What's a doc to do - The Times They Are A-Changing

Free Republic ^ | August 18, 2012 | astounded

[don-o]

My wife of 32 years has been a general surgeon in private practice since 1985. She came up thought the Old Boys Network, when female surgeons were few. We went through graduate school and residency on the south side of Chicago for 5 years, giving up our young married life to a commitment to people. We lived in a one bedroom 800 square foot apartment behind Michael Reese Hospital, on 31st and King Drive, as minority white folks, sacrificing all for 80-120 hour workweeks (before PC got in the way and now the puss* surgical residents have limited hours).

In private practice, she works typically 12-14 hour days, 6 days per week. We had no government loans, supported ourselves, and have saved diligently and progressed. Now, Obama is trying to take it all away. Well, guess what? She will retire, in her last prime years, rather than become a clerk to the leftist entitlement mentality. We well remember the night Obama made those statements on national TV about greedy doctors. I cannot tell you all politely about my white-hot rage and hatred toward Obama and his wife. I so despise them that I cannot stand the sound of his lispy, lilting cadence, I cannot tolerate the sight of his sneering, awful arrogance, his ugly, awful fraud of a spouse.

I cannot tolerate “Americans’ who support Obama, and have cut ties to family and friends who do. I pray we here, the Tea Party, and thinking Americans can rid us of this plague, this malignancy, this utter fraud of Affirmative Action, from OUR White House.

32 posted on Saturday, August 18, 2012 11:48:24 AM by astounded (Barack Obama is a clear and present danger to the USA)

[NoGrayZone]

I work for an endodontist (root canal specialist) and the FDA has recently been cracking down on pain meds, because of the abuse.

We used to give out Vicoden ES like it was candy (we all knew the druggies vs. the people who really needed them).

We rarely give it out anymore. All doctors were given their marching orders.....NO MORE PAIN MEDS.

[astounded]

...”They get less experience and you want that experience in the OR in the middle of the night with trauma or an acute abdomen.”...

Exactly. I’m only sitting here now, on FR, because said wife was called back in after being at the hospital since 6:30 this morning (she is on call all this weekend). I put lunch in front of her at about 1:30pm, she ate it in 5 minutes while talking to an OR nurse who was setting up, and went back. She will be doing a bowel resection all afternoon (free air), and likely will field many calls tonight as she is on ER call too. That’s when you get all the stars of the Knife and Gun Club, who are typically dirtballs and also don’t generally pay. At Reese, I had to take fresh clothes to her because she was covered with blood from a dirtball who was shot and needed his chest cracked in the trauma center. Not fun....

Its’ sort of like, “lather, rinse, repeat” around here sometimes. But, I’ve grown accustomed to it.

[DuncanWaring]

Rather than having one intern working 120 hours per week, wouldn’t it make more sense to have two interns working 60 hours per week each?

The rate of iatrogenic complications suggests there are a lot of doctors making mistakes they might not be making if they were wide-awake.

[astounded]

...”NO MORE PAIN MEDS”....

This is someting new, too. Do you know how many Americans are driving around in a Vicodin- or Oxycontin-induced fog these days? Drug seekers are rampant, and it’s epidemic in states like Florida.

[DoughtyOne]

I certainly identify with those comments, whether a physician or not.

All of us have cause to be repulsed by this ignorant pretender.

I honestly remain somewhat skeptical our own team is serious.  Comments about not getting a balanced budget until 2040, just leave m scratching my head.

I wish we had a person who truly believed in Conservatism, someone I could really get behind, someone who hadn't voted in the affirmative to automatically cut our military, if something we haven't been able to do in over a decad didn't come to pass first.

We're in one mell of a hess here.

Come on Freepers, if you haven't already, pencil yourself in.  Lets get this FReepathon over with.

[LibWhacker]

In private practice, she works typically 12-14 hour days, 6 days per week.

She has her own practice, good. As long as she understands she wasn't the one that built that. j/k!!!

[greeneyes]

How long does vicoden last? I have a few pills leftover, so thought I would save them for a really need it time.

[astounded]

“As a patient, I can only hope that not all good doctors show Obama they hate him by quitting the profession.”

Really? You think good doctors are quitting because they “hate” Obama? I personally loathe everything about Barack Obama. I submit most doctors hate what he is doing to the medical profession in the USA, and taht is why they ar quitting. It’s becoming untenable.

[astounded]

“How do countries with socialized medicine seem to make it work?”

Most don’t. Germany is an exception. The UK NHS is abysmal, populated by non-UK physicians from third-rate medical schools, many, many muslims. It’s a mess.

[pterional]

American medicine was compromised with the start of medicare and has been deteriorating since the government has gotten between the patient and doctor. After implementing Obama care it will be intolerable for those who have seen better days.

What can be outsource is being done at an alarming rate. Radiologist are no longer needed to read films that can be sent to Australia or India. The rest of medicine is being in-source by bring large numbers of foreign medical grads (FMG) or training people to do the work that was once done by a physician. Your future care provider will be a Nurse, physician assistant or a FMG.

The other alarming trend is electronic medical record. This has been spun as a positive to the public allowing physicians in another locations to have your records but in my opinion this is another way Government will control your physician and you. The software tracks every page of information that your physicians views the date and time they viewed the information and they will know every aspect of your life ( physical and mental health) and will use this information for data mining. This is big brother on steroids. The software companies that have developed the electronic medical record are in bed with the government and they are getting wealthy.

My advise to older physicians is work and save as long as you can mentally bear it. There is a breaking point when the aggravation of Government intervention, control and taxation (> 75%) will make medicine a bad job. The new doctors, FMGs and other care providers will have never known what it feels like to have public respect, independence, and financial reward for hard work and delayed gratification.

[grumpygresh]

They don’t work. The Left always quotes life expectancy which is the primary outcome measure for organizations like the UN. Life expectancy is primarily determined by many factors other than the health care system (definition of viability at birth, car accidents, wars, violent crime, education, cultural factors, obesity etc.) When one measures survival rates for cancer and heart disease, the US is number one. The US also rates number one in terms of access (length of time to see primary or specialist), and in fact access for those on Medicare and Medicaid is much better than in the socialized countries.
Tell your friend that we will trade Detroit for Munich.

[astounded]

I told her that.....LOL. She and her two partners use that line all the time.

[NoGrayZone]

"Rather than having one intern working 120 hours per week, wouldn’t it make more sense to have two interns working 60 hours per week each?"

From personal experience, NO. That intern saved my life.

In regards to your statement "The rate of iatrogenic complications suggests there are a lot of doctors making mistakes they might not be making if they were wide-awake."

No. I do not believe that is the cause. The cause is doctors, having to see more patients due to decreased prices and ambulance chasing attorneys....thanks medicaid, government and all illegals!

There are ALWAYS complications that can occur in surgery, as well as being put under.

Back then, they didn't have the technology they have now. Due to my blood tests, my count was lowering. The 2nd doctor, who performed the surgery, said it could be due to the poison from the cyst, or I was bleeding internally. They would have to cut me open to determine which it was.

I consented to the exploratory surgery, thank the good Lord!

[PA Engineer]

That’s very interesting, thank you! I know my wife has patients constantly asking her what Obamacare will do to medicine. She has a lot of little old people she has been caring for, in some cases, over two decades. They are begging her not to retire, what will they do? You see, she still takes Medicare patients, but many younger practices don’t. And, if we don’t rid ourselves of Obama and repeal Obamacare, seniors will be out of luck. There will be months-long waits, Medicare payment to doctors and hospitals will be ratcheted down, and docs will not be able to take on new patients on Medicare and maintain their practices. This is a critical situation, the survival of American medicine - the best bar none in the world - depends on freeing the USA from Obama and the left.

Everything you wrote my Wife is experiencing. Many of her patients complain about the waits now without putting two and two together. Many have figured out that reimbursement cuts over the last couple of decades have brought us to where we are today and realize the horror of obamacare. If the waits are six months now, they may very well be over a year soon. This is the insidiousness of the system. Everyone will have "health coverage" of some sort, but will not have health care.

In my Wife's specialty a wait of a year or more will result in delayed treatment and diagnosis. When diagnosis and treatment are delayed, the brain continues to degenerate resulting in much poorer short and longterm outcomes. Further, after the initial diagnosis there is a period of at least a year of intensive followup visits before moving into the disease maintenance stage. I cannot overemphasize how evil these "health care" changes are. It is a perversion of health care into death care.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“What ‘possessed’ mitt/GOP for MrRomneyCare to be the one to run against MrObamaCare? “

Question of the year. But here we are.

[NoGrayZone]

We can spot them immediately. We had one patient, who recently died at a young age, because of an overdose.

He was in rehab quite a few times. I now wonder if they had cracked down on pains meds earlier, if he would still be alive today.

It’s epidemic here in NY as well. As are all the pills....Xanax, Ambien, etc. There was a HUGE crackdown here in my town on the pill dealers.

[don-o]

But here we are.

And there are hundreds of threads to discuss that.

[seekthetruth]

It's time for people need to sit up; rub their eyes and get a cup of coffee and clear their head. Four more years of this guy is just not an option.

You are so right! Romney/Ryan IS the ONLY choice in November!

[steve86]

At first I thought the article was talking about Mrs. Don-o which really threw me for a loop. Wife of 32 years.

[NoGrayZone]

Even though they have an expiration date, they last longer than stated.

Exactly how long, I do not know. But I do know some who keep them, as well as muscle relaxers, for years, and they still work. I would keep them, and if you do need one, take it. You will know if it still works or not.