PEORIA, IL -- Here's a very interesting article by Dr. John Carroll that tells the inside story of what goes on in hospitals.
(Carroll will not like this comment, but I have read that most medical students also are not taught how to do abortions, though huge numbers of women have them.
(The answer to that may be do-it-yourself abortions, explained on the Web.)
Today I heard a story from a friend who recently took her sick baby to the OSF emergency department. She spent a half day there, only to be told that babies get sick and will get over it within a week or two.
He was checked out, she said, and doesn't have any visible infections, but he's been crying constantly and seems sick. He's at home now, still crying.
After reading Carroll's piece, it makes you wonder. This baby is on Medicaid. Low pay for the hospital.
My own experience, not at OSF, has been mixed. Doctors generally follow treatment guidelines, which may fit most people but not all.
Think of the bell curve -- those at either end may not fit the guidelines.
But don't take my word for it. Guidelines for rectal cancer have been studied at the University of Michigan and found wanting. "In this day and age of practicing medicine, particularly with cancer, physicians rely on these guidelines heavily. Our study suggests we need to be careful about that. The guidelines are of varying quality and they have varying recommendations. It’s not as easy as just viewing a guideline and following it,” says senior study author Sandra L. Wong, M.D., M.S., associate professor of surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School.
In my long lifetime, I found I have to research something then tell the doctor what I want. The docs usually comply, but not always. They are following guidelines which may or may not fit me. Or the baby.
-- Elaine Hopkins
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