This poem was first posted July 19, 2013 on yourdailypoem.com
YEAR OF THE DAISY
by Edward Hujsak
That was the year that daisies
all agreed to perform flawlessly,
to help humanity along its faltering way.
Every one, its petals plucked
to rhythmic chants:
She loves me, she loves me not,
would tell you that she loves you
He loves me, he loves me not,
would tell you that he loves you.
It was her favorite flower, you know.
Garlands framed the altar
where we said our last good byes.
Now this lavender bloom.
lifted from the roadside,
has graced my table for a week.
Drawn into its lonely self at night,
it flares to fullness at daybreak
atop a dime store, Ming inspired
thin-stem porcelain vase.
I pluck its petals one by one.
She loves me, she loves me not.
She loves me, she loves me not.
..............She loves me.
Copyright © 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
HOW ARE WE DOING?
A new report from US News, ranking the best hospitals in the United States for 2013 has just been published. Of the hospitals taking first place in various categories... cardiac, cancer, etc. none are in San Diego. Of 18 honorable mentions, none are in San Diego..
It is a practice, after a stay in a hospital, for a patient to receive a questionnaire, requesting opinion ranking from poor to exceptional the various aspects of that person’s experience in the facility. This seems to be a bureaucratic method of a hospital assessing its performance, relying on a subcontractor somewhere to gather and summarize data. At the end of some questionnaires is a line or two for comments by the patient. Most recently, I elected to ignore the questions and provide instead extended comments, sent directly to hospital administrators, hopeful that: 1. it will get some attention, and 2. others, reading this, might do the same.
Tom McAfee, M.D.
Dean for Clinical Affairs
UC San Diego
Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center
La Jolla, Ca.
Dear Tom,
Today I received an evaluation form that, filled out by patients, presumably provides a data base or benchmark from which improvements in the operation might be identified and implemented for the betterment of the institution. I want to tell you at the outset that in my recent stays at the hospital, Staff performed in exemplary fashion and there certainly are no complaints about the facility. At the end of the form are a couple of lines marked “Other comments” and that is where I want to dwell, instead of filling out the form. This letter is not meant to be vindictive or anything of the sort, but coming from the scientific and engineering community, there are things that I observed and experienced in recent months that reveal what to me are significant weaknesses in the operation. I hope it is read and accepted in good faith and that it is helpful.
I have been a cardiac patient at UCSD since 1994. I came in with a previous history of a quadruple bypass in 1988, performed at Sharp Hospital. I am now in my 89th year. During the entire period since 1994 I visited my cardiologist at four month intervals. On occasion echo and stress tests were performed. In retrospect, it seems that in all that time, technology was non-existent that monitored, measured and evaluated the quality of the electrical conductors on the heart. This would seem more important as the person ages. By inference they are assumed healthy, but direct measurement is absent. I wonder about this. On the one hand we have Star Wars technology that replaces, or supports marginal conductors, and on the other hand we are deficient in information. Had we known in December what we know now, I would have had a pacemaker installed then, avoiding the past six months of misery and unnecessary cost..
I realize that because nature has provided a triple redundant system in the heart’s conductors, that must provide a comfort zone in providing or recommending cardiac care. In the rocket and spacecraft world, we go nature one step further, with quadruple control redundancy. Spacecraft Voyager, now at the edge of the solar system after over thirty-five years, is still sending back information.
So, as a result (I believe) of marginal conductors, as confirmed later in this letter, I entered the Sulpizio ER with a small heart attack on February 4. That episode was concluded with the insertion of a pair of stents and I was sent home to recover, with a prescription for Plavix, which was found necessary in order to avoid complications from medicated stents. An interesting concept.... medication to make medication work. Within six days I experienced a sudden rush of numbness down my left side. In minutes it subsided. It occurred again the next day, and by the fourth day was settling in as a constant impediment. At first my cardiologist suspected a stroke and referred me to Dr. Hemmen who initially was of the same opinion. The following day after the appointment with Dr. Hemmen I checked into the ER. Echo tests and MRI found no sign of a stroke, and absence of loss of mobility seems to confirm that. I later learned that this is a somewhat rare but serious side effect of Plavix. It did not improve, I believe, because I was reinforcing it every day. I have since consulted with at least a dozen neurologists and cardiologists at UCSD and at Scripps Clinic. No one seems to know much about the phenomenon, much less what to do about it , although the internet documents abundant cases of the same thing. I have yet to hear from Bristol Myers, following my inquiry. I stopped taking Plavix, relying hopefully on the high dosage of aspirin I was taking and trusting to luck. Needless to say, my cardiologist was disturbed and proposed an alternate to Plavix. I looked that up too and the side effects clearly state: May cause sudden numbness down left side of body.”
About three weeks ago I entered the ER again with actual signs of a stroke, as manifested in inability to write clearly and slightly slurred speech. I was 90% recovered in a couple of days and discharged. Through some research, I learned that a substitute for the blood thinner warfarin had been developed and newly on the market called Eliqius. I discussed this with my cardiologist and he agreed I should try it. I have yet to determine whether it exacerbates the numbness problem.
Then, something interesting happened. Credit Dr. Hemmen for probably saving my life. At my last appointment, in an apparent fortuitous moment of epiphany, he ordered a cardiac monitor to be worn for a month. On the first night an anomaly was recorded that indicated a blockage, manifested in a heart rate as low as twenty. I received an early morning call on July fourth advising me to go to the ER immediately. There a series of tests were undertaken and I was admitted to the hospital. A subsequent visit in my room by the cardiologist on duty went like this.
“You have a problem with the conductors that control your heartbeat. One of them is completely gone and the other two are deteriorating. We’re going to have to fit you with a pacemaker.” We went over the technical aspects and planned for the operation the next day, as no one was present on the holiday to operate. The procedure went successfully and I am now at home living normally, except for the persistent numbness about which the entire medical profession seems to know nothing at all.
To sum up, you may already have concluded that this is a litany describing a situation that need not have occurred, in my opinion, that can be ascribed to a deficiency of information. The technology is great, but in my opinion UCSD has a way to go before information is its equal. What a great thing it would be for the medical profession, were they to come into balance.
Sincerely,
Edward Hujsak
It is a practice, after a stay in a hospital, for a patient to receive a questionnaire, requesting opinion ranking from poor to exceptional the various aspects of that person’s experience in the facility. This seems to be a bureaucratic method of a hospital assessing its performance, relying on a subcontractor somewhere to gather and summarize data. At the end of some questionnaires is a line or two for comments by the patient. Most recently, I elected to ignore the questions and provide instead extended comments, sent directly to hospital administrators, hopeful that: 1. it will get some attention, and 2. others, reading this, might do the same.
Tom McAfee, M.D.
Dean for Clinical Affairs
UC San Diego
Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center
La Jolla, Ca.
Dear Tom,
Today I received an evaluation form that, filled out by patients, presumably provides a data base or benchmark from which improvements in the operation might be identified and implemented for the betterment of the institution. I want to tell you at the outset that in my recent stays at the hospital, Staff performed in exemplary fashion and there certainly are no complaints about the facility. At the end of the form are a couple of lines marked “Other comments” and that is where I want to dwell, instead of filling out the form. This letter is not meant to be vindictive or anything of the sort, but coming from the scientific and engineering community, there are things that I observed and experienced in recent months that reveal what to me are significant weaknesses in the operation. I hope it is read and accepted in good faith and that it is helpful.
I have been a cardiac patient at UCSD since 1994. I came in with a previous history of a quadruple bypass in 1988, performed at Sharp Hospital. I am now in my 89th year. During the entire period since 1994 I visited my cardiologist at four month intervals. On occasion echo and stress tests were performed. In retrospect, it seems that in all that time, technology was non-existent that monitored, measured and evaluated the quality of the electrical conductors on the heart. This would seem more important as the person ages. By inference they are assumed healthy, but direct measurement is absent. I wonder about this. On the one hand we have Star Wars technology that replaces, or supports marginal conductors, and on the other hand we are deficient in information. Had we known in December what we know now, I would have had a pacemaker installed then, avoiding the past six months of misery and unnecessary cost..
I realize that because nature has provided a triple redundant system in the heart’s conductors, that must provide a comfort zone in providing or recommending cardiac care. In the rocket and spacecraft world, we go nature one step further, with quadruple control redundancy. Spacecraft Voyager, now at the edge of the solar system after over thirty-five years, is still sending back information.
So, as a result (I believe) of marginal conductors, as confirmed later in this letter, I entered the Sulpizio ER with a small heart attack on February 4. That episode was concluded with the insertion of a pair of stents and I was sent home to recover, with a prescription for Plavix, which was found necessary in order to avoid complications from medicated stents. An interesting concept.... medication to make medication work. Within six days I experienced a sudden rush of numbness down my left side. In minutes it subsided. It occurred again the next day, and by the fourth day was settling in as a constant impediment. At first my cardiologist suspected a stroke and referred me to Dr. Hemmen who initially was of the same opinion. The following day after the appointment with Dr. Hemmen I checked into the ER. Echo tests and MRI found no sign of a stroke, and absence of loss of mobility seems to confirm that. I later learned that this is a somewhat rare but serious side effect of Plavix. It did not improve, I believe, because I was reinforcing it every day. I have since consulted with at least a dozen neurologists and cardiologists at UCSD and at Scripps Clinic. No one seems to know much about the phenomenon, much less what to do about it , although the internet documents abundant cases of the same thing. I have yet to hear from Bristol Myers, following my inquiry. I stopped taking Plavix, relying hopefully on the high dosage of aspirin I was taking and trusting to luck. Needless to say, my cardiologist was disturbed and proposed an alternate to Plavix. I looked that up too and the side effects clearly state: May cause sudden numbness down left side of body.”
About three weeks ago I entered the ER again with actual signs of a stroke, as manifested in inability to write clearly and slightly slurred speech. I was 90% recovered in a couple of days and discharged. Through some research, I learned that a substitute for the blood thinner warfarin had been developed and newly on the market called Eliqius. I discussed this with my cardiologist and he agreed I should try it. I have yet to determine whether it exacerbates the numbness problem.
Then, something interesting happened. Credit Dr. Hemmen for probably saving my life. At my last appointment, in an apparent fortuitous moment of epiphany, he ordered a cardiac monitor to be worn for a month. On the first night an anomaly was recorded that indicated a blockage, manifested in a heart rate as low as twenty. I received an early morning call on July fourth advising me to go to the ER immediately. There a series of tests were undertaken and I was admitted to the hospital. A subsequent visit in my room by the cardiologist on duty went like this.
“You have a problem with the conductors that control your heartbeat. One of them is completely gone and the other two are deteriorating. We’re going to have to fit you with a pacemaker.” We went over the technical aspects and planned for the operation the next day, as no one was present on the holiday to operate. The procedure went successfully and I am now at home living normally, except for the persistent numbness about which the entire medical profession seems to know nothing at all.
To sum up, you may already have concluded that this is a litany describing a situation that need not have occurred, in my opinion, that can be ascribed to a deficiency of information. The technology is great, but in my opinion UCSD has a way to go before information is its equal. What a great thing it would be for the medical profession, were they to come into balance.
Sincerely,
Edward Hujsak
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