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Don't you get a second or even third opinion before consenting to surgeries? I would. Weigh what one provider tells you against another. If you are dealing with well qualified providers there will be some commonalities in what they tell you. If someone doesn't trust some doctor's demonstrated experience and expertise (even if they're considered top in their field), why would they trust what they say about surgical risk?
Also remind yourself that a specialist who has performed that procedure dozens if not 100 times before probably knows more about the incidence of complications better than their patients. They've seen the outcomes both positive and negative. Unfortunately, a doctor has to work on patients...ALL of whom are individuals. No two individuals are identical. There will always be some degree of the unknown. A 2 year old with stage 4 cancer? That specific procedure under those circumstances may not have been done too often. Obviously a lot of unknowns there! No one may have been able to predict every outcome.
I also remind myself that media (like MSN) is in the business of telling stories that trigger reactions in their readers: outrage, pity, fear, and yes, joy. That means they're writing about something notable, not a nothingburger. All the ordinary surgical procedures and the surgeons who perform them day after day without complications aren't being written about. You know what they say about news, right? No news tends to be GOOD news!
Makes sense to me! However, I can't speak about MSN because I don't waste my time there and would not take their advice for anything.
Also, not every patient survives surgery, sad but true.
Boy LongevitySeeker, you sure know an awful lot about someone's health issue, and details about them, and even details about what their doctor told them, by way of a conversation with the man's wife. And yet - among all those details, you just coincidentally don't know what kind of doctor it was?
I'll just choose not to believe your story, at all. You have no credibility, and you come with a loaded agenda.
So ,you go to a cardiologist FIRST if you suspect you have cardiovascular issues. He or she makes a diagnosis and then can refer the patient to a cardiothoracic surgeon IF he decides bypass surgery is needed. So, just as I said, it was the cardiologist who made the decision that a bypass was needed. And it's the cardiologist, just as I suggested, who could have decided to skip the bypass in favor of recommending dietary measures.
Last edited by LongevitySeeker; 04-16-2022 at 09:32 AM..
(Knock on wood) - heart disease is not on my radar currently, but I ought to get informed about it. Where to begin? This book will be a super good frame. From the description on Thriftbooks, it sounds like the recommendations are benign to adopt.
Hopefully, walking my dog 2 hrs/day will suffice for the exercise part. I'm not prepared to carve out the time and inconvenience of going to gym, lol!
You're welcome! Heart disease is not on my radar either, but I have some good books written by doctors who recommend various diets to control and/or reverse atherosclerosis. But the one I recommended was my favorite because it's an easy diet that almost anyone can follow.
Doctors all have different ways of looking at things.
One told me I had the choice of a second surgery (just days after a big operation) to clear out a collection of fluid, or to get drains, which might have to stay for several days. I opted for the drains; after a month, I said I'd rather have surgery, but that was no longer an option, and they said I might have the drains permanently. They finally cleared up after 4-1/2 MONTHS.
A couple of years later, a different surgeon told me he wouldn't recommend surgery for a similar problem because it was too close to my spine.
My PCP interpreted that as, "Good news, you don't have to have surgery!"
I still have the problem, though, which I assume is related to the earlier fluid collection. That's another thing; no doctor will say it's another doctor's fault.
Thing is, they're all telling the truth from their own experience or from what is most common. If 80% of patients respond well, that means that 20% don't. But they don't mention that part.
Thing is, they're all telling the truth from their own experience or from what is most common. If 80% of patients respond well, that means that 20% don't. But they don't mention that part.
"They" don't? Great attempt to broad brush every MD! Thinking back to the more serious medical conditions I've needed treatment for over the past 40 years (when I started making these decisions for myself) I can't recall a single MD who didn't discuss good/bad outcome percentages with me. However, if someone doesn't even ask questions about such things in the first place...
First of all, the article itself stated that the 2 yr old had stage 4 liver cancer (the most advanced stage). What the parents say that the doctor said, and what the doctor actually said, are probably two very different things.
The family is understandably looking for someone to blame for their terminally ill child's death. The doctor and hospital cannot release any information, due to HIPAA regulations. But in court (if it's not thrown out), the truth will come out and the family will likely lose the case.
That is not to say that I have frequently seen patients classified by the hospital and by physicians as needing a higher level of care than that warranted, in order to generate revenue.
It does seem odd, however, that a 2 yr old with cancer wouldn't have been referred to a pediatric hospital with a large oncology department.
"They" don't? Great attempt to broad brush every MD! Thinking back to the more serious medical conditions I've needed treatment for over the past 40 years (when I started making these decisions for myself) I can't recall a single MD who didn't discuss good/bad outcome percentages with me. However, if someone doesn't even ask questions about such things in the first place...
It's not easy for the average person to come up with intelligent questions when they don't know anything about it. Now that you mentioned "good/bad outcome percentages" it seems like an easy question to think of. Why don't they have a pamphlet that explains all of that in advance?
I remember when I was getting ready for cataract surgery, they did provide information about all the things that could go wrong, and I was amazed. And then I had to sign away my right to sue them if something went wrong. The only remedy would be arbitration.
I remember asking the doctor if he had removed many cataracts and he said something like 10,000. But he was heading for the door when I asked and there was no time for a follow up question. Perhaps if he wasn't in such a rush I would have thought to ask what percentage of them were successful.
I remember when I was about 8 or 9 years old my parents told me I should have my tonsils removed because it was being recommended for ALL children as a precaution. So I felt like I really didn't have any choice and I complied. It was a horrible experience with the ether they gave me. It made me feel like my whole body was vibrating like crazy. Did I breathe in too much of it? I don't know.
My parents didn't think to ask anyone why I should need my tonsils removed when no one else in the family did. Not my grandparents, not my parents, not my brothers and sisters. not my aunts and uncles, and not any of my cousins. What were the odds that I would get tonsillitis? One in a thousand? What were the odds that I would be harmed by the operation? Nope, no one asked any questions.
Now when I look back on it, I think it was just a scheme to bring in more revenue. They no longer recommend that all children have their tonsils removed.
Thing is, they're all telling the truth from their own experience or from what is most common. If 80% of patients respond well, that means that 20% don't. But they don't mention that part.
Why would they need to mention that 20% don't "respond well" to treatment, if they already told you that 80% do "respond well" to it? The doctor is assuming you're of at least modest intelligence, and can do basic math (80% + 20% = 100%).
It's not easy for the average person to come up with intelligent questions when they don't know anything about it. Now that you mentioned "good/bad outcome percentages" it seems like an easy question to think of. Why don't they have a pamphlet that explains all of that in advance?
I remember when I was getting ready for cataract surgery, they did provide information about all the things that could go wrong, and I was amazed. And then I had to sign away my right to sue them if something went wrong. The only remedy would be arbitration.
I remember asking the doctor if he had removed many cataracts and he said something like 10,000. But he was heading for the door when I asked and there was no time for a follow up question. Perhaps if he wasn't in such a rush I would have thought to ask what percentage of them were successful.
I remember when I was about 8 or 9 years old my parents told me I should have my tonsils removed because it was being recommended for ALL children as a precaution. So I felt like I really didn't have any choice and I complied. It was a horrible experience with the ether they gave me. It made me feel like my whole body was vibrating like crazy. Did I breathe in too much of it? I don't know.
My parents didn't think to ask anyone why I should need my tonsils removed when no one else in the family did. Not my grandparents, not my parents, not my brothers and sisters. not my aunts and uncles, and not any of my cousins. What were the odds that I would get tonsillitis? One in a thousand? What were the odds that I would be harmed by the operation? Nope, no one asked any questions.
Now when I look back on it, I think it was just a scheme to bring in more revenue. They no longer recommend that all children have their tonsils removed.
My goodness! I’m 75, and I know my pediatrician told my mother that taking out tonsils was no longer done preemptively. My mother had hers out in the 1920s. Taking out tonsils was more or less routine for a time. Not sure if it was considered a revenue generator. And ether? You were given ether? I am astonished.
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But he was heading for the door when I asked and there was no time for a follow up question. Perhaps if he wasn't in such a rush I would have thought to ask what percentage of them were successful.
