A Mystery Doctor - A Failed Scan

For a long time, Bettie has been interested in health and particularly the diet aspect of it. She and I share this wacko idea that what you eat just might have something to do with how you feel, especially over the long haul. I call the idea wacko only because diet has been pretty far down the list of considerations to many "health care" professionals. I think that is changing in recent years and has not been any point of contention with the professionals that have cared for Bettie since June 23.

In the weeks before her stroke, she was actively looking for a doctor (the doctor she had been seeing, died in March) who shared her belief in a more "natural" approach to health and wellness. Just a week or so before the stroke, she found Dr. X. She had one visit with him and one visit with the cardiologist that he referred Bettie to for her atrial fibrillation. (Good doctors know their limits and refer for conditions outside their specialties.)

Yesterday, I spent over an hour talking with Dr. X about Bettie. He carefully took a full page of notes on everything I said. For now, he'll remain a mystery doctor, out of respect for him and his approach. With Bettie mostly in the care of others, he doesn't want to be seen as attempting to counter anything others are doing. In fact, there is not much potential for conflict anyway. (Not to mention the fact that Mystery Doctor makes a catchy post title.)

My mission with Dr. X was to see if, given Bettie's current condition, he would be able to work with her as we had initially discussed early in June. The answer is yes, and she will see him next week.

Following that visit, I hurried home and picked up Bettie for yet another type of brain scan at Dr. Heide's office. In this scan, they inject a dye into a vein in the arm. From there, enough of it winds up in the brain to provide some pretty vivid detail when scanned with one of those machines where the head is placed in the hole of a giant electronic doughnut. I guess this was to be the final proof that Bettie's clot is gone, though I thought that was pretty conclusive with the previous two "scans". (Click the two Scans links in the Information/Links section at the right for more about the various technologies available.)

Well anyway, it was not to be. Bettie's "surface" veins are currently just too weak to take yet another IV. After two painful attempts, the nurse concluded that we would have to go over to Valley Hospital and have them insert a "deep IV". When the nurse asked Dr. Heide, he decided to simply forgo the test. Enough torture for one day.

We came back home. We'll see him next week.