doc_1 said:Not to repeat myself, but 20-30 degrees is acceptable. I’m just wondering how much is okay in the context you read that. And regarding ultrasound for bone structure diagnostics 🙄
According to MC Hammer et al 1987, a simple splint is sufficient if volar displacement causes angles a) under 20 degrees at the second and third metacarpal neck b) under 30 degrees at the fourth, and c) under 45 degrees at the fifth. These figures only apply to angulation at the neck. The further down the shaft the fracture is, the less angular deformity you can actually tolerate (Bowen et al 1988). http://www.diavlos.gr/orto96/goula.htmIt wasn't my neck, it was
mid-shaft, so the break went right through the middle. That explains the massive deformity and why the joint looks like it's "diving" down and inward. Pythagorean theorem, side
b.
doc_1 said:You wouldn't even ask that, since someone would have snatched the cash right out of your pocket before you could blink... since you're already nitpicking me
Honestly, I don't give a damn about the money. I'm talking about health here, not bank accounts. I was desperate, which is why I went to a different orthopedic surgeon, but by then it was too late. Whether he was overdiagnosing or if ultrasound is actually useful for this... you guys say it isn't... fine, but I didn't know that at the time! Again—money isn't the point.
This "expert," the guy who put me in the cast... fourteen days before taking it off, he wrote:
"Follow-up in two weeks, then X-ray"
Two weeks passed. He took the cast off, felt it, and said: "GREAT."
And he didn't even send me for an X-ray despite me asking... He just said: "No need, why bother irradiating your hand for nothing?"
Why wouldn't he send someone for an X-ray after they've spent 25 days with their right arm stuck in a cast?
Because the "expert" knew he screwed up. He just wanted me out of his office as fast as possible. When I asked if I could wash my hand, he started screaming at me about what I thought I was doing and told me this isn't a public restroom. Then his nurse grabbed my left arm and pulled me into another room, where she started washing it despite me resisting. He just kept yelling at her that he'd dock her pay and all that, but she didn't seem to care. She just snapped back: "Go ahead and do it then."
doc_1 said:This is also unfortunately typical in our medical system. People who don't understand other specialties yet feel entitled to comment on them, especially in front of patients. If she hadn't called her colleague to ask what was being done or why something wasn't performed, etc. I have hundreds of examples where I've called colleagues to ask questions, warn them about mistakes, or tell them to pipe down when they get arrogant. But I won't act surprised in front of a patient and ask which "master" treated them; I'll just do whatever I can for the patient, and eventually, every mistake catches up to them.
Other orthopedists and physical therapists have played the finger-pointing game too. Why didn't she call him? Because I told her straight up that I’m done seeing him. As for making comments right in front of a patient... sounds like they're just hiding behind a wall of silence to me.
Is the Hippocratic Oath just an excuse to hide behind that wall?
"...Whatever I see or hear in the course of my profession, even outside of it, which ought not to be publicly disclosed, I will hold secret." I’d say yes. A lot of you are probably going to come for me, but fine, let it happen. Personally, I think the Hippocratic Oath is just an outdated relic that doesn't belong in the modern world. That's why the Declaration of Geneva from 1948 exists. Does "professional brotherhood" mean covering for each other when someone messes up?
I've already lost one family member to medical malpractice (spent two weeks at one hospital without a single diagnosis, then got moved to another where they figured it out on day one. They tried to force-feed him through a tube—four people had to pin his arms and legs down just to get it in. A few hours later, he started coughing up blood and was gone.)
Another family member is still alive, but 90% disabled. She underwent surgery (after 29 days of useless testing) under
suspicion(!) of a malignancy. Grand total: they removed two and a half organs. The pathology report showed nothing but inflammation that should have been treated with penicillin.
The whole show was run by some famous doctor who used to be all over the news.
Neither of them were saved by blue envelopes (which, by the way, kept sliding under the table more than once).
And if you think I won't hold him accountable for every single mistake, you're dead wrong. Totally wrong.
I don't want to sound
bitter, but life has taught me to take everything a doctor says with a grain of salt.