Rough Week
But we are okay.
Greetings, beloved worldwide family.
It’s a difficult week. We had a death in the family. It was not unexpected but it was certainly tragic.
In my gratitude prayers every morning and night I thank G-d that Loviefluffy and my Mom are still with us. My dad is in heaven, I’m sure, with G-d, my uncle, and all my old cats whom he will love in death though they were not close in life.
Life seems very fragile, maybe because it is.
Several years ago, I was almost killed by a medical error so stupid that a first year med student would not have made it. My friend Marilyn died after what I’m pretty sure was a series of medical errors in the wake of her suicide attempt. In my MPH program, I had a passion for quality and safety. I was starting my PhD research in the trauma that people undergo when they are in the healthcare system… until I figured out that I didn’t want the PhD and was getting no institutional support whatsoever. In the process, I heard horror stories that would give you nightmares and make you avoid hospitals like the plague. I hold onto life carefully. I do not ski. I figure I’ve already outlived my nine lives so I’d better make the best of the tenth.
I’m praying for my families, both my biological family and my worldwide family. You are all so comforting at difficult times.
I’m getting back in the swing of things and will have more to write soon. I just want to say hi and that I love you!
I'm sorry for your loss. I wish peace for you and your family.
Medical errors, incorrect diagnosis, are the leading cause of death in the US. They just don't like to publicize it.
My father was told he had TB when he had lung cancer. By the time it was found out he died 4 days later.
My mother died from a subdural hematoma after a car accident. The ER refused to so a scan even though she was 78 and the airbag had deployed. I was in NY at the time and she was in FL. I asked them to do one because of the airbag, but they refused saying she didnt hit her head. When I got to her that night, I noticed the next morning she had a black eye and we went back to the ER where she went into a coma. Whether they could have saved her if they had done the scan right away or not, is something we will never know.
The local ER missed that my husband had had a stroke. Luckily the stroke was in his eye and not his brain. We went back to the ER 4 days later after the ophthalmologist who he went to see told him to get to an ER. He is ok btw, he just lost a little sight in one eye. Very very lucky.
The most important thing I have learned over time is that when it is something serious you do NOT take a 1st opinion as the only opinion. Get a 2nd and even a 3rd opinion.
May the memory of the one you lost always be for a blessing.