5 weeks

Still no improvement.

Well, that's not exactly true.
The first ten days showed marked improvement, until an "expert" decided to intervene. 

Some doctor who was unfamiliar with the situation
(A hematologist who had no idea what myelodysplasia was) decided to interfere with the decision of the infection specialist, and take the patient off of his antibiotics five weeks early.

The result...

Patient in ICU after two days, temp of 105 (again) unconscious and unresponsive (again), required intubation (again), and in worse condition than he was in when he was initially admitted.

In the intervening three weeks, patient has required a chest tube (which removed 1.7 liters of fluid which had built up due to a poor intubation) a tracheotomy (because he has now been intubated on three separate occasions in the last five weeks) and a flight out of the area so that he can start pulmonary therapy in order to begin breathing on his own again. 

He doesn't recognize me, his 40 year old son.
He barely recognizes his my mother, his wife of 42 years.
He cannot speak.


This was a man with a genius IQ, who could understand if not speak five languages in addition to English (French, German, Spanish, Latin, and Greek), who would never spend a dime on something if he could figure out a way to make it himself.

And they say 'look, he's doing so well, he blinked!'



As if that absolves them of culpability.


And the part that really burns, I know these rat bastards are billing $15,000 per day minimum for this mistreatment (at five weeks and counting). 

So even if he does survive this little medical misadventure,  he's going to be on the hook for
more than he, and his wife, and his kids and grandkids own combined. 

All because some expert couldn't be bothered to spend five minutes on google before doing the one thing that every doctor I've had for the last 30 years has told me never to do...
Halting a round of antibiotics prematurely.



Fucking experts.