My mother had a doctor that refused to move forward with knee surgery because she was so depressed and refused to do therapy because it hurt her knee so much to move around.
I guess I understand, why go through the trouble of surgery if she’s just going to be a bummer couch potato afterwards and never change her ways?
But at least she’d be a bummer couch potato whose knee didn’t threaten to give out on her whenever she tried to do laundry in the basement.
If I take my car in for new brake pads, don’t refuse me service because the transmission is on its way out.
People are more complicated than cars, and surgeons are no magicians. I think your idea of the reason of your mother’s surgeon for refusal might be a bit off:
Without adequate pre- and post-op physiotherapy, a
joint will likely be worse after surgery.
If simple physiotherapy is already too painful, cutting into this overexcited tissue risks inducing a complex regional pain syndrome.
If someone suffers from both depression and from too much pain to do physiotherapy, they need a multimodal pain therapy to prepare for surgery.
So, based on the bit of info you provided, refusing surgery was very likely the right thing to do to avoid worsening your mother’s situation. What I di hate is when doctors don’t explain themselves and just say “I can’t help you”, but do not point patients to someone who can.
My mother had a doctor that refused to move forward with knee surgery because she was so depressed and refused to do therapy because it hurt her knee so much to move around.
I guess I understand, why go through the trouble of surgery if she’s just going to be a bummer couch potato afterwards and never change her ways?
But at least she’d be a bummer couch potato whose knee didn’t threaten to give out on her whenever she tried to do laundry in the basement.
If I take my car in for new brake pads, don’t refuse me service because the transmission is on its way out.
People are more complicated than cars, and surgeons are no magicians. I think your idea of the reason of your mother’s surgeon for refusal might be a bit off:
Without adequate pre- and post-op physiotherapy, a joint will likely be worse after surgery.
If simple physiotherapy is already too painful, cutting into this overexcited tissue risks inducing a complex regional pain syndrome.
If someone suffers from both depression and from too much pain to do physiotherapy, they need a multimodal pain therapy to prepare for surgery.
So, based on the bit of info you provided, refusing surgery was very likely the right thing to do to avoid worsening your mother’s situation. What I di hate is when doctors don’t explain themselves and just say “I can’t help you”, but do not point patients to someone who can.