Dear Denise,
People who don’t argue, complain, or otherwise make a ruckus get pushed through the healthcare system like cattle. If you don’t bitch and moan they don’t pursue your symptoms. I am going to a surgeon I found with a friend of my brother who has been dealing with a horrid infection for a YEAR. His doctors ignore him because he’s jolly, complacent, and clueless about his body. I’m going to throw a fit and fight for him. I have not even seen him for 2 years but he needs help! I’ve been a nurse over 45 years and saw what happens. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and your brother probably didn’t squeak at all. Many people trust doctors so much but they are just people and they don’t have time to spend with compliant patients.
I am so sorry it happened to your brother and I see the pain in all your loving poems.
It happened to my ex until he asked me to go to the wound clinic with him. He was the jolly guy that asked all the nurses how THEY were doing while his foot was rotting off. I threw a shit fit, got him into the hospital where he needed an amputation but died the night before from who knows for sure because they deemed him unworthy of an autopsy. A clot? Lack of oxygen?
All quiet, helpless and older people need advocates. Another nurse and I thought of starting a business where we attended appointments with people who needed help understanding their issues. The liability was ridiculous and would cost us a fortune for patients who would not be able to afford us.
Your brother was undoubtedly accidentally neglected.
I’m so sorry.
God bless you and your family as you grieve.
Love,
Klara