Dear Paw Paw:
I am an 86 year old widow. After our weekly canasta party, I started feeling short of breath. Thelma and Louise insisted I needed to see a doctor so they drove me to the emergency room. Once there the doctor and nurse asked me all kinds of questions. They said it was necessary to know about any illnesses I had. So I told them about the high blood pressure and diabetes. They did a lot of annoying tests on me. All I wanted to do was go home, watch TV and see that cute Walter Brennan on reruns of “The Real McCoy’s”. After a while the doctor came back and said my EKG and blood tests did not show any sign of a heart attack. But the doctor was worried and wanted me in the hospital for more tests. Hey, I might be old, but I am not stupid! If everything was ‘ok’, why did this doctor say I needed to be in the hospital for more tests? Are they crazy or just interested in running up my bill?
Ann Teek, Geezerville, Minnesota
Dear Antique:
The ghost of my dear wife, Maw Maw, visited me in my dreams last night and said that since you seem to be a sweet old lady, I need to be kind. So despite my strong urge to humiliate and insult you, I will be gentle. No your doctor is not crazy. Actually they are smart and being very careful. Your doctor does not want something bad to happen to you in the next few days, like a heart attack or even dying. Look sweetie britches even though your tests do not show a myocardial infarction (MI), you are at high risk. This is why they wanted you in the hospital for more tests.
In the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction 2 study (NRMI-2 for short) one third of patients with proven MI did not have any chest pain when they came to the hospital. Those people with an MI who are more likely to not have chest pain are: diabetics, women, people over 85 and those who are not of the white race. The most common non-chest pain symptom is shortness of breath. You certainly qualify as one at high risk.
These non-chest pain symptoms are often called angina equivalents. In other words, they should raise as much concern as chest pain. Some of these angina equivalents are: weakness, fatigue, cold sweats, syncope, confusion and dizziness. Actually the older you are, the more likely you are to present with an angina equivalent.
Also you may not realize it but nearly 7% of people with an MI have a normal EKG at first. So even though your initial tests are ‘ok’, your doctor is looking out for you by telling you to have more studies. Yes it is true, doctors love to do tests, but in this case they really are helpful.
They also are concerned you are having an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). In other words, symptoms from your heart, but no damage to the heart muscle yet. People with ACS are in danger and need further testing and treatment. Often they need to have a cardiac catheterization and have their blood vessels opened up (angioplasty).
These are the kind of things doctors worry about all the time. Sending someone home and then having them come back with an MI or having their family find them at home dead, is not what your doctor or nurse want. If you don’t think doctors and nurses worry about their patients you are mistaken. They worry all the time. It gives them sweats, high blood pressure, insomnia, ulcers and turns their hair white or even worse makes them bald.
If it doesn’t seem that your doctor worries or cares about you, I suggest you get their DNA tested to make sure they are human. Then again, maybe you should just find another doctor. After all caring about people is the first step in caring for people. And caring is what it means to be a doctor.
By the way, next time maybe you should get different drivers. These two seem a little ‘over the edge’ to me.
Paw Paw
I am an 86 year old widow. After our weekly canasta party, I started feeling short of breath. Thelma and Louise insisted I needed to see a doctor so they drove me to the emergency room. Once there the doctor and nurse asked me all kinds of questions. They said it was necessary to know about any illnesses I had. So I told them about the high blood pressure and diabetes. They did a lot of annoying tests on me. All I wanted to do was go home, watch TV and see that cute Walter Brennan on reruns of “The Real McCoy’s”. After a while the doctor came back and said my EKG and blood tests did not show any sign of a heart attack. But the doctor was worried and wanted me in the hospital for more tests. Hey, I might be old, but I am not stupid! If everything was ‘ok’, why did this doctor say I needed to be in the hospital for more tests? Are they crazy or just interested in running up my bill?
Ann Teek, Geezerville, Minnesota
Dear Antique:
The ghost of my dear wife, Maw Maw, visited me in my dreams last night and said that since you seem to be a sweet old lady, I need to be kind. So despite my strong urge to humiliate and insult you, I will be gentle. No your doctor is not crazy. Actually they are smart and being very careful. Your doctor does not want something bad to happen to you in the next few days, like a heart attack or even dying. Look sweetie britches even though your tests do not show a myocardial infarction (MI), you are at high risk. This is why they wanted you in the hospital for more tests.
In the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction 2 study (NRMI-2 for short) one third of patients with proven MI did not have any chest pain when they came to the hospital. Those people with an MI who are more likely to not have chest pain are: diabetics, women, people over 85 and those who are not of the white race. The most common non-chest pain symptom is shortness of breath. You certainly qualify as one at high risk.
These non-chest pain symptoms are often called angina equivalents. In other words, they should raise as much concern as chest pain. Some of these angina equivalents are: weakness, fatigue, cold sweats, syncope, confusion and dizziness. Actually the older you are, the more likely you are to present with an angina equivalent.
Also you may not realize it but nearly 7% of people with an MI have a normal EKG at first. So even though your initial tests are ‘ok’, your doctor is looking out for you by telling you to have more studies. Yes it is true, doctors love to do tests, but in this case they really are helpful.
They also are concerned you are having an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). In other words, symptoms from your heart, but no damage to the heart muscle yet. People with ACS are in danger and need further testing and treatment. Often they need to have a cardiac catheterization and have their blood vessels opened up (angioplasty).
These are the kind of things doctors worry about all the time. Sending someone home and then having them come back with an MI or having their family find them at home dead, is not what your doctor or nurse want. If you don’t think doctors and nurses worry about their patients you are mistaken. They worry all the time. It gives them sweats, high blood pressure, insomnia, ulcers and turns their hair white or even worse makes them bald.
If it doesn’t seem that your doctor worries or cares about you, I suggest you get their DNA tested to make sure they are human. Then again, maybe you should just find another doctor. After all caring about people is the first step in caring for people. And caring is what it means to be a doctor.
By the way, next time maybe you should get different drivers. These two seem a little ‘over the edge’ to me.
Paw Paw
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