What happened? I don't know.
But from my side of the fence...
I have had terriable periods since I was 14. Diagnosed with Enod after much mistreatment from many doctors, ending in writting me off. Off I went to the next doctor. I found Dr. X the year my daughter was born prematurly at 7 moths from being in preterm labor for 2 months prior to delivering. My uterus is bicirnute so my daughter only had half a uterus to grow in. at 5 months things became high-risk. At 7 moths I delivered via emergence c-section. I never switched GYN's after that (9 years ago). They took such good care of me and my daughter. I felt priviledged to have such healthcare. As the years went by my pelvic problems began to arise again. Scar tissue from prior surgeries had become and on-going issue and so was my Endometriosis which was creeping back. Together the two of them destroyed my health, quality & freedom. I was finding myslef in more unpleasant situitions than I was enjoying life. So in 2004, due to many reasons, including having survived a tumor of my Pituitary (brain) which regulates all your body's chemicals and hormones. I was unable to do the luipron, BC Pills, Patch (Latex allergy also). So when I had my tubes tied, IT WAS WORSE THAN THE C-SECTION!!!! I was in such physical distress for MONTHS after that surgery I vowed NEVER TO have another surgery.... (So I thought)
This year I began having Endo pains and scar tissue issues to the point I was bleeding a full month with a week off before another month would start, I was miserable and in pain ALL THE TIME. So After having a great 8 year relationship with Dr. X and his office I scheduled an appointment for severe right ovary pain and Dr. X wasn't available for two weeks so I saw a colleague (sp?) of his who recommended a LAVH/RSO. I was shocked, scared and unsure. So I schedule a consult with Dr. X as a second opinion. A month later, I saw Dr. X who said "Yup, can't garentee it will do anything but based on your medical history, it should give you at least the benefit of not bleeding and such all the time." So I scheduled a third opinion with a Dr. in the city. Went there, after charts arrived and that Dr. said I had severe endo (did an ultrasound..?) and told me to do the Luipron. Explained why I couldn't and she said that she would wait but that she doesn't know me as good as Dr.X, so I should take that into consideration. Sigh...
I went home and scheduled the LAVH/RSO. It was for the 17th of Sept. but felt the waiting was gonna kill me! So I called back 10 minutes later and bumped it up a week to the 10th of Sept. I was scared but ready and felt that the care I had recieved was right there beside me...holding my hand.
So I go for the Pre-op tests, no big deal. I get a call from the hospital for Pre-Registration and because I had an issue with a hospital employee actually stalking me and following my daughter around town, threatening to put my husband in jail and standing outside my windows at night watching me in my house with my family (neighbor's caught him) I had some questions. It got worse than that. It went to the point where this guy presented himself to me (before I knew anything was going on) and told me that he was answering a referral call I had left with FMC for medical treatment. He then gave me a business card (I still have it) and a Patient Questionaire with the basics a Dr.'s office would need. (SS# or me and spouse, address, phone, insurance info, helath background.) I filled it all out and mailed it back to "his office". Come to find out he wasn't a doctor at all. He was the mental health Receptionist for 2nd shift, at you guess it FMC (the hospital I was having my LAVH/RSO at, due to insurance reasons.) It got so bad the FBI had to get involved, the guy retaliated and pressed A & B charges on my with the help of a friend BUMPING INTO my husband at a bar. FBI required us to moved us out of Massachusetts for awhile as the guy was found to have ties to heroin and was debarred as a Massachusetts lawyer for fraud, forgery and heroin possession. He defended a murderer in my hometown and the murderer got a severe reduced sentence due to guy falsly signing documents, embezzeling and misrepresentation. He is not a good person and was also found by the FBI to have a history of stalking but because he has never actually harmed his victims, he is not a sex offender. I don't get it either.)
So you see why when Pre-Registration called I had to be sure that the guy wasn't going to have access to my charts, me or Dr. x's orders. I mean he did tell me he was a Dr. at that hospital when he first approached me..
Would you have just said "Guy, who I understand is an employee of yours will not have any access to my informaiton or me while staying with your establishment." That was all I said. The same afternoon I recieved a call from Deb (Cheif of Nursing) swearing to me that they are looking into things and had me tell her the story start to finish. When I was done she assured me I would be on the GYN floor where guy had NO BUSINESS being and that they were signing me in as an alias, for added protection. I replied, if I have to be signed in under a false naem, I'm having services at the wrong hospital...
So I go to Pre-Anesteshia and they tell me that they have been made aware of my concerns and that I will be on the GYN flor, yada-yada. Same stuff Deb said the day before.
I go to my Pre-op appt. with Dr. X (WHICH WAS CHANGED, AT THE LAST MINUTE = Dr. X's Office). Dr. X spends 5 ( I counted) minutes with me and says see ya Monday.
Monday I check into surgery (I'm not on the list... OMG! The waiting is killin' me, I was crying in the waiting area.) Then they come out and apparently I was on the list as an alias... I was still good to go.
ray:
I get in and get preped. IV took 3 tries, Versed x 2, I was on stage (l really thought I was on stage and kept telling my husband that the curtain was going up, as I pointed to the room divider, which was a curtain. I wish they had video taped that part.) They have me sign a consent that Dr. X was doing a LAVH/RSO. I signed and they gave me Levaquin. Well I'm talking about the curtain going up and the roof of my mouth starts to itch, and I'm sneezing and getting itchy. I told my husband to tell the anesteshiologist. He comes over and tells me I am having a severe reaction o the Levaquin,a nd told the nurse to give me something else. Next thing I know I am waking up with the hospital staff asking me to move from the stretcher to my bed, I sat up and said, "Yeah, not happening and flopped abck down... My surgery had been completed. I was being put in my room.
I didn't much care about the Dr. X coming to see me that night, I had figured that he came in while I was in Recovery and I was too unreocvered to notice. I'de see him in the morning and he would breif me on his experience in the OR.
I wake up the next morning and an associate of Dr. X comes in and says how are you, yada-yada. I assisted Dr. X with your surgery and he is now too busy to come down here.
"Down here", I said. "What do you mean, down here?"
Well I had been put one hallway away from stalker guy and not put on the GYN floor! I was so anger but figured I had bigger fish to fry. Well I start having questions that day about what my body was going through and was this normal, yada-yada. NO ONE COULD ANSWER MY QUESTIONS! The nursing staff had next to NO EXPERIENCE caring for hysterectomy patients. R and H tried their best and was even able to call up to GYN to get an aswer or two about the bleeding and fever. 12 hours after my surgery, nurse Mary come in and says, Dr. X has ordered your discharge and remval of your pain-pump. (That was a night from the darkside, the pain 20 minutes after the pump was gone was like nothing I care to repeat. They gave me 2 Percocets and I screamed and wailed in pain for an hour while they waited for the Percocets to work. Shift change came during that hour and R was back on the clock. She got the Diluidid pump back and I was managing after it kicked in. I told her that I hadn't see Dr. X and it bothered me. She tried to comfort me but it wasn't knowing that this guy had removed 4 organs less than 30 hours ago and I'm to unimportant or far away to follow through with. They told me that Dr. X was giving me the go-home order again and because I hadx checke with my insurance co. prior I knew I had 4 days of ins. coverage before that was an issue. The next day I was so irritated by the lack of caring and care (They were basicly just making sure I didn't die, there was no real hysterectomy post-op care.) I said, when they told me a third time the Dr. wanted me home, "FINE!" I demanded a shower, they said when the Dr. X cleared me for showers I could have one, he was unreachable though. (took an hour and a half to get. My husband showed up and gave me a shower.) I demanded Dr. X come down and at least check my external incisions (7) before I get kicked out on my ***. He came for another 5 minutes (Just like Pre-Op) and was gone.
So I get home and have issue. NO BM for 10 days, bright red bleeding vaginal migraines, brain for (feeling of not being me but not knowing what that exactly means), fever, slight depressstion, bladder issues. Totalling 4 calls in 2 weeks. They call back everytime saying sensless stuff;
Dr. X says that depression has never been a problem for post-op patients, unless you had depression before.
Dr. X says that the bleeding is fine.
Dr. X says that bowels take time, give yourself an enema on your bed. (Not kidding.)
You can't be having hot flashes, you have an ovary.
We can't lighten the pain meds your on, your allergic to Percocet. (WAIT! I better not be because Dr. X ordered me to have 2 while in the hospital last week. I knew I wasn't, why she didn't know, scares me.)
So I get int he car yesterday to go to Post-Op 1 and my cell rings, It's Dr. X, Canceling my Post-op appt due to Dr. X having an emergency surgery come up. When the Friday beofre they had to cal to chacnge the time yesterday due to surgery popping up.
So this AM I called and said this Friday appt is set in stone...RIGHT.
I feel my care during this whole process has been less than pleasing..
HAND CRAMPS..
Can I Fire My GYN?
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