10 RAMBLING from 9


have my surgery delayed for this testing.) The Saga Of My Medica- tion List My previous experienc-


es visiting doctors and emergency rooms have taught me that you’ll re- peatedly be asked to recite all the medications that you take, their strength, and the details on when you take them. My data on these details almost fills two 8 ½ X 11 sheets of single space typewrit- ten paper. Knowing that sooner or later I’d be re- quired to recite all these details again, I have had them in a computer file (Word file) that I’ve dili- gently kept updated, as each change of dose or medication has occurred. As I made my rounds to my pre-operative medical appointments I always made sure that I took cop- ies of my medication list along for distribution. To facilitate my list always being complete as I dis- tributed it, I printed it out on both sides of one sheet of paper. This so boggled some minds that I added


THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, January 13, 2011


this saga. (You may see my two-sided medication list in a photo accompa- nying this article. Please see both sides.) There is also a somewhat grue- some photo of my incision, made somewhat palatable by a cameo appearance of Malzy.) I have learned that our most competent doctors and nurses are in possession of a sense of humor. I’ve also learned that poor communication haunts the best of our hospitals. Loyal readers who fol-


Here’s a scan of my two-sided medication list. (Note the important footnote that appears at the bottom of both sides.) Many people I encountered didn’t prosper from the special instruction found at the bottom of each side! Having such a list when an emergency occurs might come in handy.


the words; “PLEASE SEE BOTH SIDES” to the bot- tom of each side. Incred- ibly, people trying to use the list often remained perplexed by the two- sided feature! When one department at Catholic


Medical Center requested of another department that my medication docu- ment be faxed to them, the first department faxed only one side! When I was on the phone with the re- cipient of the half-present


faxed document, I asked her to read to me what it said at the bottom of the side she did receive. She read what it said aloud to me! What can I say? Dr. Boornazian laughed out loud at my telling of


low the details of Malzy’s and my life together have read on more than one occasion of the fact that neither Malzy nor I are early risers. That’s anoth- er problem with health- care; those who provide it don’t get a normal night’s sleep! My cardiac stress test required my pres- ence at 8am. Being up, dressed and out the door at 7:30am on December 21st was plenty of stress for me! But my orders on the day of surgery re- quired even more effort on my part. I was to be in the


See RAMBLING on 11


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