Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Message in a Prescription Bottle


Hello again, dear Readers,

Well, heeeeeere it is, the letter to my former GP letting him know exactly where I ended up shortly after seeing him back in early January, before the medical poop hit the ER-fan. 

It was sent registered mail, so I'll know if his office received it or not as it must be signed for--though I do believe that his secretary has that authority too and so he may indeed never lay eyes on it, depending on her head and heart but alas, it is written and it has been sent.

Thanks again to Pascal for the supere translation job.

Voila:


Dr. R/X,

This letter is to inform you that not 48 hours after seeing you last time in early 
January and basically being dismissed with more prescriptions for the increasing 
horrible migraines I had been experiencing as well as the mounting neck pain and 
general fatigue,I found a new doctor who sent me to directly to emergency with a 
blood pressure machine reading of 225/100.

In the Emergency Room, it was discovered that I was in acute renal crisis.

I stayed the night in the ER and the next day was transported to a Nephrology 
hospital where I remained for two weeks in very bad condition and there, the 
reason for my renal failure, (I'm now in Stage 4 of Chronic Kidney Disease with 
chronic hypertension for life), was diagnosed. 

I have a rare and serious autoimmune disease called, Microscopic Polyangiitis,
a form of Vasculitis, which over the years accounted for my extreme global
joint pains, grave migraines, as well as ocular inflammation and chronic skin issues.


In all the time I have been your patient, I have shared with you repeatedly
those symptoms, as well as the swelled ankle and heart palpitation issues and
now that these symptoms have all been attributed to the MPA, I think it's
prudent at this point to note them well again.

I am currently into month 3 of a 6 month aggressive therapy involving high-dose 
Prednisone, low-dose chemotherapy and 9 other daily medications, plus vaccines. 

That will be followed by 2 years of maintenance using more Prednisone and
likely other drugs as well, which will hopefully by the end of 2 years, put the MPA 
into remission.

It is my sincere hope that this letter spurs you to consider taking more time with
each of your patients in the future, as when I think of the many symptoms I've 
presented to you over the years, along with the many signs you might have noted
if you had only  taken more time with me, I may have at the very least, been able to
avoid the extent of considerable renal damage I'm dealing with now.

I would also recommend your purchasing a blood pressure monitoring machine as 
I do not believe that your manual method is accurate considering the BP difference 
between the day I saw you and the day the new doctor got the very high readings, (she 
was using an Omron machine and I too now own the same).

sincerely,

Juanita Grande


and en francais:

 Dr Ordonnance,
 

Cette lettre pour vous informer que moins de 48 heures après vous avoir vu la dernière fois début janvier (et avoir été expédiée avec une ordonnance d'anti-douleurs, contre la recrudescence de sévères migraines, les douleurs à la nuque et la fatigue générale que je subissais), j'ai du trouver un nouveau médecin généraliste. Celle-ci m'a envoyée directement aux urgences avec une tension artérielle de 22,5/10.

Là, il a été établi que j'étais en insuffisance rénale aiguë.
J'ai passé la nuit aux urgences, et le lendemain ai été transportée à service néphrologie, où je suis restée pendant deux semaines. C'est là que la raison de mon insuffisance rénale (actuellement en stade 4, accompagée d'hypertension) a été diagnostiquée: j'ai une maladie auto-immune rare et grave appelée Polyangéite Microscopique, une forme de vascularite, qui au fil des ans s'est manifestée par des douleurs articulaires, des migraines graves, inflammations oculaires et lésions cutanées qui ne guérissaient pas pendant de longues périodes.  

Pendant tout le temps où j'ai été votre patiente, je vous ai décrit à plusieurs reprises ces symptômes, ainsi que les gonflement des chevilles, les palpitations cardiaques...

Maintenant que ces symptômes ont tous été attribués à l'AMP, je pense qu'il est prudent à ce stade de bien les noter à nouveau.
 

Je suis actuellement au 3e mois d'une thérapie agressive impliquant 6 mois de prednisone à haute dose, de la chimiothérapie à faible dose en hopital de jour toutes les deux semaines, 9 médicaments quotidiens ainsi que des vaccins.

Ceci sera suivi de 2 ans de maintenance sous prednisone et autres médicaments, susceptibles, ainsi que nous l'espérons, d'ici 2 ans, de mettre la PAM en rémission.
 

C'est mon espoir sincère que cette lettre vous pousse à envisager de prendre plus de temps avec chacun de vos patients dans l'avenir. Lorsque je pense aux nombreux symptômes que je vous ai présentés au cours des années, ainsi que les nombreux signes que vous pourriez avoir noté si vous aviez pris plus de temps avec moi, vous auriez peut-être été en mesure d'éviter l'étendue considérable des dégâts auxquels j'ai à faire face maintenant.
 

Je voudrais également vous recommander l'achat d'une nouvelle machine à mesurer la tension, compte tenu de la différence de lecture entre le jour où je vous ai vu, et le jour où le nouveau médecin à obtenu une mesure des plus élevées; je ne crois pas que votre méthode manuelle soit des plus exactes. Ce médecin utilise une machine Omron et j'ai maintenant la même.

 Sincèrement,
 

Juanita Grande

12 comments:

P said...

Message delivered (got the receipt for the registered mail).

You did the right thing Nita, whatever he does or doesn't do with it is his own problem now.

: )

Fullmoondolphin said...

Well done, mon amie! I do hope that the doctor (and I use the term loosely) sees this letter. Here, if a letter is addressed "Strictly Private and Confidential", it is usually opened only by the person to whom it is addressed, as most businesses do not permit any other staff member to open such mail. However, I am sure there are some that do not work that way, and I don't know if they follow that little *rule* in your neck of the woods. You have clearly stated the facts with regard to his treatment of you and the disease, and I am sending energies towards the doctor and his staff, hoping that he will see the letter and will learn something from it, resulting in his opening his eyes and changing his ways of treating future patients. As always, you rock, darling girl!

Juanita Grande said...

Thanks P, thanks FMD.

I do appreciate the vibes and with some luck and light, he'll get from them what he needs to step up his performance as a doctor before causing anyone else needless suffering.

Now I'm gonna suit up and head out into this glorious sunshine with Tony.

smeeches 'n hugs,

: J

Jude said...

The letter is PERFECT! Good for you for sending it, this needed to be done. Hope you are feeling tickety-boo after your chemo round. HUGS!

Juanita Grande said...

Thanks, Jude, : )

While tickety-boo might be a bit of an overstatement, I'm fairing considerably well after this last chemo round, thanks.

Slept nice and long last night thank the stars.

I'll surely be posting if and when I actually hear back from the guy in any form.

(((hugs back))),

: J

Anonymous said...

Good work JG... and even better you are somewhat public with this.

Anonymous said...

Hey... blog not hate me today!

WooHoo!

Juanita Grande said...

Wow, congrats!!!

Is the post above yours too?

; J

Rocky said...

Beautifully said with the right of amount of firmness while not coming across as angry or a victim. Not an easy thing to do.

You've done your part; the rest is up to him.

Blessings,
Roch

Juanita Grande said...

Thanks, much, Roch,

Still no reply from the guy, as expected.

I can only hope that he's at LEAST changed his patient-load-up ways by now.

Perhaps Pascal will make an app and do some undercover work to ascertain that?

La hmmmmmm....

: J

David S said...

That's my girl! Beautifully put.....Sorry I haven't been in touch for so long, but I'm keeping tabs and sending you love and heartfelt, positive vibes....D

Juanita Grande said...

Hello, David!

Long time no see/talk and thanks for keepin' an eye on me here...

Hope all's well for you guys over there and I look forward to seeing vousies again this summer!

: J