Wednesday, February 27th, 2013...10:30 pm
Week One - Navigating the Medical System
I spent the first week in a massive cast (up to the top of my thigh) with my leg elevated above the level of my heart as per the ER admitting physician’s instructions. Within the first 24hrs I had discovered this site and already learned a great deal about ATR (Thank you Dennis!). As a result, I entered the ER with many questions and concerns. Unfortunately, these weren’t very well received. I was advised that I was in good hands and to just trust whatever doctors told me to do. A little ironic given that the following week, when I finally saw the orthopedic surgeon, his assistant did a double take when she saw the cast I’d been in for over a week and said, (I quote), “This is totally unacceptable!” Also worth noting, I had been told that this specialist had originally refused my GP’s referral the Friday my cast was put on and only agreed to see me because “my GP wouldn’t stop harrassing them” (this time quoting the specialists’ receptionist). If we hadn’t been so persistent, I could have been in that “unacceptable” cast for quite some time…
Lesson learned - It’s no joke that sometimes you need an advocate (or to be your own) just to get a specialist’s ear and to ensure that you’re getting the necessary care toward an optimal recovery.
3 Comments
February 28th, 2013 at 7:36 am
Sounds like you know what your doing being your own advocate. Keep it up, because I’m sure there will be other instances of this happening throughout your recovery process. I wish I had heeded this advice earlier on so I didn”t have such a long delay between treatment and injury (4.5 months). Now I fighting the uphill battle of atrophy. Good luck!
February 28th, 2013 at 6:27 pm
A cheer for great GPs!! And not just in Canada, either. I’ve got a “keeper” here in Toronto, too. Mind you, my OS-specialist was great, too — and I skipped the ER for my two ATRs. I’ve checked into the ER once or twice after an open-heart surgery, though, and they’ve been wonderful.
But in ANY medical system, it turns out that around half of the doctors finished Med School in the bottom half of their class. . .
February 28th, 2013 at 11:27 pm
Yes, big props to great GPs, specialists, nurses, everyone out there in the health profession that goes the extra mile
So sorry to hear about your delay in care ‘kkirk’, and glad to hear you’ve had such positive experiences ‘normofthenorth’.
I think it’s definitely important to go in with an open mind and respect another person’s professional autonomy, I just wanted folks out there to know that if there’s that deep gut feeling that you need a second opinion, it never hurts to ask…
Leave a Reply