I feel a very lucky patient. Yes I underwent a rare bowel
transplant but I don’t believe that any patient including me can cope with
chronic illness or major life threatening surgery without having a team around
you. I have written a great deal about the importance of my family and friends
but one vital part of what could be affectionately called “Team Bowel Transplant”
is the medical team. All my desire to be a good patient, a compliant patient
and a patient who thinks positively about the future is underpinned by the health
care professionals that I surround myself with. In an age where information is
literally at our finger tips and where patients are such an integral part of
health care you still cannot do this alone and the relationship that you build
with the team looking after you is critical.
My own bowel transplant team is, as I have mentioned before
headed up by the lead surgeon Anil Vaidya. It is his relationship with me and
the way he treats me and his other patients that actually defines the type of
patient I have become. I bang on that all patients are e-patients because fundamentally
we are. Like all of you I am empowered, engaged and equipped it is just whether
we choose to act on these things. An i-patient though (interactive patient) has
to have someone to interact with for it to be completely true. We can all
interact with other patients, with new digital health technology, medical apps
etc but to be a truly interactive patient you have to have an interactive
medical team. In Anil and his team I am incredibly lucky to have that person.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. I am still trying
to sort out the abscesses on my legs and one is being re dressed every few days
and actually currently hurts more that I thought it would. At the last re
dressing the nurse thought that it wasn’t looking great and I needed to go back
and see Anil. So I took a photo on my mobile and texted it over to him. He
responded with a question, I then emailed with back with a further picture
attached and a few minutes later he asked me to come in to see him the next
day. I came in and he already had treatment options worked out. All of this
took about 10 minutes of interactive communication and he knew exactly what to
do.
How often does that happen in healthcare at the moment?
Certainly more than it did 5 years ago but I suspect an awful lot less than it
should. As far as the abscess goes it was a 50/50 call whether to cut it open, incise it and take out what is called a shelf under the
skin to help it drain better. He decided to leave it a little longer and use a
form of seaweed to clear it out. Meanwhile I have to say that it flipping
hurts.
So what makes Anil stand out as such a forward thinker and
an interactive surgeon? For a start you have to have a person that truly cares
and always thinks about things from the perspective of the patient. I recently
asked him about his views on treating a patient who he felt had perhaps contributed
to their own ill health and therefore some might ask why they should have the
treatment. His answer summed up his approach. “Most physicians and the general
public do not view it from the person’s perspective. One needs to walk in their
shoes for a whole day before passing judgement…”
His single minded determination to breakdown new medical
barriers is a second reason his interactivity. Anil trained at the world
renowned transplant centre in Miami,
USA. After finishing off in Miami, he wanted to be closer to his parents and
thus looked for jobs in the UK. The Oxford
Transplant Centre was just about starting the pancreas program in 2004 and
he was able to help right from the beginning. His ultimate goal was always
intestinal and multivisceral transplantation and with the help of Prof Friend,
Oxford got designated as a centre in 2008. He recently did the first abdominal
wall transplant in the UK, and his programme is the only centre active in the
world offering this service.
Finally there is his desire to embrace technologies that
allow patients, medical professionals and students to truly engage. I am
currently discussing with him potentially tweeting from the OR. His response “About
live tweeting a kidney transplant. I’m sure it is possible and exciting!”
The reason for focusing on all of this today is that whilst
I am incredibly passionate about patient engagement no patient can do this
alone. Total patient interactivity and engagement relies on partnership. I am
not convinced that many HCPs are ready
for this. In Anil Vaidya you have one of the best examples of true
patient/medical partnership.
The current bowel update is one that is generally positive.
I feel that I am in tinkering mode at the moment. I am having my vitamin D and
various other levels checked in detail to see if there are any other deficiencies.
I have been put on a digestive enzyme to see whether my absorption will
improve. This will be checked again in a week and then we will go from there. I
am also having a follow up with the doctor who deals with the botox in my stomach.
The sickness hasn’t gone and although it has improved I am still sick up to 4
times a week for no real reason. Perhaps I needed to ask for a tummy tuck at
the same time as another injection.
In the background to all of this is the fact that I still
have my picc line but need
to wean myself off the anti sickness meds. Anil has set me specific dates and
targets that I have to work to as the picc is a high infection risk but whilst
the sickness is there it isn’t easy. Oh well just another challenge to sort
out.
Sadly I have end my blog post with some bad news. My beloved
QPR have been dumped out of the cup by a team two divisions lower than us.
 |
| QPR 2 MK DONS 4 |
An
all time low. Or maybe tactical master plan by our genius manager to rest all
our key players for one final push for survival in the Premier League.
Till next time
M
