gee, the little orange thing doesn't LOOK deadly

Yesterday, I called Dr. Cobb's office for the third time about the new medications.
All three of those calls addressed the amiodarone elephant in the room.

I'm not saying it's gray or even big, just not addressed properly.

The tablet is round and a shade of light orange, also known as Cordarone.

One would never guess it to be capable of rendering me blind, with lung damage and a thyroid gone wild... but it is capable of that very thing.

So, as I was saying, I called yesterday morning.

This time, though, I was fortified with information from both the Surgeon General's website and from the FDA Medication Guidelines website.

https://medlineplus.gov/
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/medication-guides

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2018/018972s054lbl.pdf#page=13

Both sites had not only confirmed the dangers the drug posed to me but also flatly stated that the drug should only be administered to patients hospitalized for a one-week stay so they could be closely monitored, as the drug can cause more arrhythmias to occur.

That certainly was not the case for me.

I had not been given the drug at all in the hospital, nor were its hazards explained to me before my release from St. Joseph's Hospital.

This could have all been handled much better by Dr. Beverly Lippert, the physician's assistant who took over for Dr. Cobb on that day as he was not available.

All that would have been needed was to discuss the reason for the amiodarone and the risks associated with its use.

At the bare minimum, an oral review of my medical history with me would have revealed at once that it was too risky for use by me.

In addition, the two medical websites both stated the drug should not be given to people over 60 years of age.
I'm so glad I did the research on it Tuesday night.

When I spoke with the person answering the phone at his office, she had me pause to allow time for her to write all I was saying.

I did so, clearly stating each part of my medical history that pertained to the risks associated with the amiodarone.
Then we rang off, her telling me she would have the doctor's assistant, Paige, return my call.

 

When Paige did call back about ten minutes later, I clearly stated my objections to taking that antiarrhythmic drug, giving her my medical history yet again and citing the two reference sites to support my objections.

I even told her that I would be glad to research other antiarrhythmics, that I was an analytical chemist with a PhD, fully capable of doing so.

You know what she said?

With mouth closed, she had replied "um hmm" several times to me as I spoke.

Seriously, like she had been put out by having this conversation with me.

Then she told me that she would "tell Dr. Cobb that you refuse to take the drug."

With that, she was gone.

Seriously.

That was around 10:30 AM.

Just before 1 PM yesterday, Paige called me back.

Dr. Cobb would like to speak with me about the medication.

My choices were 0830 Friday morning or 1415 on Monday afternoon.

Of course I took the appointment that would save my weekend from needless worry.

So, now I have geared up to do battle for my life tomorrow morning.

That will all be before breakfast.

But, I will have all of my pill bottles with me.

I will have the paperwork I was sent home with from the hospital, marked up to show I had read it thoroughly.

I will have the recent photo on my phone of the retinal scan done my Dr. Smith at the Savannah VA Center of the retina in my right eye, with its detaching vitreous layer, and the date of the opthalmogic migraine that sent me to the hospital three years ago.

I'll even have the blood pressure and pulse readings I've recorded three times daily since my purchase Monday of an Omrom BP7250.

I am fully ready to plead my case.

I pray that he will listen.