Doctors Getting thing wrong

It was only the persistence of his GP that led to FiL's Parkinson's being diagnosed.

We had wondered why the doctor insisted on seeing him every month when his only known medical problem was high blood pressure. When FiL collapsed in street, conveniently close to surgery, he was home with a full diagnosis within hours. His GP said he knew something was wrong with him and had a pretty good idea what it was but whenever he asked FiL how he was he always replied that he was fine. So he decided to see him every month until something was said. FiL later said that he was so afraid that he had cancer that he kept just saying he felt fine when he didn't!!!!!!!

He was a lovely man but always tried to avoid facing up to the unpleasant things in life.

Having finally got a diagnosis and successful treatment for DH our GP apologised to me for nearly killing him. I said "Don't apologise you were the only one who believed there was something wrong!"

*Soutra" my MiL had two sets of symptoms - feeling funny or being uncomfortable. These covered the whole range of her ailments (which was quite extensive) Couple that with her mania for telling the doctor what she thought he wanted to hear and he had no chance.

Had to go back 3 times to convince the Dr that I had breast cancer. She finally rang me at work to suggest that perhaps I needed further investigation. After that the treatment was brilliant,

Nowadays my GP seems to ask me what I think is wrong with me and what I think the treatment ought to be. At least if I misdiagnose myself I cannot sue him for misdiagnosis!

I also think that we mustn't expect doctors to be psychic - we need to tell them exactly how and what we are feeling, not just as an elderly lady in our village said to her doctor "I had one of my heads" (!) It turned out after some time that she was showing symptoms of vascular dementia but I do wonder what her GP made of her description!

I remember insisting that a patient was admitted with appendicitis.
The presenting symptom was knee pain
The registrar was very reluctant, but I was right. It was a retro caecal appendix and a rare presentation.
Rely very pleased with myself.

Many years ago when I was first married I went to A&E with terrible pains in my shoulder. The doctor I saw diagnosedf a kidney infection!!! I wasn't convinced so didn't take the pills he'd prescribed (just as well they were quite nasty ones) but went to my GP next day and she diagnosed pleurisy which cleared up very nicely with the right treatment.

On the other hand DH might well have died 18 years ago if our GP hadn't been convinced that something was wrong and kept digging away and DS could have been seriously ill if our current GP hadn't had a hunch that his very untypical symptoms were actually appendicitis.

In the end I think doctors are like parents, if they know you well enough they know when something is wrong.

Does anybody ever stsrt s thread sbput ehen doctors get it right?

If they do, then I have a couple of contributions for that one as well.

Does anybody ever stsrt s thread sbput ehen doctors get it right? Sis in law has recently retired as a GP and I will never forget the time a young mum rang t her at homr to say her baby "just wasn't herself". Nothing specific, a bit lacklustre and a bit off colour. Something tripped in sis in law's mind and she got mum to do the tumbler test (this was in the years before we as parents knew what to look out for) she ordered an ambulance and had the baby whisked into Pembury hospital where she was diagnosed with meningitis. She was a young GP at the timeb but thanks to her quick reaction and instincts this baby suffered no ill effects.

A friend of mine has a son who, when he was about 9, took a kick at a football (at school), missed and kicked a brick wall instead. The headteacher took him straight to A&E who x-rayed his foot and said that he had broken bones, plastered his foot and waited for his parents to collect him. Parents had to cancel the holiday that they were going on a few days later. Six or so weeks passed and the plaster was removed, the doctor on duty that day looked at the boy's foot and asked why he had been in plaster as the foot showed no signs of breaks. My friend and her husband were not pleased.

My daughter had a psychiatrist fall asleep while she was talking to him - does that count?

I took my DD to the A & E when she was little. She had fallen while skating and I thought she may have done something to her wrist (sprained or broken). The rather dozy doctor came back with the x-ray when it was ready and popped it in the light box. He was muttering about getting it plastered when I chimed up "I didn't know hands look so like feet in an x-ray" - being fairly sure it was a foot.

Suddenly the poor man woke up; heaven know how many hours he had done. He got the right x-ray and it was only a sprain but I never found out what happened to the owner of the foot

My absolutely wonderful GP prescribed for me (I was 50) HRT patches. A couple of weeks later I was on holiday and suffered the most terrible flooding, I had to sit on towels and bin bags as it was so bad. I went to a local surgery (15 mile away) and was prescribed by the doctor there progestrogen tablets and to take 6 at once and 2 every 6 hours. This worked and slowed the flow. I returned to my own GP and told him the whole sorry story. He apologised profusely and asked when I had had my last period, I said they are every 28 days still. He said that he thought I must have gone through the menopause by now!!!. Slapped wrist dear Doctor, lovely though you may be I was still an ovulating member of the species. My meno paused 5 years later!!!!! But then my gran had her last baby at 52. I forgave him.

When I was involved in childbirth education, we used to suggest women took an impressive book with them to read while they waited (and waited and waited.....) to show that they had a functioning brain as well as a uterus so they could have a sensible discussion. But if you give a very tired, very junior doctor that impression you may get told much, much more than you really wanted to know.

I was quite irritated recently at being told (at length) about the spine being rather like a Jengo tower - when I had already said I had a good idea of the anatomy......

Or PGM - poor genetic material.

When a clergyman friend of mine said the same thing, I pointed out that that made him an accomplice!

I remember a surgeon friend telling my late husband (a builder) that while my DH had to live with his mistakes, a surgeon buried his! I would hasten to add that he was an excellent surgeon and was joking

And how about NF--- the blanks being the home town?
Normal for ----
Usually used as a derogatory comment ( I've also known it used by lawyers)

who still regard their patients as something slightly above pond scum in terms of intellect.

Not if the Doctors' slang, medical slang and medical acronyms are anything to go by (which can be looked up using those words). Remember in the news not all that long ago, the furore in the UK when it was found that doctors were writing TUBE on female patient notes to let each other know that a Totally Unnecessary Breast Examination was possible with that patient.

How long have you got ?

I agree with bags that doctors are human and some make mistakes. They have a problem most of us don't have in that some of their mistakes have dreadful consequences. But I also remember that a lot of research has gone into how much patients remember and how much they understand of what is said to them. Not because they are stupid, but because they are worried and tense and possibly expecting something different from what the doctor is saying.

And I thought I was a cynic of the first order

bags I think there are still doctors who may not be James Robertson Justice but who still regard their patients as something slightly above pond scum in terms of intellect.

I wonder what percentage of diagnoses by trained medics is? My guess is that it's quite a low percentage, at least of diagnoses that actually cause further problems. Doctors are human too. There are bound to be mis-diagnoses especially with vague symptoms. I bet most of them suffer agonies of professional angst as a result of any serious mis-diagnoses.

My poor mum was diagnosed and treat by her GP for a pulled muscle in her shoulder. He continuously refused to refer her until her entire arm just "packed up" and she couldn't move it. A trip to A&E proved that it was secondary bone cancer that had spread from the breast. The GP very soon after took early retirement. Sorry I hate these horror stories but it's absolutely true.