Well, Star was misdiagnosed in the ER. Her kidneys had not failed completely, she was dehydrated. They told her to limit her intake of fluids that night until she saw her PCP the next afternoon (this we were informed after I had to call the ER for her because they failed to send her discharge instructions home with her!!!) when what she actually needed was to drink more!!! Her kidney function levels had actually dropped (which is good!) and I wondered about that, plus her weight had gone down (it should have been rising due to fluid build-up) and I wondered about that. She saw her PCP the next afternoon and he told her she was fine and just needed to drink more.



To say I am angry and frustrated is an understatement!!! Just a couple of weeks earlier she had a UTI and her PCP wasn't there so she saw his back-up. He gave her an antibiotic that sent her to Abbott/NW Hospital in Minneapolis because above mentioned kidney function levels went sky high (meaning her kidneys were failing and needing dialysis)! He gave her an antibiotic that hurts the kidneys! Her primary diagnoses are congestive heart failure and renal failure - what the hell was he thinking? It seems like everytime she has to be seen by someone besides her PCP they screw her up somehow and these "little" emergencies are wearing me (and her) out!!!!



When you're a regular, (meaning you see your doctor more than you see your family!) I understand that your doc and you get to know each other very well and not all of that information gets into the record, it can't, and it's all that extra info that makes a doc/patient relationship work. Unfortunately, not knowing that information can also be dangerous to we the patient as well. There have been times when I know I would have been in deep trouble had I not been conscious when visiting the ER/Clinic/Hosp. - meds that I can't tolerate (which are numerous!) and meds that had been changed but hadn't gotten into the records yet, etc.



Like my doc told me once, it is called a "practice," or the medical "arts," and a former doc told me that, at least in Rheumatology anyway, it is an educated guessing game and that each patient responds differently. I know we all have bad days and docs are people too, but man oh man when it's your life or your best friend's life........!!!!!!!!!!