Why is it that doctors...

don't give honest information, especially to patients who ask?  I have talked to my cardiologist about this and he is doing some better, but I always send for my records so I see what they allow me to and what they don't explain to me. The EKG always has misplaced leads and troponin test was a false positive.  The software for the EKG always errs on the side of things being wrong.  Why bother to do the tests then?

The last troponin was 0.54 - a grey area - so they did a heart cath.  I was told everything was perfectly normal and any future chest pain should be ignored.  This was done 50 miles from my home.  My own doctor said the test confirmed the 64 cut scan which was not normal.  What and who does one believe?

[Bev170]

Honestly, my 91-year-old Mother has severe congestive heart failure.  She is under the care of Hospice, which means that the doctors anticipate her to live 6 mos. or less.  Yet when I asked one of her doctors what her life expectancy would be, he said, "There is no way that I can answer that question."  It is extremely frustrating that a physician will suggest it is time to call in Hospice and must sign a form to refer that patient to Hospice.  Yet I'm told by the doctor that he has no way of knowing how long my Mother will live.  I don't need an exact hour or day... just an estimate, as I am trying to determine if it is feasible to keep my Mother at home, or if it will be best for her to be placed in a facility that can perhaps care for her better than me.  I want my mom to be comfortable with what is best for her.  But I surely would hate to move her if she is going to be stressed and perhaps die as a result.  I've been told that she is fragile.  Well, what does that mean?

I can see from reading my response that I have made a short story long, and I do apologize.  On the other hand, I can see your own frustration.  You are not alone.  :)

[grendslori]

I sure can feel your frustration! Doctors don't like giving answers to your questions because they don't like to look like fools. No one can tell you how long you have to live. Here's a few examples: They gave my mother 3 months to live when they first found a cancerous growth near her spine. I took her to MD Anderson in Houston and she lived another 3 years. So much for the 3 months! She was also 'fragile' which means she didn't have much reserve, she was 86 pounds. They told me my daughter would never live to see her teen years, she was 6 years old at the time. She lived until she was 22 and then got her new heart, she is now 32....so much for dying before the teen years. (SEVERAL doctors told me that, one who was even a WORLD renowned doctor!!!) Here's the best one of all: my best friend had transfusions and ended up with HIV and Hepititis (hepatitis). They gave her 18 months to live. Since then she has had 3 seperate AIDS diagnosises and guess what! Her 18 months grew into 23 years!!! She is probably one of the longest surviviing HIV/AIDS patients living in the country today. Doctors don't like answering patients questions because most patients freak out when they hear the answers. Your mother will live longer if she remains with you. A lot of patients go downhill quickly after being placed in facilities; I wrote about my mother earlier, she was at home at the time of her death; I took complete care of her for the remaining 3 years of her life and she told me that she would never have survivied as long as she did had I not been there for her. We were very close.

[walkerd]

To be told to ignore pain in the chest, thats just ludicrus. I would tend to go with your doctor on this. If it where me I would ask your primary doctor who said it was normal to suggest another cardioligist to see, chest pain is not normal. I would get a second opion before the worst happens. It may not be anything but if I had one doctor tell me to ignore and another questioning the sympotoms, I know I would get another opion from a more crediable cardioligist. Just my two cents worth. Hope everything comes out good for you Barb.
dave