Note – Although this entry is dated November 30, I wrote it later and adjusted the publish date so it would come up in the right order in this written saga.  The other entries were posted when they were written.

Let me take a minute to lay some groundwork. I am recapping the details of what The Droning Voice is going through since they found a mass on her pancreas. I want to shed light on the systemic but avoidable shortcomings of current healthcare administration where she lives.

I’ve had long talks with a lot of doctors, and it is becoming obvious where the problem lies.  To some extent (not ready to put a metric on this) doctors are at the mercy of their administrators and other Corporate Overlords.  In a word, scheduling.  But also critical misinformation.  The result is a completely avoidable emotional and healthcare service roller-coaster where the lives of loved ones are in the balance.  I believe this is the result of management practices knowingly selected to place the success of the corporate entity and their principals above the well-being of patients.  I am guessing this is in direct conflict with their stated missions but I admit I am making assumptions about their stated missions.  So if you ask where my frustration lies, it is with (but not limited to) organizations with these names:

• Ascension St. John Jane Phillips Medical Center
• Primary Care Associates (PCA)
• Utica Park Clinic (UPC)
• Oklahoma Cancer Specialists and Research Institute (OCSRI)
• Gastroenterology Specialists Inc (GSI)

Let me reiterate, my beef is not with doctors and nurses (except in one or two isolated cases).  My beef is with the organizations that write their paychecks and their principals.

Welcome to Healthcare Hell.

 

Mr. Somner here. The Droning Voice took a prolonged break after learning there appeared to be no way to monetize her great idea of boringly reading old out-of-copyright books to help people go to sleep.

Oh well. It was a thought.

But now, we find ourselves at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The Droning Voice herself has fallen victim to both:

• A horrible situation unfolding in her abdomen
• Healthcare where she lives

In October she started feeling like crap. Specifically, she was experiencing acute and severe pain in her abdomen. After a while she called the doctor, who would not see her for far too long. Before that time was up, she chose to go to Urgent Care to get some more, well, urgent care.

In Urgent Care, they immediately sent her to the Emergency Room. In the ER they screened her for her obvious acute severe abdominal pain, and ordered a CT scan. The CT scan revealed a mass on her pancreas. Although they did not give us a copy of the CT report at the time, it read, “… highly concerning for primary pancreatic malignancy ….”

This is on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 30. Let’s call this [Day 1]. Her doctor’s appointment was yet to come on December 6 [Day 7]. Recall she had made that appointment a long time before, and went to Urgent Care out of desperation.

This is the start of absolute Healthcare Hell, which I am recapping here for the benefit of anyone interested in the details.