My Mom gave up most of her family time so that another’s family member could get some relief from a stressful situation.  And so it goes…

What a wonderful thing your mother did, Crichton.

As many of you know, I’m caretaking at the opposite end of the spectrum. Himself’s mother (now 97 and has osteoporosis) and aunt (93, demented as all get out, osteoarthritis and heart problems) moved in with us two and a half years ago. Saturday morning, while I was selling books at a local mystery convention, the aunt got into a snit about something, made to slam a door and fell, breaking her hip. (When asked by the emergency guys what happened, the aunt pointed to Himself and said, “He pushed me!” Thereupon, the social service people descended on him for a little chat. I think they realize by now that Mary is missing most of her marbles.) She’s having surgery this morning for the hip. With any luck to speak of, she will expire on the operating table. If not that, I hope pneumonia steps in. (She has absolutely no quality of life now because of the pain and dementia; she’ll have even less if she survives this.)

Since I am at the opposite end of the spectrum, I know that my caretaking days will eventually end. You guys who are caretaking your physically and/or mentally handicapped children are serving out an indefinite sentence. Rapid and Ang, I wish both of you the best.

I heard an interesting interview on the radio a week or so back with a doctor who’d written a book about the healthcare industry.  He basically argued that the medical profession as a whole makes more mistakes then most people would think, but it is somehow systematically organised to constantly reassure the public about the wonders of modern medicine.  He also kind of argued that the best thing you can do, if you or a family member has a serious illness, is to take control of the process - learn all you can about the condition, seek 2nd opinions, keep an open mind, and so on.

He more or less said that there’s a strange hierarchy in the doctor/patient relationship.  The doctors have all the expertise, but at the end of the day, they work for you, so you need to assert yourself and keep control of the overall process.

I think that the “public reassurance” thing might be less a program of it’s own, and more a by-product of trying not to get sued for making mistakes. All too often, a doctor is seen almost as much as an ATM as a bringer of health. With the malpractice suits, for human error rather than true malpractice, doctors are terrified of being sued. Not only would a successful suit mean a strike on their professional honor/record, but it would drive their malpractice insurance to nigh-unpayable rates. Hell, a big part of why the healthcare system is so messed up is because of lawsuits.

Course, this isn’t really news to most here.