10-28-2021 The facility's doctor has an interesting interpretation of events...

(Tricia) 

We were very lucky that, C.diff or no C.diff, the gastroenterology office at SSM agreed to see Linda virtually this time around. Thank goodness—I did not want Linda to have to wait for this appointment any longer. This afternoon, I went over to nursing facility with my laptop, so that we could meet with the gastroenterology practice’s nurse practitioner.

But the virtual appointment had hardly started when the nursing facility’s doctor came into the room like a whirlwind. She took over the conversation fully, in an exchange that went something like this:

Doctor: We need to do something! This woman has had C.diff five times while she has been here!

NP: Um, well, how often have you tested?

Doctor: Maybe once a month!

NP: Well, you're supposed to test no more frequently than once every three months, so that you can give the infection time to—

Doctor: That's not the issue! The issue is that we have to help this woman!

Nurse Practitioner: Um, OK...So, you’re not administering probiotics while she’s taking an antibiotic, are you?

Doctor: Nope, don’t believe in them!

NP: Well, probiotics are good for preventing C.diff...

Doctor: <silence>

NP: ...but they should never be given during an antibiotic regimen.

Doctor: Of course! We’d never do that!

NP: Then, why does it say here that Linda is on a Florastor probiotic, while she’s taking antibiotics?

Doctor: Oh, that must have been my nurse practitioner who ordered it!

She threw her own NP under the bus....nice!  Then, it got better:

Doctor: And now we’re having her see an endocrinologist for her diabetes. I’m no endocrinologist, and this woman needs an endocrinologist! Well, I ordered the GAD-65 test and diagnosed Type 1, but that’s all I can do!

Tricia (thinking): Did she just say that she ordered a GAD-65 test? That she is having Linda see an endocrinologist? Did she just have the nerve to bring up the Type 1 thing when it was not relevant, for the sole purpose of taking credit for Dr. Ramanathan’s diagnosis? Why yes, yes she did!

Tricia's irrational brain:  Stand up and call her lying out to the gastro NP and everyone in the facility!

Tricia's rational brain: Keep your mouth shut, and get the gastroenterologist on the case. Then, keep working on getting Linda out of this place as fast as possible.

So, yes, I sat there and nodded as the doctor took over the conversation, took credit for a diagnosis that she had NOTHING to do with, and acted as if she had only Linda’s best interests at heart. All while not allowing either Linda or me to slip more than a word or two into the conversation for the rest of the appointment! I take my hat off to the gastro NP, though—I could tell she knew what she was dealing with, and she dealt with it expertly.

What’s important is that Linda now has two external specialists who actually know what the heck they're doing on her case. She has a colonoscopy scheduled for next week (yeah, never fun) either to confirm the C.diff diagnosis or to find out if there is another condition causing the problem. The gastroenterology department will take over from there. 

The one helpful thing the facility’s doctor said to me, after the call was over, was that once Linda’s sugar levels and C.diff infection were brought under control, her mental state and physical strength could very well improve. I trust this person so little (if at all), and I seriously wanted to ask her about her highly creative interpretation of past events regarding Linda’s diabetes. But still, I appreciated this glimmer of hope.

 



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