Professionalism expected

No matter why we end up in a medical facility we expect professionalism in return as we bare our bodies and medical secrets to receive care. We expect zipped lips and snicker free countenances.

I know I have been a moron at times when really stressed and at an appointment. I am sure there have been those who struggle for a straight face in front of me. And then I hope they store those moments in the memories of ridiculous patients and not share them....

I also know my doctors talk about me. This I do not mind. I like it when my doctors compare notes on me because my ailments are overlapping and due to some of them, and toss in a few medical allergies and sensitivities, I am not eligible for other treatments and doctors are forced to be creative in my care at times.

However at all times, I expect professionalism. I expect to be treated as a human being with respect as any other human being.

Then I hear these stories. A study done on hospitalists in Chicago showing unprofessional behavior and 2/3s were guilty of it. Did you know that every time a doctor orders a test as urgent when it isn't, that is unprofessional? Everyone needs to wait their turn except when it is truly urgent. This is a note to all who have benefited from jumping line.... If all tests were urgent, none would be.

The unprofessional behaviors fell into four larger categories, which accounted for 76% of survey variance:

• Making fun of others
• Learning environment (for example, texting during conferences or not correcting a patient who mistakes a student for a doctor)
• Workload management (for example, celebrating a blocked admission or coming to work sick)
• Time pressure (for example, backing up a resident's note without being confident about the content of the documentation)

We can say 'hmpf that didn't happen to me'.... 'I am not a hospitalist I don't need to worry'.

But what if it happened to you, they made fun of you? What about this story of this woman who worked at the hospital and went in for surgery. Look what happened to her while she was sedated.

They painted a mustache on her and added  yellow tears down her face. If that was me, I would actually file a lawsuit. Something I have never done before.

Professionalism is one of the most important things we expect from our doctors. Its right up there with a good bedside manner and a knowledge of your ailments.

Do I have to be an adult all the time?

Do you remember as a child when there was a monster in the closet? You could close your eyes very tightly and hide under the blankets and it would go away.

Wouldn't it be nice if it worked as an adult. Sometimes I wish I could just walk away from it all - like a vacation from all my health issues. The problem with health issues is they go on vacation with you. How annoying.

Sometimes I wish i could be a child and climb a tree, hanging up side down. Or run and jump into the pool - the jumping is the hard part. (Also being a chicken about cold water doesn't help.)  Or being double dared to ride your bike down the hill, no hands. Or chasing the boys out of the no boys allowed club (we had one).

But I digress. I need a vacation from ailments too. Not just a tropical beach. But a healthy body on a tropical beach. Or a hike in the mountains where I can go a decent distance, and even carry a pack. Skip that, I'll have a sherpa to carry the heavy stuff but I still want to walk.

As part of having the ailments, they follow you everywhere. They lurk in the background in that little corner of your brain saying 'whats that next test or visit going to show'? Its really hard to turn that part of your brain off. And most of them aren't going away, ever.

So the monster lives in the closet in your brain that you can squish your eyes shut and hide under the covers from it. Damn.

I don't want to be an adult all the time. It takes all the fun out of everything. Maybe I need a second childhood.

An update on me

Its a blog about me so every so often I write about me. So if you are expecting something profound about the state of the world or cancer research, you can stop reading now.

I had a fun summer with lots of vacation time. In fact my job finds amusement in how much time off I have been taking. It has been enjoyable but exhausting. I am now at the point of recovering from fun.

I took a six week doctor appointment hiatus and now am back to the grind. I had four this week. I saw the dermatologist who trimmed a thingy on my face that didn't look suspect but had bled this summer for a while. She burned a wart (icky poo) on my toe which left me with a giant blood blister (triple icky poo) on my toe so I couldn't wear shoes.

I saw my periodontist and my teeth are fine but I need to floss more - now there is a surprise.

I saw my rheumatologist and there is some progression in RA in my feet. She prescribed using metatarsal pads in my shoes (which is hard when you are reduced to sandals because of the triple icky blood blister). She also gave me an NSAID cream for the inflammation in my feet to use twice a day.

Because it is me, guess how had a reaction to lotion on my feet? (Only I would have a reaction to something like that because I am special.) I started using it Tuesday night. Then I started not getting enough sleep. Last night I put it on my feeet and was trying to get to sleep when I realized by heart was racing, my body felt all antsy. On the advice of my husband (sometimes I listen to him to make him think I always listen to him), I took a shower and scrubbed my feet and got back in bed.

I slept for 12 hours after that. My husband says he will remind me of that all day - personally I think he is jealous that I got so much sleep and he probably woke up at 6 like he always does. But I feel much better today and think I will skip that cream until Monday when I can call my doctor.

My blood work had some issues that are under advisement at this time - this means wait and see and take more blood in a couple of months. No tumor markers or anything but other things which could indicate things. This means I am ignoring them until I learn more after the next rounds of test results.

I am also busy getting ready for some craft fairs with my knitting this fall. The cat turns 19 - he may need a birthday party. My husband is one of those many furloughed government workers so we are not spending money on anything. We did want to go to the beach today with our parking pass but I overslept.

My garden is winding down but my dahlias is still blooming. That is not a dahlia in the picture but another flower that was blooming last week.

See it was a blog post about me but I am fine mostly and tomorrow I'll try to be more profound.

I am annoyed about pink already

On day 4 of Pinktober, the month formerly known as October, and I am already annoyed by pinkification. Boston's Museum of Fine Arts was lit up pink last night. The NFL has already made an announcement on their support of pinkification. I get way too many emails and FB posts about pink things.

Damn. I'll go live under a rock for the rest of this month. It is so annoying!

The gap in breast cancer research

There is a growing gap in breast cancer research. Get past all the pink awareness bullshit and look at research that is currently going on. There has been lots of progress in the past four or five years where scientists are beginning to understand the complexities and unpick some reasons on how cancer cells work divide and spread. But they also realize the most important research gap is to find out how cancer progresses.

They identified 10 key gaps that need be plugged:

• better understanding of genetic factors
• pinpointing sustainable lifestyle changes
• targeted breast screening to those who will most benefit
• understanding how breast cancers grow and spread
• understanding how cancer cells with different characteristics form within a tumour
• tests to measure how well patients will respond to chemotherapy or radiotherapy
• improving drug regimens
• developing better imaging techniques
• practical support
• tissue donation and analysis

I completely support a change in direction in research to learn how cancer progresses instead of just focusing on the cause or treatment of it.

As this has been identified now, I hope to see changes in this direction in the future.

Do you want an eulogy or a resume?

This is an interesting concept and I read an article on Huffington Post about it. A friend of mine died a few years back from her asthma. She was single and not close to her family. Her funeral was well attended but one of the few speakers was her boss at her job.

We thought that was weird. He did talk about her at her job and a long lost love. But it was a resume.

I don't want my eulogy to talk about my life in marketing and non profit work. I don't want my eulogy to be about living with my medical history (where they always have to be sure). I do want my eulogy to be about meaningful things I have done - lots of time outdoors, skiing, ice skating, hiking, camping, reading, unable to sing a note, knitting, consignment stores, travel, organic vegetables - and the people who have meant a lot to me - husband, family, and friends.

I think I need to write it myself. Damn. Its a good thing I plan on being here for a long time so I have plenty of time to write it. What about you?

Accountability

Accountability means the state of being accountable, liable, answerable. Accountable means being able to explain. That is what I am asking for.

The people who brought us pinkness, a/k/a Komen for the Cure, claim they are out for the cure of breast cancer. They spend 18% of what they take in on research. That's it. The rest is on pinkness.

Twenty two years ago they started handing out pink ribbons to help find the cure for breast cancer. In that time they have painted the world pink, and introduced us to pinkwashing and pinkification. There is no cure, treatments are still horrible. Mortality rates are unchanged. And they have sued other organizations for using the words 'for the cure'.

A little accountability is needed here to explain what they are really doing. They are not for the cure. They are selling pink.

On this October 1, as the landscape slowly turns pink, make an accountable decision with your donations. Do not paint the world pink, make sure your money is going to something other than just pink paint.