Sorry about this, but I just need a place to vent.
I have leukemia. I've had it for almost seven years now (lucky seven, right?). I cannot not believe some of the crap I've put up with from hospitals. It's always bothered me.
But then I heard what happened to one of my friends because of a careless doctor (I won't go into details for different reasons). My friend was royally screwed over. And it just made me so angry:mad:
Why does it seem as though no hospital/hospital staff in America operates correctly?:(
P.S. This is not a shot at anyone on this forum who happens to work in the medical industry. I am merely expressing my views from what I, my friends and my family have experienced at the hands of people who practice medicine.
Ultimater
09-03-2008, 07:59 AM
Eastern/alternative medicine is better at treating chronic illness.
Jewish and Chinese medicine, to the best of my deep study, compliment one another in every last detail.
Common concepts include:
1. All illnesses which afflict people result only because lack of joy. This can be understood even in Scientific terms that the white blood cells fight better when one is joyful.
2. Medicine may be good for one person but harmful to then next
3. Both play the role of a detective and treat the cause of the imbalance in the body.
A key concept in TJM(Traditional Jewish Medicine) is that the remedy is created before the illness.
Judaism speaks of a general remedy based on the root-most cause of all illness. It goes as far as stating that the only wish of the soul is to carry out the will of the creator. The soul thinks what is the purpose of his life why the soul should involve itself with the mundane. When the soul feels the ultimate purpose of his life is not being carried out, the soul yearns to return to its source and prepares to leave the body - the root-most cause why the illness began. As far as using physical remedies, the soul sees that the person has self-control enough to obtain a certain goal and returns to the body in the hope that the person will also be able to carry out the true will of the creator.
As far as these physical remedies, they have concepts of their own which make them work on lower levels although they don't necessarily have the power to extend human life indefinitely which is in the hands of the soul which decides what the soul's purpose is to live in the mundane and to stick to that path. When walking away from this path, the soul becomes depressed and yearns for her source and afflicts the body in the hope that the body will realize it is more important to fulfill G-d's will than whatever purposeless matters the body was wasting itself away with. When walking towards one's path, the soul is joyous to carry out the will of the creator. However when the soul completes its initial intended purpose, then the soul sees no further reason to associate with the physical and returns to its creator nonetheless just like if it didn't see G-d's will being fulfilled. Kabbalah also details how to obtain prophecy like the prophets in the bible did and speaks of different levels of the soul where Moses had the highest level of prophecy obtainable while all other prophets are under him. One of the prerequisites listed is to be married, 40 and have kids. I've researched these prerequisites are actually only guidelines and it seems the reasons are because after obtaining it, the soul already fulfilled its purpose in cleaving to G-d and only if there is further reason to return to the physical with an extended mission will it due so. Thus if one has a wife and kids, the soul figures that is enough reason to return. Although it should be noted that prophecy can be acquired without fulfilling these guidelines yet one would playing with fire since the soul would refuse to return and cause an early death. However even in such a case, it seems some souls have such great missions they probably could get away without fulfilling the rabbi's guidelines.... I hope I've touched enough on the Jewish view on the link between body and soul as far as the root cause of illness.
As far as herbs go, TCM(Traditional Chinese Medicine) treats imbalances in the Qi(vitalization). It speaks of four main umbrella categories of imbalances namely Qi Deficiency, Qi Stagnation, Sinking Qi and Rebellious Qi. Then it introduces Yin and Yang. e.g. one can have both Yin and Yang Qi Deficiency.
Or Yin excess but Yang Deficiency and vice versa and finally Yin and Yang excess Qi. TCM narrows down each illness to a specific part of the body which has an associated function. Then herbs pin-point specific parts of the body for balancing. The herbs are so powerful that there are many cases of patients taking a specific herb and returning to the practitioner with the reverse as a problem in the other extreme. Thus TCM over time came up with certain herb combinations and dosages for balances without over-balancing the parts of the body.
You'd be amazed on success stories regarding herbs treating even cancerous patiences which I've met such people during my apprenticeship with my practitioner. Then there is acupuncture and moxibustion which also target specific organs of the body. Cranio Sacral Therapy for manipulating the bone structure. Desensitization to foods. Homeopathy which treats like with like, got a scratch then diluent poison ivy which causes itching and by diluent it, the body learns how to fight it. Almost like vaccination....
Then there is Qigong, energy healing which I actually know someone in person that can do it and if you guys don't, you aren't looking hard enough...
TJM also even offers Segulot i.e. proper remedies which seem almost supernatural in some cases. One of them I am familiar with treating is hepatitis via a dove or pidgin which is the same gender as the patient and placing it on the patient's belly button and preventing the bird from moving away by playing a gentle hand on the bird then as the bird breathes it does a type of gulping motion as it sucks out the hepatitis (yes A,B, or C) and the disease transfers from the patient to the bird gradually until all of the hepatitis is gone or the bird dies or whenever you decide to stop in the middle. The patience's face usually turns bright red during this procedure but I don't quite grasp how it works to understand why... apparently one of the remedies leading probably back to Solomon and the book of cures...
Seriously look into alternative medicine rather than rely on western medicine in areas it doesn't have a cure for while alternative offers remedies for both the body and soul if you find yourself a good partitioner, he has a way to treat literally every little problem although some are bigger problems than others such as cancer. The average partitioner can strengthen the body so the body can fight it off naturally so the cancer progresses in the opposite direction however these is no on the spot remedy offered by the modern world... although keep away from Chemotherapy, I've had relatives which used it and it only hastened their deaths and the western doctors of coarse defend their own job and believe what they are taught that it is essential and extends life.... know that western medicine has no idea how to treat it since they still don't even know the cause :p All they can do is back up claims such this post increases risk of cancer and back it up with reasoning somewhere along the lines of "ignorance is bliss".
Ultimater
09-03-2008, 08:31 AM
Or people that browse these forums are at a higher risk of cancer since it seems they are exposed to a monitor. Now I find labels on the bottom of mugs before buying them that say they are made with material believed to increase risk of cancer.... come ON... maybe if I like broke the mug and ate the material I might be at a higher risk to cancer... come on... obviously it is what you put in the cup and drink not the mug duh... seriously getting as ridiculous as the lawsuits you hear about...
Even more silly is that by attaching the note itself, it makes the buyer think he is increasing his risk of cancer by using it thus entering his subconscious mind that this cup causes cancer even if it doesn't and since it is in his subconscious, it will in fact have a great influence on increasing his risk of cancer thus matching the label on the cup.
Almost like Neo in the Matrix with the Oracle and the vase followed by the explanation that if she didn't say nothing about the vase, he would have never knocked it over to begin with...
NogDog
09-04-2008, 04:00 AM
One prevalent problem with US hospitals is under-staffing and overwork of residents and nurses. Just a couple examples:
And in Canada:
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/08/14/nurse-shortage.html
Or in Australia:
http://news.smh.com.au/national/understaffing-overwork-fuel-superbugs-20080624-2vvt.html
Israel too:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1218710398062
Last summer when I was in the hospital for an appendectomy, what should have been at worst a 2-night stay turned into a 5-night stay due to my getting a staph infection, ironically via the IV injection site where they were pumping in antibiotics for the original abdominal infection. About the 4th day there, a nurse tried to give me my hospital room-mate's medications, because she got distracted by another nurse and lost track of what she was doing. Thankfully I noticed there were both more and different pills that what I had been receiving, asked her what she was giving me and why, and eventually she realized her mistake (to her horror, at least).
Joseph Witchard
09-04-2008, 06:04 AM
I understand what you're saying NogDog, but from my experience, it seems even worse than that. It's like the medical community doesn't really care anything about you; you're just a customer. I'll give you an example. I take GCSF injections to boost my white blood cell count, and I have taken them for years now. A few years ago when I was talking about my future with my doctor, I asked him if I didn't ever go into remission, would I be able to just take those injections for the rest of my life and live sort of like a diabetic (that's the weird thing about my cancer; it acts more as an auto-immune disease more than a cancer). He said yes, that was possible. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and he told me that if this chemo I'm about to take doesn't work, I need to have a bone marrow transplant. Why? Because now I'm being told that a person cannot take GCSF injections for their entire life because it will mess a lot of other stuff up.
See what I'm saying? Some of them don't even have the decency to tell you the truth:(
NogDog
09-04-2008, 06:49 AM
See what I'm saying? Some of them don't even have the decency to tell you the truth:(
Perhaps "the truth" has changed, and recent research has contra-indicated long-term use of that medication? But that's pure supposition on my part. And doctors are human (even if they don't believe it): they can make mistakes, some are not as good as others, some have better inter-personal skills than others, etc.
None of that particularly helps you, other than pointing out that we must keep asking them questions, and if they aren't answering them to our satisfaction, then there's nothing wrong with going for 2nd or 3rd opinions. Well, nothing wrong with it except that it's not free. :rolleyes: If you are not comfortable with your doctor, look for another one if you can, though I realize that is not feasible in all situations.
For what little good it may do, I'll send some positive vibes your way. :)
WebJoel
09-04-2008, 08:37 AM
My mother had chronic pluerosy(sp?? "inflammation of the lining around the lungs") and was on meds to treat that, for years.
Apparently, this (and her 59yrs. age) was also a contributing factor to having 'brittle bones'.
In late '94(??) she was complaining of a soreness on her ribs, had X-rays and they informed her that she had 'cracked' several ribs but that were HEALING normally (on the X-ray, this shows as a bright white 'radial line' where new-bone is growing.) In some pain but happy that she was 'recovering', they sent her home, happy.
Well, 6-months later and for another matter, she was diagnosed with cancer, which was recent and metatascising(sp?). Inoperable, they treated with chemo & radiation, but it was deemed even then to be too little, way too late.
They referred back to the X-rays of 6-months earlier and SOAB! they could SEE the cancer node RIGHT NEXT TO THE BROKEN RIB and they MISSED IT!! It was then localized, operable! At that point they deemed, it would have been highly operable, -removed the upper lobe of the lung on that side and she would have have a very high probability of living. They MISSED SEEING THIS!!
She died about 6-months after being diagnosed with this 'aggressive' cancer type, a few days before Christmas of '95. It was one of those 'early detection saves' things and usually discovered accidentally while looking for something else, and by the time it starts to cause problems (it had 'reached' the windpipe and was constricting/tugging it sideways, causing shortness of breath, etc) it was too late to do much about it. I'm still a little hostile about the hospital's not having caught that when it was right there on their X-ray for the broken ribs...
Joseph Witchard
09-04-2008, 04:45 PM
My mother had chronic pluerosy(sp?? "inflammation of the lining around the lungs") and was on meds to treat that, for years.
Apparently, this (and her 59yrs. age) was also a contributing factor to having 'brittle bones'.
In late '94(??) she was complaining of a soreness on her ribs, had X-rays and they informed her that she had 'cracked' several ribs but that were HEALING normally (on the X-ray, this shows as a bright white 'radial line' where new-bone is growing.) In some pain but happy that she was 'recovering', they sent her home, happy.
Well, 6-months later and for another matter, she was diagnosed with cancer, which was recent and metatascising(sp?). Inoperable, they treated with chemo & radiation, but it was deemed even then to be too little, way too late.
They referred back to the X-rays of 6-months earlier and SOAB! they could SEE the cancer node RIGHT NEXT TO THE BROKEN RIB and they MISSED IT!! It was then localized, operable! At that point they deemed, it would have been highly operable, -removed the upper lobe of the lung on that side and she would have have a very high probability of living. They MISSED SEEING THIS!!
She died about 6-months after being diagnosed with this 'aggressive' cancer type, a few days before Christmas of '95. It was one of those 'early detection saves' things and usually discovered accidentally while looking for something else, and by the time it starts to cause problems (it had 'reached' the windpipe and was constricting/tugging it sideways, causing shortness of breath, etc) it was too late to do much about it. I'm still a little hostile about the hospital's not having caught that when it was right there on their X-ray for the broken ribs...
That's one of the things that makes me angry. I hear about stuff like this all the time, but they never seem to be held accountable for their actions. I understand that humans make mistakes (I make hundreds every day), but from what I've experienced personally and from what I've heard from other people and by reading the news, too many mistakes are being made for there not to be any recourse. Frankly, I think hospitals/medical personnel should seriously get their act together instead of continuing to wallow in the mess that they seem to constantly create :\
P.S. Thanks for the vibe NogDog. I always appreciate good vibes:D
wh666-666
09-04-2008, 04:55 PM
Im sorry to hear about your situation, but consider yourself lucky you're in the US ...
Over in the UK alot of people dont receive any treatment at all for ailments or spend so long on waiting lists they die before receiving treatment ..
Declan1991
09-04-2008, 05:14 PM
At least you were diagnosed and treated for the right disease. There are way too many incorrect and missed diagnoses in Ireland, not to talk of a case that was publicised recently again about a doctor who preformed ovario-hysterectomies (removed ovaries and wombs, I can't spell it) in 1 out of 20 cases regardless of whether they were necessary. While Dr. Neary is an exception, it went unnoticed for 10 years or more, and the "whistle-blower" still is afraid to be identified.
I'm sorry about you situation, I really can sympathise, I know a man suffering from Huntingtons, and know the effects any long term illness can cause.
Joseph Witchard
09-04-2008, 05:50 PM
Believe me, I know how blessed I've been. I have a friend who works as a porter at a hospital in London, and I've heard a lot of bad stories about what goes on there.
And actually, originally, I was going to a different doctor and was misdiagnosed. The type of cancer I have is extremely rare (about a total of 300 people in the United States have it. I'm one of those).
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