Choose your Dr. carefully

[lookout123]

I have a sick sense of humor so i thought i would post this. I also thought it was pretty funny when the surgeon put his initials into his patient's c-section scar. if anyone runs across similiar stories...post 'em if you got 'em.that's gotta smart.

[Clodfobble]

I hate doctors. So many of them will simply refuse to admit that they don't know the answer.

When my brother was a toddler, he had almost constant ear infections. The doctor told my father that they needed to put tubes in his ears; i.e., puncture a hole in his eardrum which would remain open indefinitely--infections would actually get worse without the eardrum to help stop the bacteria, but this way the pus would drain and the pain would be lessened. He could never go swimming until the doctors had determined they could take the tubes out, and he had to be exceedingly careful in the bath. His hearing would be noticeably worse off even after the tubes were removed and the eardrum had closed back up.

My father's one question was, "if a punctured eardrum makes you unfit for military service, why is it ok to do it to my son?" The doctor got angry that my father was questioning him and essentially threw them out of the office, telling him to come back when he was ready to take his son's health seriously. Fortunately, someone gave my parents a book called "What Your Child's Doctor Isn't Telling You" (or something like that) before they went through with it.

Turns out, my brother was allergic to cows' milk. They took him off that, and the infections ceased. Today, he is a musician... and he gets very uncomfortable if you mention he almost had his eardrums punctured as part of a completely unnecessary medical procedure.

Sometimes you can't choose your doctor, and you're at the whim of whatever Bozo is on duty at the moment. Some years back down in Durango, Colorado I was driving home from visiting a friend who lived outside of town. Suddenly this huge elk jumps out on the road in front of me, basicly sticking out its tongue and putting its hooves up next to its antlers, daring me to hit it. Well, I swerved out of its way and hit my brakes which caused me to skid into a ditch next to the road and my car flipped over, sending me head first thru the closed sun roof of the car (I know, bad girl, should'a had my seat belt on). Not only did I suffer a serious concussion, I also broke all the ribs on my left side, my left collar bone, and my left elbow. The broken ribs punctured my left lung, causing it to collapse. To make things interesting, my heart decided to stop beating when I arrived (via paramedics and ambulance) at Durango's then teeny emergency medical center. At that time in Durango the doc's took turns being the one on call. They didn't even hang around the hospital, but just went home with their pager. It was a week night and I suppose the doc on call figured the chances of his being needed that night were nil, so he proceeded to down the better part of a quart of Jack Daniel's. When he arrived in the ER, he was so drunk he didn't know what he was doing. Thank God for the paramedics who saved my life. All the doc did was give me a tracheotomy which was done too high and severely damaged my larynx. I recovered from the accident itself fine, but I couldn't speak for several months afterwards and had to have two surgeries up in Denver to fix my voice and clear the scar tissue which was in danger of shutting off my air passage way. Believe me, I wanted to sue that doctor for malpractice big time, but the hospital did a cover up job that would have done Richard Nixon proud. I later met one of the paramedics who had saved my life and he told me the full story. This man had the courage to fly in the face of the local medical establishment and reported my doctor to the appropriate state authorities, and that doctor lost his license. Thank God.

[Cyber Wolf]

It's doctors like that who give decent doctors a bad name. Of course, it's nice having doctors for parents. When I was little, they knew and were friends with all the medical professionals I ever needed to see so I always had a good doctor, never had a Stupid Doctor Experience But I'm still young, I don't live in the same city as my parents anymore. I'll have many more doctors to go through before it's over.

[jaguar]

Ah but I bet you had trouble faking a day off school cyberwolf

[Catwoman]

I never used to bother faking I just wouldn't turn up. The teachers never understood my questions anyway.

[Cyber Wolf]

Originally Posted by jaguar

Ah but I bet you had trouble faking a day off school cyberwolf

Yes. Yes I did. But on the other hand, when I was actually sick, the folks in charge KNEW I was sick.

[Beestie]

The short version:

My friends took their daughter to the doctor complaining of various symptoms (she was only 5). The doctor threw them some aspirin samples and (literally) headed out to the golf course. No tests were ordered.

Less than 24 hours later, the child's mother is driving her limp, nearly lifeless child to the hospital - her tummy as big as a watermelon. She nearly died in the ICU and lost her hearing as a result of the pressure in her brain. The child (now 17 years old) had bactierial menengitis and it was revealed subsequently (in court) that the symptoms the child displayed in the doctor's office the day before were textbook menengitis symptoms.

The parents had a bad feeling when they left the doctor's office the day before. My point in posting this is so that anyone else who has a similar bad feeling when they walk out of the doctor's office should go see another doctor. Don't just assume the doctor knows best. While they might be knowledgeable and experienced, they don't have your instincts about what is wrong with you or yours.

[Clodfobble]

I have found that to be true about people, cars, pets... if you deal with something on a daily basis, you KNOW what feels right and you can tell when something's different, even if everything appears to be normal to an outside person.

[dar512]

Originally Posted by Beestie

The short version:

My friends took their daughter to the doctor complaining of various symptoms (she was only 5). The doctor threw them some aspirin samples and (literally) headed out to the golf course. No tests were ordered.

it was revealed subsequently (in court) that the symptoms the child displayed in the doctor's office the day before were textbook menengitis symptoms.

I'm not a fan of lawsuits for every little thing, but I'm glad they took this twit to court.

[ladysycamore]

Originally Posted by lookout123

I have a sick sense of humor so i thought i would post this. I also thought it was pretty funny when the surgeon put his initials into his patient's c-section scar. if anyone runs across similiar stories...post 'em if you got 'em.that's gotta smart.

Holy Moses!!!! Yikes!

Don't get me started with doctors. I see way too many now as it is (and I'm seriously thinking about changing my nephrology team).

It's bad enough that there is a mass exodus here in PA because of high malpractice insurance costs. Also, it's well known that if you don't have private insurance, that you get treated like a second class citizen (and damn, I'm already treated like that b/c of who I am! Sheesh!! :p ). On Medicaid? Good luck in getting some respect. I was hospitalized in 2002, and that experience was so lousy. Sure it might have been the staff, but I strongly believe that Medicaid patients get the short end of the stick when it comes to patient care.

[xoxoxoBruce]

(and damn, I'm already treated like that b/c of who I am! Sheesh!!

You're referring to you being Syc's significant other, right?

Originally Posted by ladysycamore

Holy Moses!!!! Yikes!

Don't get me started with doctors. I see way too many now as it is (and I'm seriously thinking about changing my nephrology team).

It's bad enough that there is a mass exodus here in PA because of high malpractice insurance costs. Also, it's well known that if you don't have private insurance, that you get treated like a second class citizen (and damn, I'm already treated like that b/c of who I am! Sheesh!! :p ). On Medicaid? Good luck in getting some respect. I was hospitalized in 2002, and that experience was so lousy. Sure it might have been the staff, but I strongly believe that Medicaid patients get the short end of the stick when it comes to patient care.

I agree, Lady Syc. There's no comparison between how I was treated in the days when I had private insurance versus how I'm treated now on Medicaid. People act like I have some disease! That's funny, but its not.

[DanaC]

When my niece was 4 she got sick. She had a nasty temperature and a bad chest. Her mum ( my sister in law) took her to the Doctors and he gave her pretty short shrift. Unfortunately this doctor was rather old fashioned. His attitude to women left a great deal to be desired..He wouldnt make eye contact with my sister in law and basically told her her little girl would be fine, it's just a cold....

Jen ( my sis-in law) went back home but continued to be worried.....she took Amelia back to the doctors this time with her husband( my bro) in tow....The doctor adressed himself mostly to my Brother and offered reassurances and a mild course of anti biotics. They werent happy about it...But this was their first child and the doctor was adamant that nothing serious was amiss. Not totally unreasonable given Amelias tendency towards colds and bad chests.....Though obviously it would have been much better had he listened to the worried mum who was fairly sure this was not the usual cold or flu. Alas his attitude towards Jen made her feel as if she must just be a neurotic first time mum...

Several hours later having put Amelia tobed and having hovered every sooften on the stairs to listen for coughing , breathing changes etc etc.....Martin reassured her and told her not to worry so much, she couldnt spend the whole night just hovering on the stairs and landing.....*smiles* 'course he didnt take his own advice and found plenty of excuses to go upstairs every so often and just pop his head round the door to check on the littleun.

On one of those visits upstairs he discovered Amelia, with her jaw locked tight , the tip of her tongue protruding from her between her teeth, her face was blue, she wasnt breathing. Jen was on the phone at the time to my mum, who said later she heard Martin shouting to Jen to call an ambulance. He was shouting that out as he carried her limp body downstairs.

I know from talking to him that the time it took for the ambulance to arrive seemed a lifetime. It took some time time to get her breathing again. She spent several days in hospital with a dangerously high temperature and pneumonia on both lungs. The reason she had stopped breathing was that she had had a "febrile convulsion"

The whole trauma could have been avoided had the doctor listened to the "neurotic" woman in his surgery.

[DanaC]

This post has gotten me thinking about some stuff i havent thought about in a while. I have a raft of bad medicine stories. Three members of my family have met their deaths due to incompetence or negligence on the parts of the medical staff who were supposedly caring for them.

The most dramtic was my Uncle Dave. My mum's favourite brother.

A week and a half before his 44th birthday he began to experience appalling headaches, they went on for a few hours and then he collapsed in agony. He was rushed to hospital where a battery of tests and scans revealed an aneurism. This would have to be operated upon they said. Unfortunately the surgeon who would deal with this was just about to go on holiday ( he was about to leave for London the next day and had already left the hospital) But.....we shouldnt worry because the aneurism wasnt bleeding. No blood on the brain they said. The operation would have to wait until the following week or, if the situation became critical sooner than that a locum surgeon would have to do emergency surgery.

A few hours later he got worse. He was in terrible pain. He was slipping in and out of consciousness. Doctors came and checked him, and again said he would be fine. This was normal , nothing to worry about. He then slipped into a coma. His son who had gained compassionate leave from the navy arrived too late, his father never regained consciousness. 2 days before his 44th birthday Dave died of a massive brain haemorage (sp).

His eldest son's boyfriend was a Psychiatrist who worked on the Psych ward at that hospital. He was able to gain access to Dave's records and discovered that the records showed blood present on the brain on day one. Under no circumstances should the operation have been delayed. He could have survived it, if the operation had been carried out. Unfortunately the hospital staff on duty had not wanted to call the sugeon back in.

.........Many years later, Dave's eldest brother Allan, an agoraphobic epeleptic became ill. He was admitted into hospital and underwent various invasive procedures and tests but they werent sure what was wrong. A decision was made that the problem lay in his bowel and they opened him......and then having done something in there they closed him back up again......He then began to get worse. His organs began to fail one at a time. He was given a full transfusion which lifted him for a short while but then he started slipping again. He eventually died. The autopsy revealed that he had bled to death after the surgeon who'd operated on his bowel had accidentally cut into his spleen.

What was so tragic about Allan, was that during his brief seeming recovery he began to sit up , and all he wanted was a cup of tea. He asked my mum to get him a cup of tea. She went off to try and sort that out but before she was able to things got critical again. He never did get his cup of tea.

We're not wholly sure what happened to Nana. We comfort ourselves that maybe the nurses took pity on her plight ( alzheimers) and deliberately hastened her end. If it wasnt an act of mercy it was negligence to the nth degree. Left with no clothes in a cold side ward she caught pneumonia and died.