Pneumonia

 So the other day, when I wrote about vanilla pudding, I mentioned that I saw the best and worst doctors.   Today I’ll tell that tale.

At the time my primary care physician was Dr. H.  Dr. H had treated me for mono during my first year of law school, and more recently he’d gotten me through two bouts with bronchitis.  

When I fell sick, I thought I had bronchitis again.  I called Dr. H’s office.  His receptionist said, “Dr. H is about to leave for the day, but Dr. D is here. Do you want to see Dr. D?”

Dr. H was about to retire and planned to sell the practice to Dr. D.  I agreed to see Dr. D.

Dr. D examined me, told me “I think you have pneumonia,” and told me to go down the street to the hospital for a chest x-ray.

At the emergency room I was examined again, x-rays were taken, I was hooked up to an IV and a nebulizar.  I started to feel a bit better.

Dr. D walked into my room, said “I’m having you admitted,” and walked out again before I had a chance to ask a single question.  I had to ask the ER attending to explain everything to me.

The ER doctor told me that Dr. D had ordered a battery of cardiac tests.  Seems that my heart was racing when Dr. D examined me …

Turns out my heart was racing because I was dehydrated.  As soon as I was hooked up to the IV and got some fluids, my heart rate returned to normal.  But I was subjected to all those cardiac tests nevertheless.

Yeah, after I left the hospital I found a new primary care physician.  So did most of Dr. H’s  patients.

But I also met two absolutely wonderful doctors.  

First was a pulmonologist.  I had pneumonia, my lungs were full of fluid.  I needed a specialist. He ran a number of tests…and found something.  None of the tests could definitively show what that something was.  He told me, “It looks like a pulmonary embolism, but I don’t think it is.  I can treat you with a blood thinner for six months, or we can do an angiogram of your lungs and know exactly what’s going on. I don’t think it’s a pulmonary embolism, but you’re the one who has to decide on which treatment you want.”  (Spoiler, it was not a pulmonary embolism.)

The doctor who performed the angiogram (sorry, I don’t know what his specialty is) actually made me laugh.  He explained the procedure in minute detail, told me exactly what to expect.  He was wonderful.  

And then he said, “How did I do on informed consent, counselor?”

He actually read my file!  Not just the medical portion of my chart, but the entire file!  I was impressed.

And yes, he tells every patient all the details of a procedure, an informed patient is a good thing.

Turns out that what the doctors had seen were two blood vessels that twisted around each other, totally benign, needing no treatment whatsoever.

The lessons from today’s story:  Don’t be afraid to speak up.  Insist on a doctor who explains things and gives you options.  Be an active participant in your own care.