Cactus Cowboy
Well-Known Member
One of my six surviving brothers recently received a medical diagnosis overseas, and those doctors think he has ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. Lyme was discussed and tests were made, but the same doctors are sticking to their guns with ALS. Now, I know from recent personal experience that doctors aren't infallible: they thought I had gout after I injured my foot, since the signs & symptoms were similar, but an independent consultation with a podiatrist and a subsequent partial MRI disproved the gout diagnosis. It was actually a foot injury sustained while pushing an 800-lb. cart onto the mechanical lift in the garage at my last job. But I digress... this post is solely about my brother.
This particular brother is now 65 years old, yet my family has no history of ALS, nor do we have any history of cancer or other big killers... we DO have issues with arthritis, and all that rock climbing & small craft sailing probably didn't help ME in that regard, as I've already experienced some hand issues, but most of us live into our upper 80s or even our 90s. This brother lives in Italy, and Padua (or Padova) is reputedly one of the two oldest medical centers in that country, and perhaps Europe as well, I can't remember the exact details. But again, I feel that doctors aren't infallible, and we all know serious mistakes have been made in the medical field, otherwise there'd be no need for malpractice insurance.
This brother is tougher than a dollar steak, a real pillar of strength when my parents went through that bitter & prolonged divorce, and also a real hand when our beloved mum passed away almost five years ago. He has always been one tough guy, and resilient too, a black belt and everything, but now he's dealing with this diagnosis, and I'm trying to figure out what other diseases might exhibit the same signs and symptoms as ALS or Lyme, just in case these Italian doctors came up with the wrong diagnosis. Anybody here know the answer to that question? And I ask for my brother, not myself... a better man than I'll ever be, that's for goddam sure. Any info or advice will be greatly appreciated, and I say that most sincerely...
When I injured my foot earlier this year, one brother told me that modern doctors often feed signs and symptoms into a computer, then wait for the computer to kick out a diagnosis, or perhaps a 'short list' of diagnoses, aye? And evidently that's what happened when I received the phony gout diagnosis... but I'm not sure if European doctors also do this computer bullsh!t? Anybody know? Again, all I really want to know is whether any OTHER conditions or diseases produce the same signs and symptoms as ALS or Lyme... a million thanks to whoever can provide an answer, in the meantime I'll carry on some web research. Alright, that's it, end of transmission, time to check on dinner in the oven anyway.
This particular brother is now 65 years old, yet my family has no history of ALS, nor do we have any history of cancer or other big killers... we DO have issues with arthritis, and all that rock climbing & small craft sailing probably didn't help ME in that regard, as I've already experienced some hand issues, but most of us live into our upper 80s or even our 90s. This brother lives in Italy, and Padua (or Padova) is reputedly one of the two oldest medical centers in that country, and perhaps Europe as well, I can't remember the exact details. But again, I feel that doctors aren't infallible, and we all know serious mistakes have been made in the medical field, otherwise there'd be no need for malpractice insurance.
This brother is tougher than a dollar steak, a real pillar of strength when my parents went through that bitter & prolonged divorce, and also a real hand when our beloved mum passed away almost five years ago. He has always been one tough guy, and resilient too, a black belt and everything, but now he's dealing with this diagnosis, and I'm trying to figure out what other diseases might exhibit the same signs and symptoms as ALS or Lyme, just in case these Italian doctors came up with the wrong diagnosis. Anybody here know the answer to that question? And I ask for my brother, not myself... a better man than I'll ever be, that's for goddam sure. Any info or advice will be greatly appreciated, and I say that most sincerely...
When I injured my foot earlier this year, one brother told me that modern doctors often feed signs and symptoms into a computer, then wait for the computer to kick out a diagnosis, or perhaps a 'short list' of diagnoses, aye? And evidently that's what happened when I received the phony gout diagnosis... but I'm not sure if European doctors also do this computer bullsh!t? Anybody know? Again, all I really want to know is whether any OTHER conditions or diseases produce the same signs and symptoms as ALS or Lyme... a million thanks to whoever can provide an answer, in the meantime I'll carry on some web research. Alright, that's it, end of transmission, time to check on dinner in the oven anyway.