General Medical issues thread

[suze2000]

A post-op/rehab doctor visited when we stopped by quickly yesterday afternoon, and assured both Mum and me that Mum wouldn't be sent home until she could safely manage by herself. I almost started crying, I guess it's been a low-level worry I've been blocking my conscious from thinking about. Hopefully, she'll be able to go home before we get back, but if she doesn't, I feel assured she'll be in good care.

I would suggest that this is unlikely until she's able to weight bear on that leg. This would be less of an issue if she hadn't broken her wrist. I was sent home with a knee scooter when I broke my leg so badly it needed surgery. That could work if she's up to it. It was a godsend for me. Turned out to be three months before I was allowed to walk on the leg. No way would I have managed with crutches for that length of time.
Anyway, I remember how hard it was, even with my husband around. Don't let her go home too soon. It was really tough. And I'm pretty tough.

 

[love_the_life]

The husband of a very good friend passed away last Saturday (I was on the way to a cruise so didn't hear till Tuesday). He just dropped dead in the kitchen - wonderful way for him to go but such a shock for her as she was standing next to him. He had recently been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia as well. At least he didn't end up in care not knowing who was who. A few months short of 88 years. Funeral next week.

 

[OZDUCK]

I am currently sitting in front of my computer doing a bit of R.I.C.E on my left knee. On a back street, coming down a slight slope, during our morning bike ride today a driver decided that the road rules didn't apply to him and proceeded to pull out just as I was about to turn a corner with the right of way. Naturally, I distrust all drivers when on my bike so I had been watching him carefully. I would have hit him in the passenger door if I hadn't slammed on my brakes but I ended up on my back on the road. My wife was a little further behind me and was ok. He drove off without a second look but the car behind him did nicely stop to see if I was ok. We rode on a few K's to loosen up the injuries and to get my nerve back.

I got a few scratches on my left arm and a slightly bigger one on my right calf from the pedals. My left knee hit the ground first and was a little cut but as I wear a elastic knee support this wasn't too bad. However, it was nicely bashed by the landing and is pretty sore now. But all things considered I ended up far less injured than I could have been.

 

[AnzacPaul]

Had my appendix out Tuesday night after appendicitis about 6 weeks ago. Was treated with antibiotics at the time, but still recommended for removal.

Doctor said it still had some inflammation, which would explain the minor pangs I've had here and there.

 

[RooFlyer]

Phoned and requested a bowel screen kit on 30 Sept. Advised 4-6 weeks delivery. Thought that was pretty hopeless so I saw my GP who gave me one across his desk. Did test, results & colonoscopy scheduled for early January. Had 'em before and this probably a false positive, like the last 2.

Got a letter mid November, dated 4 November from the screening program that I'm being invited to do a test and "in the next 4-6 weeks" I'll receive my test kit.

Idle day today, so I called then to see what was going on. Kit mailed out on 3 December, allow 2-4 weeks for delivery.

I expressed how hopeless this was and the agent encouraged me to provide feedback. I wasn't going to bother, but she really encouraged me - I reckon they get a lot of comments like mine.

 

[prozac]

Annual appointment with skin specialist yesterday after missing the past 3 due to more pressing matters. Had around 20 applications of liquid nitrogen to face and top of scalp where there are a multitude of open sores. I know, sounds horrible. Turns out these open sores are skin cancers so time to start wearing a hat. Follow-up appointment in Feb when I may be prescribed a cancer cream. Apparently it is something that works.
I look a picture.
It never stops.

 

[tgh]

Our gp is has a traditional freeze/cut process with skin cancers, swmbo has had hundreds done .
In spite of fair skin and a life in the sun I have had only a couple of bcc's cut out.. so far...
Efudix is amazing stuff if you can access it : I disposed of a very active cancer on a horses nose and have personally used it for suspect spots with great success. I guess its a bit of a trap as anything that keeps growing needs the chop asap and folks could become complacent.
I made sure the vet gave me a few repeats and now have enough to last forever…..

 

[ausfox]

Efudix can make the skin turn orange on the treated area makes for a good look when used on the face. It can be very effective but is not a panacea.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Annual appointment with skin specialist yesterday after missing the past 3 due to more pressing matters. Had around 20 applications of liquid nitrogen to face and top of scalp where there are a multitude of open sores. I know, sounds horrible. Turns out these open sores are skin cancers so time to start wearing a hat. Follow-up appointment in Feb when I may be prescribed a cancer cream. Apparently it is something that works.
I look a picture.
It never stops.

Aldara (Imiquimod) is also used. MrsTMA and I have used it for superficial BCCs. Worked very well.

 

[JohnK]

Wife's toes on both feet are numb.

Saw my doctors partner and he recommended buying looser fitting shoes. Did that and still the same.

Went to a medical centre Sunday night for second opinion. Doctor recommended doppler ultrasound so we chose right leg. Did that Thursday afternoon and as I'm going to Sydney today we were going back to medical centre on Monday night.

Wife got text a few hours later that results were available. Went to medical centre around 9:00pm and waited around 45 minutes. Doctor reads results and nothing found on ultrasound.

Now here's the funny part. Doctor said come back another day to see the referring doctor. I couldn't stop laughing.

"So what's next? Come back and see the other doctor.

"You're a doctor, what do we try next?" I don't know, come back and see other doctor.

"Surely you have an opinion on what's wrong?"

By now smoke is coming out of my ears. I can read the report. I need a doctor to tell me what we try next. This guy is useless. Am I harsh? I want to follow up.

 

[drron]

She needs a proper neurological examination. Insist on that. Doesn't initially need any tests but unfortunately neurological examinations are not performed well as if done properly they are time consuming.

 

[JohnK]

She needs a proper neurological examination. Insist on that. Doesn't initially need any tests but unfortunately neurological examinations are not performed well as if done properly they are time consuming.

Funny wife and I were just discussing this earlier today.

The first doctor checked wife's reflexes and feel from the knee down to the toes. She loses feeling at the ball of the foot which to me suggests metatarsalgia but I'm not a doctor. May need a scan of the foot.

In the mean time I give the ball of the foot a short massage each night. It does help a little.

By the way it's so difficult to find a decent doctor and most doctors in medical centres appear to be incompetent but I think doctors need to be of the highest standard.
 

 

[Quickstatus]

doctors need to be of the highest standard.

Thats impossible for all to be of the highest standard because it is impossible to be an expert in everything.
A good doctor is one who is not afraid to refer to someone better equipped to handle the current problem.

However a neurologist would be a good start. There are lots of medical conditions which causes feet to go numb. Too much to go into here.

I was going to give you a link to look up but I think better to get a referral to a physician such as a neurologist. Self diagnosis is surely going to lead down the wrong path especially in this situaton
In the meantime - check blood glucose, thyroid level, B12, liver and kidney blood tests, blood count.

I wouldn't want to be doing a full neuro exam myself on someone. Would rather send on to someone who does it for their bread and butter.

......

Efudix

Just a fancy marketing name for a very old drug called 5-Fluorouracil. or just 5FU. Been around for a long time 70-80 years or something like that. Used in intravenous chemo and blocks the production of DNA. Very powerful - supresses bone marrow. The "FU' is actually important because it can FU your body in many ways.

 

[JohnK]

Thats impossible for all to be of the highest standard because it is impossible to be an expert in everything.
A good doctor is one who is not afraid to refer to someone better equipped to handle the current problem.

However a neurologist would be a good start. There are lots of medical conditions which causes feet to go numb. Too much to go into here.

I was going to give you a link to look up but I think better to get a referral to a physician such as a neurologist. Self diagnosis is surely going to lead down the wrong path especially in this situaton
In the meantime - check blood glucose, thyroid level, B12, liver and kidney blood tests, blood count.

A good doctor has to exhibit some level of competency. I can read an ultrasound report and fully understand what it means when there's nothing wrong.

If you are a GP and I come to you for diagnosis/follow up and you tell me to see the other doctor shows me your incompetent and should not be practising.

All the things you mention above could take a long long time especially waiting for specialists, tests and regular travel to Thailand. My preference would be public system and that could make it even longer so I need to have some idea of what to do.

 

[Quickstatus]

You tell me to see the other doctor shows me your incompetent

Then in that case most of the GP and specialists in Australia are incompetent because we refer all the time.

Who did the Dr refer your wife to?
Yes somethings do take time. I understand you want an answer like yesterday, but medicine is often a process of elimination. Your wife's symptoms are relatively non specific which means it could be due to one of a variety of causes. Sometimes unfortunately there is no answer.

 

[tgh]

If you are a GP and I come to you for diagnosis/follow up and you tell me to see the other doctor shows me your incompetent and should not be practising.

I realise you are writing for effect but the above is dreadful garbage and hurtful to boot… smarten up….

 

[JohnK]

Then in that case most of the GP and specialists in Australia are incompetent because we refer all the time.

You are totally misunderstanding me and that's extremely unfair.

We went to a "doctor". He read the ultrasound report and advised us to come back and see the other GP. Why? Because he has a plan. I asked him what he thought of my wife's condition. He said come back and see the other GP. Not a referral to a specialist. A referral to another GP at the medical centre. Seriously?

Come on @Quickstatus. That is awful. He is a "doctor" and asking us to come back to see another GP. Why is he practising medicine in Australia?

Same goes for you @tgh. I did nothing wrong. My expectations are what anyone would expect in the same situation.

Now we need to ensure that anytime we go back to this medical centre we need to avoid this doctor as he is only going to refer us to another GP. Do you see my point? Still think I'm wrong?

Reminds me of going to the ER in Pattaya. The Junior doctors looked at my leg and scratched their heads. I told them cellulitis. They had puzzled look on their faces. They checked Google and happily agreed with me and started the antibiotic drip at my suggestion.

 

[CaptainCurtis]

I think JohnK means a GP told his wife to see another GP, which is a little bit suspicious. I am, of course, entirely on board with a referral to a specialist, but a recommendation to see another GP is a little strange to me.

Throughout my health issues of 2021/22, I ended up leaving my GP practice. There were 3 GPs there who I would consider my 'family' GP, having grown up in the area and them being my regular doctor. They thoroughly dropped the ball though. Didn't order troponins when things first started, no urgency, no follow-up of results etc. When I raised my concerns with them (at this point they still couldn't tell me what was wrong with me), they told me to not come back to their practice.

I've since found a new GP. The whole system is definitely more complicated than it needs to be. Finding a good GP is worth their weight in gold. I think it's particularly beneficial finding a single doctor, I am not a fan of the whole medical practice system of seeing whoever happens to be available on the day you show up.

 

[Quickstatus]

Doctor said come back another day to see the referring doctor.

JohnK means a GP told his wife to see another GP

@JohnK
Ive re-read your original post and subsequent..
This is what I think has happened.
Your wife saw Dr A initially who asked for a Doppler (which is looking for blood clots)
The results came back and

Went to medical centre around 9:00pm

Dr A was not on the roster at that time in the evening.
Dr B was on duty and he reported the Ultrasound and asked you to go back and see Dr A - the original "referring Dr"
That is where the problems start. It is the too may cooks scenario....
Why go to see Dr B when Dr A was involved in the first place?.

However, I can see your point - which is you now have a 2nd visit without progression in the diagnosis. And I can empathise because you feel you have wasted maybe 1hr in the evening for nothing - As you said you can read a report.

But - I would have gone back to see Dr A
Seeing Dr B or any other GP is pointless because Dr B was not involve in your wife's initial management

Having said that, Dr B should have done one of 2 things:
(a)- Repeat the consultation that Dr A did and refer appropriately, or read Dr A's notes and go from there
(b)- send you back to Dr A

I can see why Dr B asked you to see Dr A. One of the red flags in medicine is patients going from Dr to Dr. It is important to have continuity of care as per @CaptainCurtis 's insightful comment. Different Drs every time is not good medicine. I accept that Dr B could/should have done more.

The problem with medical centres - and this is not your fault @JohnK , is that often the Drs who are there in the evening are just locums filling in, and 9pm is often the wrong time to be sorting out potentially complex things in a GP practice where there is nothing seriously wrong that requires immediate attention.

This is a case of too many cooks... Your wife needs ONE GP.

Please @JohhK, we are not here to be difficult. We are really trying to help within the bounds of a forum. I did misread your original comment - and I'm sorry. i thought you saw the same Dr again who then asked you to see another Dr - which is why I asked:

Who did the Dr refer your wife to?

Your expectation that Drs should all be to the highest standards will never be a reality. If that were the case no Dr in their right mind would be working the 9pm shift. And to be honest 9pm medical centre Drs are there to troubleshoot acute issues. Don't get me wrong, thats not to say that the 9pm doctors cant be excellent. Good GPs can be hard to find but i seriously recommend finding one GP that you have a good relationship with.

 

[CaptainCurtis]

Changing topics slightly, has anyone ready Ben Bravery’s book, The Patient Doctor? I’m curious about how it has been received among the medical fraternity.