Terry in the Media
- Thread starter Tonyblack
- Start date
Terry Pratchet has been in the media about light helmets, these actually partially reverse the brain damage of Alzheimer's but I cannot find out how to get one. I need help for a relative with dementia who is about to be forced into an old people's home if I cannot find a way of improving her memory.
The Alzheimer's Society does not know how to get one.
The Alzheimer's Society does not know how to get one.
From the documentary - if I remember correctly - the helmet was very much a prototype. Terry was acting as a guinea pig at the time and I doubt whether the helmet has actually gone into production. It would (presumably) have to go through some sort of clinical trials.
If you can find the documentary, you may find the name of the inventor and Google them to find more info.
Good luck
If you can find the documentary, you may find the name of the inventor and Google them to find more info.
Good luck
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wilt ... 127457.stm
Terry agrees with the right to end your own life.
Terry agrees with the right to end your own life.
- May 5, 2009
- 3,181
- 2,600
- May 5, 2009
- 3,181
- 2,600
I read the article very carefully, and I agree. I even went so bold as to make a comment. I am going to stop typing until I can stop crying. I truly love Terry (from afar, and not in a creepy stalker way) and I hope that his wishes are kept true. I want to go the same way when I can no longer care for myself and others are burdened with my needs. AND NO DAMN PEG FEEDING!!!!! Freaking Barbaric that is. 
Thank you Bouncy for making this available for me to find. :hug:
Thank you Bouncy for making this available for me to find. :hug:
It is a well-thought out and intelligent article.
But.
See, my dad's been dead 14 years. There is not much I wouldn't give to have him here.
He didn't die of old age (which is kind of relative) or a rampant disease, but of incompetent doctoring.
An anesthesiologist who had not bothered to read his chart gave him Whichever Anesthesia before an operation and that anesthesia induced a stroke. Oh, he woke up. But he couldnt' talk, couldnt' walk. Wait --Daddy did so talk, he told a nurse to "piss off."
My father never swore, he must have been pretty goddam mad. I was.
I was disgusted at the level of care in the hospital and hospice both.
It's all about making the family feel better and to hell with the patient.
What you see at 4pm in a hospice is NOT what happens at 1am, believe it. I was pregnant that summer and too miserable (and fat) to sleep, so I'd go read to my dad at whatever time. When they said '24 hour care,' they lied.
Warehouseing people is NO answer. Keeping people alive because they have good insurance is NO answer. But hey, this is the US and we get that. A lot.
Nor is the US alone in substandard doctors. I am sure there are more than enough of them anywhere. My family just managed to get a 2-for-1 special on idiot doctors.
That's the trouble with medical (and legal and teaching) standards: they are set to the lowest level of competency. So anyone living outside a teaching hospital ends up with the guy who graduated 312 out of his class of 315. Yet, he is deemed "competent."
Oh, bullshit.
Yeah, I do agree with Sir Terry's views. Wholeheartedly.
I do not agree that legislation is the way to attain that goal. Any time the legislative process is set in motion, graft seeps in and special interest groups clamor for their needs to be met first.
I dont' know that there is one true resolution. Nursing homes are bullshit; they exist so people do not have the inconvenience of caring for those who cared for them, which is pure selfishness.
You're supposed to take care of your children, not leave them in day care.
If you can't do that, dont' have children.
You're supposed to take care of your parents when they get old and need help because they took care of you when you couldnt' figure out how to tie your shoes, let alone use a toilet.
So, yeah, I have a hate-hate thing going toward hospices and nursing homes.
A bit of help at the end? In a nursing home, a stranger, a nurse's aide with 2 weeks training, is not going to "help" anyone. An RN, maybe? God forbid, an MD should show at inconvenient time, say, more than once a week.
The lady who said she was "saving her pills" had it right. Dying quietly is an intensely personal decision, one NO medical personnel is qualified to make.
But, then I'd give anything to have my dad back, so what do I know.
But.
See, my dad's been dead 14 years. There is not much I wouldn't give to have him here.
He didn't die of old age (which is kind of relative) or a rampant disease, but of incompetent doctoring.
An anesthesiologist who had not bothered to read his chart gave him Whichever Anesthesia before an operation and that anesthesia induced a stroke. Oh, he woke up. But he couldnt' talk, couldnt' walk. Wait --Daddy did so talk, he told a nurse to "piss off."
My father never swore, he must have been pretty goddam mad. I was.
I was disgusted at the level of care in the hospital and hospice both.
It's all about making the family feel better and to hell with the patient.
What you see at 4pm in a hospice is NOT what happens at 1am, believe it. I was pregnant that summer and too miserable (and fat) to sleep, so I'd go read to my dad at whatever time. When they said '24 hour care,' they lied.
Warehouseing people is NO answer. Keeping people alive because they have good insurance is NO answer. But hey, this is the US and we get that. A lot.
Nor is the US alone in substandard doctors. I am sure there are more than enough of them anywhere. My family just managed to get a 2-for-1 special on idiot doctors.
That's the trouble with medical (and legal and teaching) standards: they are set to the lowest level of competency. So anyone living outside a teaching hospital ends up with the guy who graduated 312 out of his class of 315. Yet, he is deemed "competent."
Oh, bullshit.
Yeah, I do agree with Sir Terry's views. Wholeheartedly.
I do not agree that legislation is the way to attain that goal. Any time the legislative process is set in motion, graft seeps in and special interest groups clamor for their needs to be met first.
I dont' know that there is one true resolution. Nursing homes are bullshit; they exist so people do not have the inconvenience of caring for those who cared for them, which is pure selfishness.
You're supposed to take care of your children, not leave them in day care.
If you can't do that, dont' have children.
You're supposed to take care of your parents when they get old and need help because they took care of you when you couldnt' figure out how to tie your shoes, let alone use a toilet.
So, yeah, I have a hate-hate thing going toward hospices and nursing homes.
A bit of help at the end? In a nursing home, a stranger, a nurse's aide with 2 weeks training, is not going to "help" anyone. An RN, maybe? God forbid, an MD should show at inconvenient time, say, more than once a week.
The lady who said she was "saving her pills" had it right. Dying quietly is an intensely personal decision, one NO medical personnel is qualified to make.
But, then I'd give anything to have my dad back, so what do I know.
Thank the gods that not all care homes are like that. After my dad had a stoke and became pretty much completely paralyzed we found a nursing home for him where the staff went out of their way to make him as comfortable and happy as possible. Yes, it was our worry that this was only for our show when we were there, but compared to how he'd been treated in the hospital (where he was pretty much ignored), the staff at the nursing home really made him happy in the short time he had left.
Really sorry to hear of your experiences Trish.
Really sorry to hear of your experiences Trish.
- May 5, 2009
- 3,181
- 2,600
Batty said:
Incompetent doctors are universal and cause devastation to family members that are left behind.
((((Trish)))), I'm sending you lots of hugs.
NOT ALL DOCTORS GOT A'S IN SCHOOL, OR EVEN MADE IT TO EVERY CLASS!!!!! Some could give a rip less about their patients.
I hear you Trish and Tina and Tony - my brother-in-law was 'mis-assessed' when his prostate cancer returned after an 18 month remission. When he was taken into hospital finally they still were treating him for something else when he had exactly the same symptoms as he had during the 1st bout and by the time they finally concluded then he was out of remission and that the cancer had metastased like mad they even managed to cock up the tubes and drains they put into him. Less than a week afterwards he was raving and incoherent as one of the drains had come out internally and he was flooding himself with toxins for several days before some nurse decided to check why nothing was coming out of one of the bloody tubes
By this time Malcolm wasn't taking food anyway and 'fortunately' he was transferred to a better cancer-specialising hospital where they scanned him properly to confirm that there was no hope whatsoever but at least had him properly monitored and medicated so in the 2 days he was there he was helped to have a proper shower for the first time in weeks, which simple little thing made him feel much better even though he was by then so weak and tired. He was transferred to a local hospice and basically went to sleep for a week before finally dying in peace and well cared for. My sister-in-law was allowed in any time she wanted and has nothing but praise for the staff there. Before he died Malcolm had asked Pete to see 'if anything could be done' about his earlier treatment within their local GP/hospital - we were going to but by the time we'd got the funeral over with Janine was so wiped out we couldn't put her through the rigmarole and futility of a negligence/incompetency case so we left it.
My father's going through some of this neglect now though not quite as badly as we luckily have relatives who work in the hospital in one of the better run wards, so we're watching for anything going wrong all the time. It's certainly not a case the odd hospital here and there - it's all over and I don't even blame the medical staff too much, 'cos the whole of the NHS and the private sector is based being 'managed' for the lowest bloody cost margins including equipment and adequately trained staff.
We'd have a brilliant health sector if everyone wasn't so inconveniently sick all the time
By this time Malcolm wasn't taking food anyway and 'fortunately' he was transferred to a better cancer-specialising hospital where they scanned him properly to confirm that there was no hope whatsoever but at least had him properly monitored and medicated so in the 2 days he was there he was helped to have a proper shower for the first time in weeks, which simple little thing made him feel much better even though he was by then so weak and tired. He was transferred to a local hospice and basically went to sleep for a week before finally dying in peace and well cared for. My sister-in-law was allowed in any time she wanted and has nothing but praise for the staff there. Before he died Malcolm had asked Pete to see 'if anything could be done' about his earlier treatment within their local GP/hospital - we were going to but by the time we'd got the funeral over with Janine was so wiped out we couldn't put her through the rigmarole and futility of a negligence/incompetency case so we left it.
My father's going through some of this neglect now though not quite as badly as we luckily have relatives who work in the hospital in one of the better run wards, so we're watching for anything going wrong all the time. It's certainly not a case the odd hospital here and there - it's all over and I don't even blame the medical staff too much, 'cos the whole of the NHS and the private sector is based being 'managed' for the lowest bloody cost margins including equipment and adequately trained staff.
We'd have a brilliant health sector if everyone wasn't so inconveniently sick all the time
Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit said:
Batty said:
Incompetent doctors are universal and cause devastation to family members that are left behind.
((((Trish)))), I'm sending you lots of hugs.
NOT ALL DOCTORS GOT A'S IN SCHOOL, OR EVEN MADE IT TO EVERY CLASS!!!!! Some could give a rip less about their patients.
But here's the thing --the ones who skipped and got D's still have to repay their student loans.
So, they need to make large money. Medicaid and Medicare are full of "approved" docs who accept nothing-but because it's an assured paycheck and to hell with their patients.
My aunt lives in Co Wicklow. She gets a visiting nurse 3 times a week. An acupunturist bi-weekly.
A few years ago, Aunt Nellie spent 2 weeks in a nursing home near Howth and actually got better!
Difference? Irish gov't subsidizes their med students.
US med schools don't want to hear about subsidies, only tuition increases.
