IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

Lifestyle Health & Fitness
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Lets suppose you are a medical doctor for a moment. A patient comes to you with sign n symptoms of anorexia, fever, malaise n all the symptoms of Malignant tumor.

Keep in mind malignant tumor means no turning back, which means patient will be suffering from the metastasizing [spreads organ to organ depending on the tumor] and then have to stand the torture of Chemotherapy.

Cancer itself is deadly n then various drugs that you have to take have tremendous side affects. Starting from renal failure to bone marrow depression to sterility n what not.

My Question:

Suppose you are a doctor and you know patient won’t survive with the type of cancer he/she has. Would you still go on n recommend having done chemotherapy [keeping in mind the toxicities caused by those drugs]? Yes, as a professional doc you should but still do u think its fair for the patient to suffer more pain that he/she already in?

Another Question:

Pretend you are a patient and doc told you the toxicities of therapy - would you still go for it?

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

As for the first question, I think I'd still give therapy. The person might have one in a thousand chance, but that one chance still counts. The best thing to do is to make these patients as comfortable as possible. Give them a lot of hope when you talk to them, while their families should be adequately counselled of their status. Sometimes, we get a DNR ( Do Not Resuscitate ) on these patients, means if they're going, we do not do CPR on them. There is no use prolonging their sufferings.
In the end, its a still a very controversial issue, for something like this, a group of senior doctors decide what needs to be done, its not a single doctor's decission.

If I were a patient, I would decide about it according to the people around me. If I'm all alone , I probably won't get the therapy :)

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

i am not a doctor, but i think that the training of medicine, will have you do your best.

and you cannot detach the human feelings from knowing and feeling sorry for the family of your terminally ill cancer patient.

but, the power of prayers and also care will take care of the dying.
so much so that the regret of losing life, will not be an unexpected shock.

i would suggest, take a couple of courses in bio medical ethics.

you will see that you are rising above in your training and inshAllah when you will practice, you will feel more empowered by the happy faces of families and people whom your shifa deiney waley haath will cure, with God's grace.

think of all the Muslim women and all other people, who can use your training and care. and you will accept the ultimate eventual loss of lives here and there, because you had done your very best to diagnose and treat the patients and beyond that it all relies on the care of humanness proffered to the dying patient.

kush raho

best,
Dushwari

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

kaash, kaash main doctor ho ti :( :( :( and that too a radiation oncologist :(

anyways, I think u shud go ahead with the treatment, unless u think that the die effect of the treatment could prove fatal to the poor patient... otherwise, I dont see what the harm is in putting up with the side effect temporarily, and having a healthy 1/2/3 years to live after that.

As a patient, I would do it as long as i saw some benifit in it... I mean if it is metastatic cancer, and u only have 6 months, and its spread thru to ur brain/ lungs, etc then probably wouldn't bother... rather save all the money of tmt and put it into something good (family/ charity). I guess i am being hypocritical saying this bcoz i would never let someone close to me make such a decision. May Allah save us from such aazmaish, Amin.

Wassalam

~**~ Tussi Baray ----- Ho ~~~~ ~**~
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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

for the first question.... i'll answer 'yes'....being a doctor u have to tell the patient all the options available,with all the possible side effects and final outcomes.Just not recommending a treatment option because that might add to his/her pain and suffering , is wrong....and most importantly ,its not my choice!Its the patient's decision ...what he wants or does not want...

second question...i think it depends on the outcome....different malignancies respond differently to treatment modalities...and if ,as a patient i am sure that there will be good prognosis after treatment,i might opt for it,even knowing the toxic side effects....otherwise,i don't think so....
but i really pray and wish that i never ever have to make this sort of a decision for either myself or some loved one....

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

For question no 1. I would just lay out the whole scenario to the patient himself. The chances of survival, the symptoms with and without therapy, the effects of chemo and radio as well.

  1. No, I personally would not like to opt for chemo if hte cancer isnt resectable. It will just prolong my life, and along with it, the suffering. No thank you.
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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

Q 1 sounds to me like the Euthanasia debate...still on going to this day...
for the second Q...tell me first what would u do..I would not want to go with the treatment if there isnt a chance:)

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

I'd recommend it but its upto the patient to decide I believe.

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

:smack:

You decide depending upon the general health of patient and prognosis. If chemo gives the patient 1-2 yrs disease free survival its worth it. If pt is too frail and cancer too widespread, you do not give chemo.
And ofcourse b4 giving chemo you discuss with him the "benefits’ and side effects and let him/her see other patients who have undergone similar treatments and let him make the final call.

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

Ethically, docs really have an obligation to let the patient make the choice. Some would prefer to have life prolonged no matter what and others would prefer to have the least amount of suffering. You need to let the patient choose, lay everything out for them....

I dont know which I'd choose. Thats a tough one that Inshallah I wont have to face!

Airport Service Quality...Delhi and Hyderabad(India)Airports rank top in the world ..
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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

as a doctor it is NOt for U to decide what the patient should or shouldn't do.

It is your duty to inform the patient about their condition and what are the available options he/she has and the benefits & side effects of those therapies be it medical , surgical or palliative , to doing nothing at all.

It is then the PATIENT who decides which option they would prefer taking : that is the basis of "INFORMED CONSENT "

You as a physician can only help them make an INFORMED decision.....

Fantasy Cricket - Cricket World Cup 2011
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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

Well, actually, IT IS UPTO THE DOCTOR, to decide if the benefits of therapy outweigh the risks or not. If all the evidence suggests that therapy will do more harm than good, he is under no obligation to provide therapy, even if the patient wants to have therapy. However doc HAS TO TAKE PERMISSION of pt to provide treatment.

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

well I think I'd probably keep going with treatment if I was a doctor and if I was a patient I'd take the drugs. Never know what happens after all!

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

firstly i wouldn't recommend it
secondly i wouldn't go for it

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

in US docs can recommend and lay out their recommendations, following those or doing something else is upto a patient. whether to take a more aggressive course of action or less. My sister was diagnosed with cancer and has succesfully battled it, by going for a more aggressive treatment than was recommended by her oncologist. She had to make a case on why she wanted to go that aggressive, but she got what she wanted.

Timepaas
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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

a women, name annie smith is having cancer every where in her body.

but she is alive for 20 yrz even having this deadly disease. aint this a miracle!

currently i am working on a project that that hospital is financing where she is admitted.

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

In that case Oncologist did agree with her for moe aggressive chemo. But there are cases where agressive treatment might be futile and under such conditions doctor is not under any "obligation" to provide treatment, this is true of US law as well. Like many parents will come to pediatricians to get chelation therapy for autism, but most will not give them despite request.

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

Its hard to beleive but is indeed a miracle if true. Can u tell me more about her.

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

Icon, I see what you're saying and agree (I think)...I mean, even if the doc thinks that a treatment would be futile, wouldnt the doc be obligated to fully inform the patient of it anyway? Telling the patient that it IS possible to get the treatment but it would likely be futile and that the patient would have to go elsewhere if the treatment were still desired...

As far as a patient just walking in to a doc and asking for a treatment like chelation, of course a responsible doc wouldnt just haul off and do it. I'm looking into just that for my son and went to a well known Austism specialist. The questionnaire that is required to be sent in prior to the visit is 57 pages long!!!!! If it is determined that chelation therapy MAY help my son, it will be explained in full - the potential benefits and potential risks and then it will still be up to us to decide whether to go thru with it. Thats just responsible medicine, yeah?

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Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..

“A doctor of philosophy and professor of art history, Annie, now in her sixties, began her long struggle with cancer 20 years ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In the late 1990s, she developed ovarian cancer. Tumours were later discovered in her liver, and more recently in her lungs and abdomen.”

source

p.s. my teacher just told me she lost her both breasts. and only god know how she is still alive.