A Faux Karen

I am a Faux Karen. All too often I contend with being considered “entitled, demanding, and prone to escalating minor disputes”.

I am discovering that it is very challenging to enjoy “the time I have left” when confronted with less than helpful “care” in a health care setting, when the possible outcome is my own death, or permanent brain damage.

Since dealing with the cataract prescription fiasco, being prescribed a drug containing a preservative that is predicted to kill me, I have gone into an induced state of denial. As I have been waiting for the situation to play out, waiting for more information, waiting for all the parties to have all the files. I have not allowed myself to think about this very dangerous situation I find myself in.

Yesterday I received a call from the surgeon’s office, to set up the date for the second cataract surgery. The call came from the person who co-ordinates the surgeries.

That is the person that I was previously told would call me with the name of the pill that would be given at the time of surgery. That call never came. There was no record of the former request, in fact this person told me yesterday that they didn’t know anything a pill at the time of surgery.

They also told me yesterday that they have no record of the information forwarded to them by the Patient Experience Specialist at the hospital where the surgery will be performed. Was it sent? Did they receive it? Did they trash it when it arrived? Does the person who called me not have access to all of the files?

To say the surgeon’s office structure is not equipped for my particular special needs is an understatement… despite the signs in the office saying “we take allergies seriously”. Seriously!

I explained that I am very frightened, that I want to research the drugs used before the surgery so that I could be relaxed for the surgery. The co-coordinator said they would talk to the surgeon today about my request to know what the pill was, and the manufacturer as different manufacturers use different preservatives. I asked her to call me back to let me know how it went, what the surgeon advised. Honestly, the way this is going, I do not expect to receive a call, I don’t expect that there will ever be any acknowledgement that I made the request for the information.

The co-coordinator informed me that my first eye surgery will be done by the surgeon, but that surgeon will not perform the surgery on the second eye because they will be away on maternity leave. The replacement surgeon has good reviews on their skills, mixed on bedside manner. I don’t care about the bedside manner, as long as they competently do what they need to do keep me alive, and do a good job on my eyes.

All surgery is a bit of a horror show for me, due to the issues of anaphylaxis, allergic to preservatives, which are non-medicinal ingredients in many drugs used to treat patients. On at least three occasions I’ve avoided death only because I’ve been conscious and very very assertive as I was about to be injected with a lethal dose of some drug or other with a dangerous preservative. And once I was injected with such a drug and waited on the dentist’s chair to die… which I obviously did not do. That was quite an experience, for everyone in the room. It was most intense for me though, the person who dies is always the one with the worst outcome in these kinds of situations.

Although I held hopes, the dentist felt it might not indicate that the allergy was gone, it just might not have been the normal amount of preservative in the shot. We were all quite relieved when I didn’t die. I was sent home with a preservative free syringe of epinephrine, just in case. Thankfully I didn’t need it.

Human error is very common in my experiences with the medical world. I have been successful in spotting it and dodging it for over 42 years, my luck could run out anytime.

I wear a medic alert bracelet, and not once has a medical person, nurse or doctor, looked at it. If I am not conscious to advocate for myself I pray they will have a look!

I can tell you that the majority of people who make the human errors do not respond in a positive manner when it is pointed out to them. I don’t have a choice, I must point it out to them.

I have plenty of drama in my life just trying to live out my God given life span.

I have done, and am doing everything I can to try to ensure my safety.

Yesterday, and today, I have not managed to get back into the induced state of denial.

I still have weeks until the surgery, they may be my last. I am aiming at induced denial so that I will enjoy them as much as is possible.

Worldly

Weather

22°C
Date: 2:00 PM EDT Friday 24 July 2026
Condition: Partly Cloudy
Pressure: 102.3 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: 21.9°C
Dew point: 16.2°C
Humidity: 70%
Wind: SSE 17 km/h
Humidex: 27
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“It’s a dangerous business going out your front door.”
The Fellowship of the Ring
J. R. R. Tolkien
1892 – 1973