So this has been on my mind for a while now. About a year and a half ago, I went to see my Vascular Specialist. It was a Friday. My waiting time upon arrival at the office was one and one half to two hours. I questioned that to the sign-in nurse. They said "Do not come on a Friday ever again." Alarmed, I asked why. Their response was that they had elders who had waited far too long to seek a Vascular Doctor's medical attention and nothing could be done for them, sadly.
My point is---kindly see that your elder (or even yourself, for that matter) gets to the doctor sooner rather than later. Later is an inevitable failure.
I’m certain that my husband is representative of Seniors everywhere. “Ignore it and it will go away.” Truth is, he has a bad heart. An infection 5 years ago damn near killed him. He has fluid around his heart and atrial fibrillation. Sometimes I just want to smack him and say “For God’s sake, wake up!” But truthfully, I count my lucky stars every morning when he actually does. .
I remember back when my Dad had fallen in the driveway while walking down to get the mail. He had fallen backward. A neighbor saw this happen and helped Dad back to the house telling my Mom that he better see a doctor. In Mom's world, she thought an ice bag on the head bump and a good lunch would make Dad feel better... [sigh].
Later in the day I heard about the fall, and the goose egg size bump, I was going to take Dad to the local urgent care but Dad was too wobbly to walk.... so I called 911. Thankfully no harm done, and Dad was home the next day. But what if it was a serious bump??? Can't take chances.
But I can fully understand how a senior can turn into a 3 year old when it comes to going to the doctor.
My mother generally picked the small hours of Sunday mornings for her more dramatic medical events. Thereby guaranteeing that ER, imaging, admissions and nursing care were at their sparsest and most overstretched. Sigh.
The people from Visiting Physicians do what they can, I believe. Our home is not a doctor’s office, after all, and although they’ve done blood tests and x-rays, this guy has a lot of issues. I’d like to think that if his condition worsened, they would absolutely admit him.