugely

concerned about the state of their gallbladders. We are already

scared of the medical establishment's " Cut it out now and ask

questions later " philosophy. What Will did is share some common

sense with us -- he didn't scare us -- we're already scared, he just

let us know what we can do to ease some of that very reasonable

distrust of modern medicine.

When you are drugged, anesthetized, sleepy, and in PAIN you need

someone you love and trust to be your advocate in the hospital.

Someone who makes sure you don't go in for a knee operation and come

out with a hysterectomy! Someone to make sure you get the medicine

the doctor ordered, not the medicine meant for the guy across the

hall. Someone to firmly tell the doctor " No, thank you, that

procedure will have to wait until we have more time to research it "

when he suggests something new, untried, and expensive or invasive

and you're too drugged up to give truly informed consent.

When you have someone with you in the hospital it immediately marks

you as a real human being in the eyes of the hospital staff and they

treat you better. The nurses and aides smile more and chat with you

more when you have an advocate. The staff knows someone is watching,

so they wash their hands when they come into the room just like they

are supposed to and don't always (they've done research on this,

it's true!). Someone is there keeping an eye out, so you get faster

response when you press your buzzer. Your meals arrive when they are

supposed to and you have someone to help feed it to you if necessary

(if you can stomach it) instead of having it delivered while you're

asleep and having it removed without you ever being awakened. And

you may even have someone who will smuggle in your vitamins when no

one is looking -- been there, done that!

Don't worry about fear-mongering here -- people who scare easily are

in the hospital allowing the doctors to cut them up, they aren't

here fighting for a chance to control their own health care choices.

Lucinda

> I would caution to not scare people though. Not all hospitals will

one need

> a bodyguard to be a patient. Many people need the services of a

doctor and

> hospital and it is best not to scare them.

>