TIME LIMITATIONS FOR MEDICAL CARE.

      I have had some situations where my health care has taken a very long time to begin or carry on. 

      I would like to see some rules and regulations that put a limit on the time taken to see a patient and begin treatment.

     Okay, there's a bee in my toque. I was recently referred to a heart specialist to investigate a condition I have that may be circulation related. The initial communication happened in acceptable time. I wore a heart rate monitor and blood pressure cuff for about 20 hours. I was told I would get the results back in a week and at the most 2 weeks. Well, here it is 3 weeks and I've heard nothing. I'm not impressed with this specialist. I could get very old before he wakes up and sees me.

    A family member was  referred to  specialist and waited 6 months for an appointment which was done by phone! Not Zoom. Just the old land line. 2 more calls were made and finally a test was done and biopsies taken. Now the guy is away all Feb and an appointment is made for March to go over a test from Jan 17. 

    So this is where I'm coming from. Once referrals are made it should be mandatory to meet and have examinations and tests in a short time and not wait for 6 months. 

     Now I know specialists and physicians have all kinds of challenges because of limitations from health facilities. 

    However, I think that there should be some kind of penalty for taking too long to see and treat a patient. 

Parkinson's

       Most of us know someone who's had Parkinson's or is living with Parkinson's now. My Dad had Parkinson's. After a long slow helpless slide, Dad died in 2008. Nothing was done to treat Dad's Parkinson's. He was just looked after.

      So when I heard an interview about a book on Parkinson's I decided to find it. The interview was with the author , Jon Palfreman, and he caught my attention.

      The book is called Brain Storms : My fight against Parkinson's and the race to unlock the secrets of one of the brain's most mysterious diseases.

    Brian Palfreman worked in journalism and once diagnosed with Parkinson's became preoccupied with discovering all he could about the disease and if he could be treated.

    Parkinson's was discovered in 1817. Going back before 1817 many people of historical significance can be identified as having had Parkinson's.

    So Palfreman goes through the history of the many things that have been done to discover what causes  Parkinson's and the many things that have been done in an effort to treat Parkinson's. Many discoveries have been made that seemed promising and then turned out to be of little value. Each discovery and trial has lead further but not to a conclusion.

   The main area of research now is genetic. The hope is to find a cause and then to be able to treat Parkinson's.

    So on down the line we have drugs, surgery, grafting, exercise and gene therapy.

   "Parkies", as they like to call themselves, are optimistic and hopeful that treatment and prevention will be developed. I hope they're right as many of us will develop Parkinson's.

     I found this book to be a fascinating read.