Mom Update

The deterioration continues but in fits and starts. I'm pretty sure that even on her best days she no longer recognizes me as me. A couple of times she has called me dad, at least when she could still talk, which isn't much anymore, and not in sentences or thoughts. This makes me believe my cousin, she told me she had a picture of my grandfather from the military and that he looked a lot like me. Strangely enough, my aunt, her sister, died a month or so ago. Even though she had terrible emphysema, I thought she would outlive my mom. I still visit, but the visits aren't usually long or frequent. All I can do is watch her continue to fail until she dies. Terrible and depressing.

Doctor Doctor - It Hurts When I Do This ....

I'm trying to understand why medical doctors still have to take the Hyppocratic Oath. It's a joke. In today's modern medicine it is much more imperitive to get you hooked on medication for the rest of your life than to heal or cure you. Every little ailment has a powerful drug that will TREAT THE SYMPTOMS but will not eliminate it. And every drug creates more problems via side effects, but, it's ok, because, you understand, there are MORE drugs they can give you to treat THOSE symptoms. You can walk into a doctor's office with a hangnail and end up on $1000 worth of daily medications for the rest of your life ........ in order to improve your quality of life. The Hyppocratic Oath's pledge to "do no harm" is broken by every doctor every day, voluntarily. They should just change it to a pledge of allegience to the big pharmaceutical companies. A promise to make sure every patient is diagnosed with as many problems, and prescribed as much medication, as their insurance companies will pay for .... or more. At least it would be truthful and realistic.