Names of the Dead

My mother seemed to always have some type of ailment. Doctors never seemed to be able to diagnose her problem. They would fill her full of perscriptions or excuses that nothing was wrong with her. As a child she had polio. Not a severe case but bad enough that it stunted the growth of one of her legs so that she had about more then an inch difference in length in each leg. This caused her discomfort but doctors failed to do anything about her pain. Finally when my mother persisted, she was seen by a surgeon who basically told her she was too YOUNG for hip replacement surgery that could have fixed the pain she dealt with on a daily basis. He told her that hip replacement surgery was only good for about 10 yrs and at the age of 61 she was too young to have it done and the cost of the surgery would only likely be covered once in her lifetime, so he told her to wait as long as she could. The doctor told my mother that when she couldn't take the pain anymore, he would proceed with other treatments and possibly surgery. This was two years prior to her death. In October of 2008, my mother was diagnosed with lung and brain cancer. It had matastisised to other parts of her body, including her hip that was to be replaced. Sadly my mother waited until her pain was bad. She went to the doctor, they did a CT scan and found cancer all over her body. I must say I blame her surgeon for telling her to wait until her pain was unbearable. Had he followed up with her regularly, perhaps her cancer would have been detected 2 yrs prior. He basically wrote her off as being too young for surgery and waved off her pain and suffering until she couldn't take it anymore. Prior to her passing, we had seen her doctor at a different hospital when we were visiting my father who had a collapsed long 2 days after she was diagnosed with cancer. I had 2 parents in two different hospitals on and off for an entire month. When we saw her doctor, she told him she had cancer. You would have sworn he had seen a ghost. I honestly believe that he knew he was wrong. Exactly one month after my mother's diagnoses, she died, Thanksgiving Day 2008. I still blame doctor's and insurance companies for their shortcomings where treatment and necessity are concerned. I sure do hope that we move forward with coverage to ensure the health and well being of every American citizen. My mother died too young because she was told she had to wait until she was "older" to have a treatment that could have detected other underlying problems that she was not aware of.