Foot



About a year ago my father was diagnosed for gout in his left foot. It turned into something much worse that infected his spine and rendered him paralyzed from mid-chest down. (He is suing the original doctor who bungled diagnosis and treatment to the extent that what was a relatively minor ailment has turned into a life-threatening nightmare). After struggling with various complications for a half-year, he finally made it out of the hospital, but without his foot. And without full use of his arms. And without being able to eat properly. He's wheelchair-bound and needs a lift to be moved from bed to wheelchair, but the set-up at home and in the modified van is pretty good. He even got a wireless mouse and keyboard for his iMac. After six months of relative stability at home things were looking up even though he still wasn't eating much. Now he's back in the ICU with pneumonia that just won't go away and his blood pressure is dangerously low. The call from my mother this morning wasn't cheerful. I'm on standby to go out to California at a moment's notice. All of this because of an infected foot and a lazy doctor who didn't care to follow symptoms aggressively.

Posted: Wed - March 24, 2004 at 11:37 AM           |

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