Medical Scare

Following up on a previous entry, my close friend was sent by ambulance to the hospital by her cardiologist for a possible heart problem, and they discovered a tumor in her lung the size of a cell phone (comparable in size to one of those flip phones the cell companies give you for free to lock you into a 2 year contract, as opposed to, say, a Blackberry or an iPhone). It seems that golf balls are SO 1990's. My friend was told she probably had cancer. They kept her in for a week while they mapped the tumor, and performed every possible test, scan and biopsy, giving her the million dollar work over. At the end of the first week they did another lung scan, and found that the tumor had dissappeared! Apparently they had begun to treat her with antibiotics somewhere after the first 4 days on the slim possibility that it was pneumonia. And miracle of miracles, that's exactly what it was! This is indeed good news, although it should be noted that she has top-notch medical coverage, and the hospital and the doctors probably made their fiscal quarter with her case alone, even though all she ever needed was some good antibiotics, had they diagnosed her properly when she first came in. Of course they are saying that, given how she presented initially, they were correct in not suspecting anything other than cancer. But then, what would you expect them to say?

I'm skeptical. I think it was inferior diagnostic skills of the admitting physician. But no one will ever investigate it. The medical industry will take their pound of flesh where they can get it. The insurance company will pay, and we will all suffer as the insurance industry raises their rates and decreases their coverage for the rest of us in order to balance their books.

Oh, and as far as the heart problem that caused her to be sent to the hospital in the first place, after several EKG's and a cardiac cath operation, well...it seems her heart is just fine.