Guest guest Posted May 4, 2002 Report Share Posted May 4, 2002 Aletta, Thank you for the news articles. I have never had the fear of death but the fear of having unsufferable pain in the end or feel like I am choking for air and can't get it. Either way I do not want to suffer. I am glad to know that I am not alone in this. In some strange way I thought I was. WIERD You also have the realistic dreams that I have. I argued with my husband last night because he said he didn't hear the loud explosion. It took me a while to realize he was right and there wasn't an explosion. I have a place on my forehead and the top of my head that is painful to touch today. There is no bruise and I can't figure out why it's there. I hope that I might have hit my head in some way in my sleep. I have been sleep walking. I did this as a child also but only if I was extremely tired. Since I constantly suffer from extreme fatigue maybe that is why the sleepwalking has started again. There are times I have been woke up in the morning sitting at my computer and I have no idea how I got there. Does anyone else sleep walk? God Bless, Belinda > Deborah; > I'm voting for allergy - but in some cases and allergy reaction can be > triggered and the culprit itself is long gone - our sensory reactions are > not 'normal' so even if nothing is found the rash may still be an > 'allergic' one. The gall-bladder is an organ we have in common only with > the rat, which is why it is so good to use on lab experiments - function > has to do with bile production. Used to be as popular a reason for surgery > as appendicitis but seems to have become less popular - it is one of the > less well understood organs, like the appendix, tonsils and spleen, life > can go on nicely without it. > > Doctors can be just as vacuous as the rest of us (especially when tired and > underpaid). Last year my 'rash' was met with dismissiveness - I also had > fever - two doctors and nearly a week later the next doctor I saw > immediately identified it as pettichael hemmorage (less evident by then > since it was starting to fade). Now I know if it blanches (pales) when > pushed down it is not a hemmorage those stay red pressed or not. You may > never know what you have, ride out the wave and get home, sounds like > hubby does a spectacular job keeping and eye on you. Try ice packs to get > body temp (which may or may not be a fever) down. > > The last dream I remember (ref: crusty eyes), was of my eyes having dried > up inside my head I woke up with crusted eyes and was frightened to open > them and find my dessicated eye-balls, since then I've used eye drops > constantly. > > Is everyone not just a bit quick on wanting everyone who 'seems' depressed > on anti-depressants?? It is only depression if real-life events are > insufficient to cause depression - only those will react to meds. For > instance you cannot cure grief with meds, just time and talk therapy. Short > term memory loss happens with many other 'stressors' such as sleep > deprivation, illness, anxiety, exhaustion and pain. My memory is adversely > affected by pain and sleep deprivation it stops as soon as those are dealt > with. Too many doctors won't deal adequately with a patient's pain and > discomfort - I forgot which of you knew someone with ALS, he improved > markedly when given more control over morphine for pain even gaining > abilities thought to have been lost. > > I've slacked off from the voice exercises and am paying for it (at least I > hope this is the reason), my tongue seems to be blocking much of my > windpipe and I often feel as though my head is kept under water, if I open > my mouth a bit an consciously push my tongue forward air rushes in nicely, > but I have to make it a fully conscious effort - does this happen to > others, is there something surgical (like shortening the tendons) that can > keep the tongue from sliding back when it shouldn't? > > New meds still no adverse affect and no loss of bowel control (no.1 fear), > and the pain is dying down slowly. > _____________________________________________ > Came accross these two articles today, thought they were poignant: > > New York Times > November 9, 2001 > > Separating Death From Agony > By Jerome Groopman > > BOSTON - Not long ago, a cancer specialist I know faced a situation that > chilled those of us who care for people with terminal illness. A young > woman close to death lay suffering in a hospital bed, her husband at her > side. Her leukemia had defied bone marrow transplant and experimental > drugs. She had begun to bleed into her lungs and was gasping for air. > > Months earlier, following common practice, the oncologist had had a frank > discussion about dying with the woman and her husband. The greatest terror > for her, as for most other patients, was that the final days of her life > might be spent in unrelenting pain. An understanding was reached among the > patient, the doctor and the family that if the time came when there was no > real hope of surviving and she faced only pain and debility, no > extraordinary means would be taken to sustain her and sufficient doses of > drugs like morphine would be administered to ease the pain, even if that > meant reducing her breathing or lowering her blood pressure and thereby > expediting her death. > > That time had clearly come, but when the doctor ordered morphine, a > respiratory therapist at the bedside vehemently objected. He asserted that > the morphine, because it inhibited her breathing, was nothing more than a > thinly veiled disguise for physician-assisted patient suicide. The > patient's husband, aghast, reiterated the promise given to his wife. The > doctor was not deterred and prescribed as much morphine as was required to > alleviate the painful suffocation that occurs when the lungs fill with > blood. Within a day the young woman peacefully died. > > The physician felt that he had fulfilled his moral and professional > obligation to relieve suffering, and the family was satisfied that their > loved one's death occurred with as much dignity as possible. But the > respiratory therapist then accused the physician of nothing less than a > crime, and the husband of being an accomplice. The charge was judged > unfounded first by a hospital review board and later by the district > attorney's office. Yet the step by Attorney General Ashcroft this week > in response to Oregon's legalization of physician-assisted suicide could > have dictated a different outcome. > > Mr. Ashcroft authorized the Drug Enforcement Administration to take > punitive action against physicians who prescribe lethal drugs for > terminally ill patients; the doctors' licenses would be suspended. This > action, which is being challenged by the state, represents a striking lack > of understanding of how physicians help patients to die, and it risks > making the last days of the terminally ill a time of panic and pain rather > than calm and comfort. While this legal policy may be directed at a single > state where patients can obtain prescriptions for the lethal drugs under > certain circumstances, Mr. Ashcroft endangers what has become a > compassionate, if tacit, mode of dying throughout the United States. > > Nothing could be further from the truth than Mr. Ashcroft's statement that > a federal drug agency could readily discern the " important medical, ethical > and legal distinctions between intentionally causing a patient's death and > providing sufficient dosages of pain medication necessary to eliminate or > alleviate pain. " In fact, it is medically impossible to dissociate > intentionally ameliorating a dying patient's agony from intentionally > shortening the time left to live. > > In the case of the young woman with leukemia and pulmonary hemorrhage, the > doses of morphine needed to ease her suffering also depressed her > breathing. And death is rarely a gentle process of simply closing one's > eyes. Rather, there are potent physiological reflexes, graphically termed > " agonal. " Narcotics like morphine are essential in dampening these death > throes, and in doing so, they facilitate death. > > Mr. Ashcroft's action also threatens the very essence of the hospice care > that in recent years has allowed so many terminal patients to die at home, > with doctors and nurses easing the passage through the prudent use of pain > medications. > > Some opponents of the attorney general invoke states' rights, arguing that > federal agencies should not meddle with Oregon's law. This skirts the more > fundamental issue. Helping nature take its course is not criminal, and it > should be outside governmental regulation. Decisions about when and how to > die are best left to patients, families and health professionals, not > legislators and litigators. Committees of doctors and nurses already exist > in hospitals and hospices that can exercise sound judgment in controversial > cases and advise on the parameters for the process of dying. > > If the Justice Department's action is a political bone thrown to religious > conservatives, it shamefully miscasts health professionals as disciples of > the devil rather than angels of mercy. If it represents an earnest attempt > to protect the dying, it in fact makes them more vulnerable. Death will > ultimately come, but without the skilled hands of physicians and nurses to > ease the release of the soul. > ______________________________________ > INTUITION: Does your doctor use intuition? > > An old time hunch is a good partner for science, says prominent med school > teachers. > ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- > USA Weekend. May 12-14, 2001 page 14. By Ann Japenga. > > FOR THE FIRST TIME, prominent physicians are declaring that intuition-- > nowledge not based on conscious reasoning or test results -- is alegitimate > medical tool. > > " I'm a rationalist and a scientist, " Harvard Medcial School professor and > author of Second Opinions: Stories of Intutition and Choice in a the > Changing World of Medicine. " But there have been many instances when I've > had a deep sense about a patient that is not informed directly by lab > tests. It is a gut sense. " > > This gut sense is gaining ground: On Wednesday, the annual meeting of the > conservative American Psychiatric Association will hear about intuition > from Los Angeles psychiatrist Judith Orloff, author of Dr. Judith Orloff's > Guide to Intuitive Healing. > > At UCLA, where she is an assistant professor, Orloff is coaching psychiatry > resident Meredith Sagan in intuition-based medicine. " I can't image how I'd > practice medicine without intuition, " Sagan said. " This is the direction > medicine is heading. " > > Some see it veering in the opposite driection. Over the past decade, > enthusiasm has grown for " evidence based " or " outcome-based " medicine -- > the use of tests and treatments proven through rigorous research. > > Manged-care companies maintain that evidence-based medicine will reduce > costs. Yet Harvard's Groopman says intuition also saves money. Example: A > man with bone-marrow failure was being treated with blood transfusions. In > an intuitive leap, Groopman determined the patient would benefit from added > testosterone (the hormone is vital for production of red blood cells in > men). Soon the man required only a third as many transfusions. > > " My intuition saved this patients' insurance company hundreds of dollars > per unit of blood, plus all the hospital and nursing costs that go with > transfusions, " says Groopman. > > At the University of Virginia, associate professor Slawson, M.D., > teaches that skilled physicians are like skilled musicians. A physician > needs to be grounded in science but also must have the ability to > improvise. The result, according to Slawson: " Good clincial jazz. " > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- > How to find an intuitive physician > Doctors Judith Orloff and Jerome Groopman say an intuitive doctor will... > Take time to listen: Inutition isn't majic. It relies in part on a > heightened sensitivity to subtle verbal and non-verbal cues expressed in > ordinary conversation. > > Encourage second opinions: An intuitive doctor realizes medicine has hidden > dimensions and accepts that another doctor may be able to tune into aspects > of your case he or she has overlooked. > > Honor your hunches: about your well-being, even when they seem irrational. > In the most effective collaborations, your doctor will graft his intuition > onto yours. > > Keep up with science: Some doctors may rely too much on intuition. Each > week, a wealth of new scientific information is available to doctors; yours > should take advantage of the lastest studies. " Intuition shouldn't be an > excuse for not keeping up, " says Haynes, M.D., editor of the journal > Evidence-Based Medicine. > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- > > aletta mes > vancouver, bc Canada > web: http://aletta.0catch.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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