[HN Gopher] Bridge to Nowhere
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Bridge to Nowhere
Author : egorpv
Score : 29 points
Date : 2024-10-09 11:39 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (depth-first.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (depth-first.com)
| gus_massa wrote:
| > _But more than this I would come to learn that that I 'd fallen
| into a trap of my own making._
|
| I'd blame the medical doctor. In similar cases, they use
| misleading remarks and partial information to guide the patient
| in the path they prefer.
| justin_oaks wrote:
| It seems like the doctor has fallen victim to the politician's
| fallacy [0], summarized well on Wikipedia as
|
| 1. We must do something.
|
| 2. This is something.
|
| 3. Therefore, we must do this.
|
| People seem to feel like there's merit in "trying something,
| anything" even if by trying something you may actively make the
| problem worse. We need to accept that we only have limited
| control. Bad things happen.
|
| 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician%27s_syllogism
| keyle wrote:
| Incredibly poignant writing with such clarity.
|
| I feel truly sorry for the author.
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| I had pretty much exactly the same thing happen to me, in 1996. I
| probably had 2 days to live. Benign brain tumors are _bad._ They
| don 't have to be cancer.
|
| I was given Option 3. I decided not to take it, and they were
| fairly confident that I'd be in a wheelchair, the rest of my
| life. That did not happen.
|
| As things turned out, I was OK, but it took me a couple of months
| to learn to walk and chew gum at the same time.
| alexashka wrote:
| It may be a bridge to nowhere for the patient but it is a profit
| _opportunity_ for hospital owners.
|
| You're just another input in their number go up paperclip
| maximizer - where your road leads beyond _their_ number go up is
| not a concern for them.
| skeeter2020 wrote:
| Your comment hsitory shows you really seem to like this
| "paperclip maximizer" analogy; I'm not sure what it means.
| Zircom wrote:
| Universal Paperclips, it's a clicker game where the only
| object of the game is to make your count of paper clips go as
| high as possible. With that in mind I'm sure you can reason
| out his intent now.
| system7rocks wrote:
| Sometimes, this is the gift of having a trained chaplain, pastor,
| or advocate with you who has navigated these moments before. I've
| been in these moments with people in my church, and I don't think
| it is always about the doctors or healthcare providers
| withholding info. Sometimes, you are the tenth person they have
| seen in a short period of time, so they are trying to communicate
| as best as they can, as efficiently as they can. Having someone -
| doesn't have to be religious to be clear - who has been in those
| rooms can be helpful. They can repeat what the doctor says,
| because it can be so frightening and hard to hear.
|
| I have asked doctors and anesthesiologists to come back into the
| room and finish answering the questions. I know they are busy.
| But I know they want to put you at ease and give you all the info
| you need.
|
| - What side effects can we expect from the medication? - What
| alternatives are possible? What if the treatment doesn't work? -
| What is the prognosis - worst case and best case? - How long will
| recovery be? - When can family members/loved ones see them? - Who
| will contact the family members during the procedure? - How soon
| will the patient be up and about? - Do you know the patients
| limits and directives - like no resuscitation?
|
| More than once, I have helped the doctors hear something that
| they had missed, buried in all of those charts. More than once, I
| helped a friend or loved one gain some clarity on why the course
| of action is best or whether they want to explore something else.
|
| Powerful story! And helpful language to think about them as a
| Bridge to Nowhere.
| brcmthrowaway wrote:
| How to avoid tumours growing in brain?
| Mistletoe wrote:
| >Most brain tumors form in people without any known risk
| factors. But some factors may increase your risk for brain
| tumors, such as:
|
| >Radiation exposure. People who have had radiation to the head
| are at higher risk for brain tumors. Most often this exposure
| comes from radiation therapy used to treat another type of
| cancer, like leukemia during childhood.
|
| >Certain inherited syndromes. People who are born with certain
| syndromes, such as neurofibromatosis, von Hippel-Lindau
| disease, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis, have an
| increased risk of brain tumors.
|
| >Family history of brain tumors. Most people with brain tumors
| don't have a family history of the disease. But in rare cases,
| tumors can run in families.
|
| >Weak immune system. People who have a weak immune system have
| a higher risk of developing central nervous system lymphoma.
| This includes people who have AIDS or who have had an organ
| transplant.
|
| https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?con...
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