So my stepdad (mom’s husband) back in like May was experiencing weird symptoms that aligned with dementia…forgetfulness, problems walking, problems sleeping ect. but it happened suddenly and ramped up fast.
So my mom takes him to the doctor. She does a bunch of tests and comes to the conclusion that he has Hydrocephalus (fluid around the brain, pressing on it and causing neurological difficulty)…so they refer him to a neurologist in London Ont. Takes the guy WEEKS to even look at the Cat Scan…says he won’t operate because he doesn’t think it IS Hydrocephalus….he asks for an MRI (gold standard for this stuff)….the MRI seems to mostly indicate hydrocephalus too….guy still refuses to see him. Says it’s not hydrocephalus.
Fast forward and my wife has been using her contacts in the healthcare industry to push my stepdad's case out of the cracks it's clearly fallen into, and he’s been getting much worse in the interim (hitting, very confused, taking the car out even after mom hid the keys, takes the phone and sends weird texts, falling, ect.)…they were in another city last week looking after my grandmother and he got so bad that Mom took him to local hospital there. They said it’s
probably dementia and sent him home (it’s not dementia, dementia does not ramp up in 3 months like that). Saturday night they are home in their little Ontario town and city hospital calls my mom and says they need to talk about some test results (yeah, no shit)…and my wife told my mom the really bad stuff during last week could easily be a UTI (Urinary Tract infection) which can cause hallucinations and weird behaviour…and basically exacerbating whatever else is really going on.
Saturday 4AM…stepdad comes to my mom scream-crying and proceeds to have a massive seizure…mom holds onto him, but he’s rigid and staring up…she calls 911, ambulance comes takes him to their local hospital and admit him. They do a battery of tests including a Cat Scan….and guess what...HYDRO-EFFING-CEPHALUS…almost FOUR months after their family doctor said that’s what it was and that it required operation…he also DID have a UTI (my wife is right yet again) which is what’s causing mass hallucinations too, and what the hospital near my grandmother wanted to tell her.
So he’s in the local hospital now, but the antibiotics have not kicked in to heal the UTI fully yet, so he’s got a security bracelet on to prevent him from wandering…but he will apparently tell the nurses he’s going downstairs to watch TV…and ask my mom when "mom is making dinner"....I should note here he's 72, not ancient.
So yeah…because some supposedly province-renowned jackwad of a neuro guy in London said twice that it’s not what it clearly is…my stepdad might suffer worse long term effects of Hydrocephalus (which can do irreparable damage if not treated in good time)…with surgery and if caught in time they can put in a shunt, it will remove the fluid from the brain and he CAN go back to completely normal…but it needs to be caught in time for that to happen. So I wonder what 4 months of waiting has done.
So yeah…it’s been a ride. I’m fucking FURIOUS. That Neuro guy in London’s license to practice medicine would be called into question over this. My sister wants my mom to sue him if there is extensive damage after surgery. It’s been what he swore it wasn’t the whole time, now confirmed by three separate doctors.
Anyways. This has been brutal. Thank gods for my wife advocating with her knowledge and contacts in the industry, otherwise he'd probably be worse off. The Canadian healthcare industry is solid most of the time, but people do fall through the cracks like this, and I feel terrible for those that can't make a bunch of phone calls to help grease the wheels. It also blows my mind that a mans life can hang on the word of a single doctor who refutes a diagnosis of other doctors.
This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 05 October 2020 - 02:29 PM
"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora
“Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone.” ~Ursula Vernon