So glad you listened to your body and your heart. It's your body, your baby and when it comes to your body your doctor should at least listen to you. I too used the check the forehead, my husband feels the arm. Whatever works.

Back in 1980, I lost two babies. One at 5 1/2 months into my pregnancy at the beginning of the year and one at 6 1/2 months at the end of the year. The problem was an incontinent cervix. Although they say it is not inherited, my Mother lost 4 out of 8, I lost 3 out of 6, my sister lost 2 out of 3. 15 years ago, my daughter spent 62 days in the hospital before her daughter was born 5 weeks early. Now, my granddaughter has been on complete bed rest for the past 14 weeks. They stitched her cervix up to keep her from losing the baby and they are going to cut the sutures on April 24th and say the baby will be born right away. That is how much medicine has progressed since 1980 and that is only 33 years. A lot has changed.

Always used the cheek to forehead test. Also, I could tell because most of my kids' {5 of them} ears turned beet red when they had a fever.

Some (many Dr's. do not take change well. Many years ago when a Dr. said they needed to wash hands between women having babies or the hands would carry germs that would kill next patiens/babies.) Medical profession ran him out. In 75 when preg with my son I had a sonogram to see how far along he was, but medicine and practiers are not always willing to change from the tried and true. Hopefully that is changing today.

Still, it is better that the DR was wrong about the cancer. I know what you mean about some DRs and their arrogance...we've all experienced it.

Unfortunately, health insurance costs have been going up enormously for the last 20+ years. That's not really the governments fault. It's the profit factor in health insurance. Before Reagan pushed for and got for profit health insurers, the insurance was far more stable in price than it is now. Insurers want to impress investors, so costs rise and claims or requests for certification of certain health procedures are denied.

I know that is a very simplistic view of the issue, and that there are many other factors - such as an aging population that lives longer and, unfortunately, sicker. I, too, have a high deductible policy and the out of pocket costs rise each year. But, as I said, that's been going on for 20+ years.

Costs for medical school are ridiculously high, and it takes a long time to pay off the loans.

I graduated with my Nursing education in 1962. We had no disposibales for anything, no RT department, no PT department, no ICU's, We did have a new born nursery with incubaters. The metal ones with the glass top. Most of the patients were in 4,5 or 8+ bed wards. Very few semi-private rooms and a couple of private rooms. And this was a MODERN Hospital at the time. Things have changed since then and some for the better and others, will you deside. I just went through 4 months of ortho. surgeries and pneumonia a couple of times and was in the hospital and want to know what has happened to the help with daily baths, but really missed the back rubs. When did we stop doing these?

I would assume that the training that asked doctors to recognize symptoms of pneumonia without x-rays was just to get them to pay attention to the symptoms and not rely only on x-rays because sometimes the x-rays can be misleading or misinterpreted. I have a friend who was actually told a few years ago that she had lung cancer based on x-rays, and that turned out to be completely wrong!

When my kids were young, I could feel their back and tell their tempature within .2 degrees plus or minus.......they thought it was amazing, I thought most all moms could do it (and a LOT of dads!)

I used my lips on their forehead. Second daughter was born with upper respiratory problems. Her temp. would spike very fast (normal - 104 degrees) in half an hour. If her feet got hot it was off to the doctor. She grew out of it before starting school, thank goodness.