Questions regarding Hospitals Quickness regarding cancer - Cancer Message Board

laggirl · 09-22-2007, 08:45 PM

My mother went to her local hospital (Wayne Memorial, PA)Monday. They found a large mass on her left lung(the size of a large grapefruit), fluid had filled the left lung, the left lung was not working at all her breathing was bad also the lung was putting pressure on her heart. The local hospital said they could not deal with something like this she needs to go to a hospital that can handle it. They transported her to another hospital that eve.(Geisinger Danville PA 2 1/2 hours away). We visited her Tueday and nothing was done, we did not even meet 1 Dr. Wednesday Morning they finally put in a tube to drain fluid. Wednesday we finally meet the Dr. He said they are gonna try to find out info from the cells in the fluid instead of doing a biopsy. Thursday the Dr. said the reading from cells was not good enough that he would have to do the biopsy friday morn and we will know the results friday eve. Friday afternoon after waiting forever for the Dr we finally had to corner him and asked him when we are going to get the results back and he said Saturday possibly Sunday but probably Monday because the lab is closed on the weekend (What large hospital's labs are closed on the weekend?) Well that is not what he said to My father, Sister me and a Hospital nurse. I confronted him about this and he said he never said that which is a blatant lie. After he said that I blew up at him and we ended up having a confrence about this and I also brought up to them Why they did not place a feeding tube into my mother as she has not eaten since sunday and does not want to eat on her own as the medicine they are giving her is making her nauseous. Just by looking at her you can see how skinny she is and she needs some nurishment a 4 year old could tell ya that it's so obvious. It took me throwing a fit to get a tube put into her. I feel like - Why wasn't the liquid drained ASAP like Monday night or Tuesday am especially if it was causing so many problems. (Gesinger had to know the urgency of the situation as Wayne Memorial as notified themshe was coming). This way the fluid could have been checked sooner and we would have found out sooner that that was no good and the biopsy could have been scheduled sooner (like Wed/Thurs) and we would know today what we are dealing with. Why didnt they put the tube in sooner? Why didnt she see a Cardiologist Monday eve or tues if her heart was being compromised? Why didnt we meet the Dr handling her case right away? we finally met him Wed. ? Why did it take till Friday for the oncologist to see her? Is this the norm or are these people dropping the ball and taking there sweet time. I feel if there was another family going through the same thing at a diffrent hospital they would know more then we do. It's been 5 days and we know today just as much as we did Monday eve. Sorry if it's rambling on this has just been a horrible week. Thank you to all those who reply

DJW · 10-03-2007, 05:30 PM

I'm so sorry to hear about your mother!

Yes - Hospital's due have a tendency to treat cancer patients like chopped liver.

They generally aren't funded for specialized cancer treatment and try to use general staff to handle the job. This has been my biggest beef with hospitals who include "Cancer" treatment in their sales pitch. They are like McDonalds adding taco's to their menu then claiming they are a Mexican restaurant...It just doesn't make it so. These same hospitals fight against actual cancer treatment centers when they try to set up a facility in communities. The regular hospitals cannot offer the type off immediate services necessary for cancer patients - yet they don't want to allow treatment centers who speicalize in cancer to take their profits!
In regular hospitals, a cancer patient often has to wait for kids with broken leg or pregnant mothers to be seen first before they can get an appointment for their CT and Ultra sound scans.. This is terrible because cancer is life threatening and time is of the essence when diagnosing and treating it!

I was so disgusted with my so-called cancer hospitals where I live that I contacted the Cancer Treatment Centers of America and I fly to another state for treatments at one of their facilities. They work the flight costs out with your insurance so you don't have to pay out of pocket. At the treatment center - they do everything in one place. A huge facility. In one day they check your blood, give you a complete evaluation and perform CT and PET scans. The next day you meet with the doctors and discuss your cancer and treatment options. They have guest rooms to stay in and a dining area for food and you can bring a family member to be with you. You can't get this type of service at any regular hospital or even some local "cancer" hospitals..

I'd give them a call if you are still not satisfied with your mothers care.

dwaterbug · 01-08-2008, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJW

I'm so sorry to hear about your mother!

Yes - Hospital's due have a tendency to treat cancer patients like chopped liver.

They generally aren't funded for specialized cancer treatment and try to use general staff to handle the job. This has been my biggest beef with hospitals who include "Cancer" treatment in their sales pitch. They are like McDonalds adding taco's to their menu then claiming they are a Mexican restaurant...It just doesn't make it so. These same hospitals fight against actual cancer treatment centers when they try to set up a facility in communities. The regular hospitals cannot offer the type off immediate services necessary for cancer patients - yet they don't want to allow treatment centers who speicalize in cancer to take their profits!
In regular hospitals, a cancer patient often has to wait for kids with broken leg or pregnant mothers to be seen first before they can get an appointment for their CT and Ultra sound scans.. This is terrible because cancer is life threatening and time is of the essence when diagnosing and treating it!

I was so disgusted with my so-called cancer hospitals where I live that I contacted the Cancer Treatment Centers of America and I fly to another state for treatments at one of their facilities. They work the flight costs out with your insurance so you don't have to pay out of pocket. At the treatment center - they do everything in one place. A huge facility. In one day they check your blood, give you a complete evaluation and perform CT and PET scans. The next day you meet with the doctors and discuss your cancer and treatment options. They have guest rooms to stay in and a dining area for food and you can bring a family member to be with you. You can't get this type of service at any regular hospital or even some local "cancer" hospitals..

I'd give them a call if you are still not satisfied with your mothers care.

I have been considering **** in Chicago, but have yet to find anyone with any success rate. I have Stage IIIC ovarian and was told I have not been responding to the chemo treatments and I have 2 years. What have you been treated for and what kind of success have you had? Thanks for your posting it helps.