Amazing Ted (long)

On 2005-01-21, Howard Berkowitz penned:

I'm debating whether to send a reasoned letter to her professor, discussing
some of the conflicts, or if that would make matters worse.

I think you should. Especially because a lot of people are hesitant to
question their doctor.

Too many doctors think that because they are specialists and their patients
are not, their patients should have no say in their own care. This is
ridiculous, especially now when it's so easy to find a lot of information on
the web. I'm not saying that I know more than they do ... but actually,
sometimes I do.


--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

In article , "Monique Y.
Mudama" wrote:

On 2005-01-21, Howard Berkowitz penned:

I'm debating whether to send a reasoned letter to her professor,
discussing
some of the conflicts, or if that would make matters worse.

I think you should. Especially because a lot of people are hesitant to
question their doctor.

Too many doctors think that because they are specialists and their
patients
are not, their patients should have no say in their own care. This is
ridiculous, especially now when it's so easy to find a lot of information
on
the web. I'm not saying that I know more than they do ... but actually,
sometimes I do.


Unfortunately, this being a teaching hospital, I saw where the resident
was going in some areas -- and I _did_ know more than she did. The
problem is whether this can be done without poisoning relationships with
other residents.

In a private practice situation, I would never have allowed it to get as
far as it did. For that matter, I'm not shy in an acute care teaching
hospital, where I may not have to work with the resident -- I've been
known to inquire "may I help you with that drug order so you can kill me
faster?"

Ted thanks everyone for their congratulations and implied adulation.
She sees it as only her due, but has decided to be gracious.

She would like to tell everyone about how badly we abuse her. Two
nights ago I extravagently bought some seafood to do on the BBQ -
salmon fillets, barramundi (fish) fillets and some prawns. Ted asked,
politely at first and then more assertively, for samples of each, but
we only gave her samples of the salmon and barramundi; no prawns (hey,
they were really expensive and I only got enough for a couple each).
She was disgusted with us and stomped off for a snooze.

Ted knows that everyone else in this group would have treated her much
better and given her first pick of their entire meal - not merely
tidbits, regardless of her diet.

She thought briefly about divorcing us, but decided to be big-hearted
about it and cuddled up to DH for a session of purring and dribbling
(it's hard not to dribble when lacking teeth).

Tish channeling Ted

Tish Silberbauer wrote:


It took an hour or two for what the v*t had said to sink in. You see,
Ted has done it again. She is in sparkling good health for a cat of
her age and her kidney values (createnine etc) are better than they
have been for years. Yep, our Ted is going to continue with her
long-term plans for world domination and is determinedly going to hang
around for quite a while yet. The v*t found the problem - age has
meant that she no longer responds to / metabolizes the insulin as
efficiently as she used to, so we have halved her dosage and she has
perked up (grumped up) to her former level.

Amazing Ted. Long may she live.


Amazing indeed. May Midd Ted have a grouchy and curse filled life, the
way she wants it, for a long time to come.

Pam S. raising a can of Tuna in honor of Ted

Howard Berkowitz wrote:

In article ,
wrote:


On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 13:23:02 +1100, Tish Silberbauer
yodeled:


Ted looks to DH - they have a special bond. She pretty-much ignores
everyone else, unless there is food in the offing. To everyone else
she is the most cussed, cross-patched piece of bawling streetcat you
ever did see. She grew up in a household of batchelors and learnt to
swear from them. Boy, did she learn good! She was very proud of
having a "dangerous animal" tag on her file at the v*t.


Wow, I'm impressed. I just decided I will not rest until I have a
"dangerous animal" tag on my medical file.


I try for "Impatient".


I once got a "non-cooperative" tag on my file because I barfed on a
nurse's shoes. I was coming out of the anesthetic after my gall bladder
removal, and was having an adverse reaction to the medications. I made
it to the sink to arf, and the nurse came in and was in the process of
cussing me out for not making it to the toilet. I turned to answer her
and arfed on her shoes. She wrote me up, but the lower ranking officers
(Colonel Blanchard Medical Center at Ft Campbell, Kentucky) adored me
and would come in and make sure I had anything I wanted within the
limits I was permitted. Do you get the feeling that she wasn't their
favorite charge nurse?

Pam S.

Howard Berkowitz wrote:


I'm debating whether to send a reasoned letter to her professor,
discussing some of the conflicts, or if that would make matters worse.

Please send the letter and spare some other poor soul from this viscous
beast.

Pam S. who's had to deal with her relatives.

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

Too many doctors think that because they are specialists and their patients
are not, their patients should have no say in their own care. This is
ridiculous, especially now when it's so easy to find a lot of information on
the web. I'm not saying that I know more than they do ... but actually,
sometimes I do.




I don't know more than the specialists do, but I do know my own body and
how it reacts to different medications and treatments. I will speak up
when I think they aren't taking my unique metabolism into consideration.

Pam S. who's weirder than h*ll medically

In article . net,
Tanada wrote:

Howard Berkowitz wrote:

In article ,
wrote:


On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 13:23:02 +1100, Tish Silberbauer
yodeled:


Ted looks to DH - they have a special bond. She pretty-much ignores
everyone else, unless there is food in the offing. To everyone else
she is the most cussed, cross-patched piece of bawling streetcat you
ever did see. She grew up in a household of batchelors and learnt to
swear from them. Boy, did she learn good! She was very proud of
having a "dangerous animal" tag on her file at the v*t.


Wow, I'm impressed. I just decided I will not rest until I have a
"dangerous animal" tag on my medical file.


I try for "Impatient".


I once got a "non-cooperative" tag on my file because I barfed on a
nurse's shoes. I was coming out of the anesthetic after my gall bladder
removal, and was having an adverse reaction to the medications. I made
it to the sink to arf, and the nurse came in and was in the process of
cussing me out for not making it to the toilet. I turned to answer her
and arfed on her shoes. She wrote me up, but the lower ranking officers
(Colonel Blanchard Medical Center at Ft Campbell, Kentucky) adored me
and would come in and make sure I had anything I wanted within the
limits I was permitted. Do you get the feeling that she wasn't their
favorite charge nurse?

There was a resident at Georgetown University Hospital, normally a
superb facility, who was widely believed to have had pictures of the
dean in an unmentionable act, or the equivalent that kept him from
getting kicked out. He is the ONLY resident that I've ever heard
routinely cursed out by faculty, in the presence of patients who were
not close friends of the professor.

Anyway, this debit to the medical profession came down with an ideal
case of pneumonia, ideal in the sense that he was just sick enough to
have to be admitted and at the mercy of the staff, but not sick enough
to be in any real danger and need TLC. I can confirm that an ice bucket
was kept outside his room, for chilling the stethoscope prior to
entering, and the nurses raffled off chances to give him injections.

And I have my own tales of playing the teaching hospital game, but those
are for another post.

Tanada wrote:


Amazing indeed. May Midd Ted have a grouchy and curse filled life, the
way she wants it, for a long time to come.

Pam S. raising a can of Tuna in honor of Ted

Arf!! That's MISS Ted, not Midd Ted.

Pam S. oopsing again

Long may she live, indeed. Good ole' Ted
Jazz's mama

--

Irulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time
"Tish Silberbauer" wrote in message
...
No, not the v*t - our aged calico cat, Ted.

Ted is now 18-and-a-bit years old and has been diabetic since she was
12 or so. She is also very arthitic, completely toothless, somewhat
deaf and quite blind. An old cat, but any description, who sleeps
most of the day.

Ted looks to DH - they have a special bond. She pretty-much ignores
everyone else, unless there is food in the offing. To everyone else
she is the most cussed, cross-patched piece of bawling streetcat you
ever did see. She grew up in a household of batchelors and learnt to
swear from them. Boy, did she learn good! She was very proud of
having a "dangerous animal" tag on her file at the v*t.

Two or three times each year Ted has us convinced that her end is near
and we start to mentally prepare ourselves to do the Difficult Thing.
Each time this happens, she waits an appropriate amount of time for
the tension to build to an uncomfortable level, then makes a
"miraculous" recovery. Methinks she's testing her considerable
ability to manipulate us.

This last couple of weeks was no exception. Ted was acting nice.
Really sweet - no cussin', no attempting to rip our bloody throats
out; she even gave up her plans for world domination. We were
suspicious and, once again, started to think the worst. You see, last
time Ted was nice was just before she was diagnosed with diabetes and
she was, in fact, very sick. Ted being nice made us think that she
was very sick again. Last time we had her bloods worked up at the
v*t, he indicated that she had the beginnings of kidney failure, so
we thought that this might now have become an issue. We watched her
carefully; adjusted her insulin, monitored her litterbox habits and
water uptake. We started to be sad and to prepare ourselves for the
worst. Dave gave her lots of cuddles and special little treats
(within her dietary regime). After all, she's over 18 and is unwell.

Dave pulled the short straw and, with a heavy heart, took her to the
vet for a whole-day of blood monitoring (to get a range of glucose
levels). We sat - him at home and me at work, for a whole day, being
distracted and thinking about our furry matriarch.

It was with considerable tension that Dave re-appeared at the v*t in
the evening for a report on our Old Lady's status. He had prepared
himself to make the Ultimate Decision if it was necessary to save Ted
from pain.

It took an hour or two for what the v*t had said to sink in. You see,
Ted has done it again. She is in sparkling good health for a cat of
her age and her kidney values (createnine etc) are better than they
have been for years. Yep, our Ted is going to continue with her
long-term plans for world domination and is determinedly going to hang
around for quite a while yet. The v*t found the problem - age has
meant that she no longer responds to / metabolizes the insulin as
efficiently as she used to, so we have halved her dosage and she has
perked up (grumped up) to her former level.

Amazing Ted. Long may she live.

Tish