One Reason for Healthcare Reform

One Face of Cancer
Originally uploaded by the Rested TravelerHer name was Freda and she should have been 77 years young today, but Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma took her from me in 2007. I miss her dearly and not a single day passes still that I don't want to see her and talk to her.

The irony is that she realistically should still be here today. I should have been able to pick up the phone and call her to wish her a happy birthday or (better yet) drive to Florida to visit her and hug her and kiss her forehead and wish her one in person, myself.

The reality is that I no longer have that option because her diagnosis came too late and her disease was far too advanced to be treated. It's not for lack of effort on her part. She did everything as a patient that one could expect to have to do. She went over and over and over to her doctor, a physician that had been assigned to her by a diversified practice. He sent her for one test or another (X-rays, blood tests, etc.)...nothing concluded anything.

During her last days, my mother confessed to me that she felt as though she had gone so often that her own doctor probably viewed her as a nuisance and didn't give her symptoms any credibility. Afer her death, I found time in my grief to research her doctor and learned that he was a pediatrician that had been assigned to treat a geriatric patient. Why? I don't know, but I do strongly suspect that he would not have recognized a case of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma had it inflicted him.

Mom told me (and anybody that would listen) that she was literally to the point that she didn't want to bother her doctor any more and was hesitant to seek another opinion because of all of the paperwork and hassle that would be required, not to mention the additional expense and hassle in dealing with her insurance provider. She had already been symptomatic for the better part of two years and had dealt with numerous problems in getting insurance to pay for one test or another....and she had essentially given up hope that any diagnosis would be made and was resigned to just continue to "deal with it" rather than continue to jump through hoops only to reach the same conclusions (i.e. "we have no idea what's wrong with you.")

This is unfortunate, too. You see, my mother's symptoms were literally classic textbook symptoms of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma: chest pain, fever, night sweats, severe weight loss, fatigue and exhaustion, loss of appetite (nothing tasted right to her), red patches on her arms and legs, and dry and itchy legs and feet. The only obvious symptom that was missing was swollen lymph nodes (which were later found).

All she really needed was to be placed into the hands of the right physician, something that finally happened near the end of February, 2007. By the beginning of March, she had finally been diagnosed and had been told she had perhaps six weeks to live and was placed into Hospice care. By the end of the first week of April, she was gone.

People can complain about reform of our healthcare system. It's their right. The truth is, in my humble opinion, that it has been flawed for many years and an overhaul of how things are done is long overdue. I'm not expecting miracles, but I am hopeful that some cost savings and efficiencies can be gained with some technology efforts...and also anticipating a day that getting treatment from the appropriate physician for the appropriate problem won't be such a hassle...and a day that switching physicians or seeking subject matter expertise for any reason will be virtually seamless and uneventful to the patient.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I miss you dearly.