Getting Old

You know what makes me think about getting old? It is not my athletic ability in my 40′s. Not my gray hairs. Or my kids doing things I can remember doing. It is when people I watched on TV as a child die.

I was a huge Charlies Angles fan as a kid. Now to hear/read about Farrah Fawcett having cancer and fighting for her life it makes me feel old. I know anyone can get cancer but she was a pretty big icon for me as a child. Then to read about her debacle of the hospital violating her privacy rights is terrible. There is an article about it at Scrubs. They even go into what hosipital employees should and shouldn’t do. Most of them seem pretty common sense to me.

The one that I found interesting was,

5. Do not discuss medical issues with the patient’s family unless the patient has authorized it. If other people are in the room always ask the patient if he or she would prefer privacy. I usually say something like, “Some people prefer their medical information to remain private. Should we ask your guest to leave or would you prefer that they stay?”

I have never been asked that question before when at the hospital. Even when I had my back surgery it never came up. Not that I would ask anyone to leave anyway.