Dear George,
I don’t know why, but we seem
to be spending more time at the doctor’s office than we used to. Katja’s sort of banged up right
now. She had a successful left
knee replacement several years ago, but now her right knee is acting up. I went along with her to see her knee
surgeon, Dr. P, and he said the time has arrived. Dr. P is a gray-haired, grandfatherly sort with a warm,
reassuring manner. He told Katja
that she was a great candidate for knee surgery and that it would dramatically
improve her quality of life. Katja
was all for it. As he did last
time, Dr. P asked for Katja’s permission to pray before and after her surgery,
and he recommended that her circle of family and friends pray during the
operation too. Katja said that was
good, though I didn’t know if she’ll really arrange it. I myself am wary of surgeons who rely
too much on prayer to produce positive outcomes, but what do I know? Katja also has a lot of pain in her
left shoulder from a fall two years ago, and steroid shots no longer seem to
help. Dr. P has stopped doing
shoulders, but he referred her to his colleague, Dr. N, who is an expert in
upper body renovations.
Later we talked to a doctor
friend who wasn’t enthused about shoulder surgery. He said it’s more complicated, is done less frequently, and
is less reliable than knee replacements.
He advised Katja to explore the alternatives. Then another friend told us that her mom, a registered
nurse, had gone to a conference on shoulder surgery and promptly cancelled her
plan to have such an operation herself.
That was food for thought.
Katja did go ahead and make
an appointment with Dr. N, the shoulder surgeon. We arrived early and I spent some time looking through the
“Senior Citizen’s Guide” from the rack in the waiting room. There was an interesting article on
hearing loss that began with the question, “Do you feel that people mumble and
do not speak clearly?” I doubt that
I have any kind of hearing loss, but I’ve definitely noticed that people mumble
more nowadays. I’m not sure why that is, though it
could be related to the Republican-dominated Congress and/or the decline of
American civilization (both of which have been causing people to mumble
more). Then I ran across a blurb
on home health care that said that Certified Home Health Care Aides cost $33 an
hour while Uncertified Home Health Aides cost $18 an hour. I asked Katja which she would prefer,
and she said Certified. I thought
that Uncertified Aides looked like a better bargain, because I couldn’t imagine
how Certified Aides could be twice as good. If it comes to it, we’ll probably hire separate home
helpers.
Just about then, Dr. N’s
assistant called us into an examination room. He looked over Katja’s past records, asked a few questions,
and went off to see if he could find an old MRI. Katja put on a hospital gown with an open back. Then a junior doctor came in, asked
some more questions, and put Katja through a series of range of motion
exercises with her left arm and shoulder.
She did pretty well. Since
Dr. N hadn’t yet arrived, Katja wondered why the junior doctor had examined
her. I said I thought it was like
having both Uncertified and Certified Health Aides. The junior doctor did the real work so the Big Doctor
wouldn’t have to waste his time.
Dr. N did arrive shortly, accompanied by the Junior Doctor and a female
physical therapist whose only function seemed to be to act as a chaperone. Dr. N was friendly and jovial. He asked Katja about her recent trip to
Italy and recounted that he was just back from giving a conference paper in
Milan. They exchanged a few
minutes of Italy talk (probably about $25 worth at a rate of $300 per
hour). Then Dr. N repeated the
same range of motion exercises that the junior doctor had already done and
looked over her X-rays.
Like Dr. P had said about her
knee, Dr. N said that Katja was an outstanding candidate for shoulder
surgery. He explained how they
would make a 3-inch incision in the front of her shoulder, attach a metal ball
to the end of her arm bone, scrape out the arthritis, and glue in a plastic
lining in her shoulder socket.
According to Dr. N, the procedure is 99% successful, produces dramatic
pain reduction and very high satisfaction among patients, and will have her
driving in a week and playing tennis in a month. Dr. N didn’t see any point in more steroid injections, and
there was nothing that Katja’s personal trainer could do to help (quote: “You
have to watch out for these personal trainers”). I said I was worried because Katja had developed a blog clot
from her first knee replacement, then a life-threatening infection from another
hospitalization. Dr. N said no
problem. He was very confident and
optimistic, certainly moreso than our other consultants. He didn’t mention
anything about praying before or during the surgery, which I regarded as a
point in his favor. Katja was very
enthusiastic afterwards. I guess
if I had all that pain I’d be eager too.
The whole idea makes me nervous though. I’ll probably go ahead and pray even if Dr. N doesn’t
encourage it.
Love,
Dave
G-mail Comments
-Vicki L (5-22): Hi D, Enjoyed your blog as always. Re. your commentary on mumbling
- I'm in agreement. While I see lots of clients I've thrown my training out the
window. Mostly I tell them that their depression is a solid indicator of
their mental health; the world is a horrifying place and anyone who can't see
that is in serious trouble. They mostly go away happy in their depression or at
least proud of it. Love, Sis
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