On being sent home too soon

The norm seems to be to send folks home in less than 24 hours, and for the most part it seems to be okay to do so, especially with the less invasive surgeries. Many people would rather recover in their own beds. I was told I would be kept if there were any problems.

In my particular case, I was sent home at the 23 hour mark and ended up in the ER the same day. I was readmitted the hospital for 2 more days. I believe that I was not given enough morphine after my surgery and was sent home before they were sure the percocet was adequate for pain control.

I remember pushing the morphine button several times and being denied because it was too soon. I was able to walk the morning after surgery. I was give one 5mg dose of percocet and told to take motrin when I got home.

I felt every bump in the road even though my minivan has a soft ride and I was sitting on a pillow. When I attempted to get out, I immediately felt horrid pain. I started sobbing uncontrollably! I began to shake and my teeth chattered. I have never felt like that, even during two natural deliveries! My husband could not get me out of the car-mainly because I was afraid to move and I was hysterical. He was afraid to hurt me more. Even I was scared by the way I was crying. The shaking made it worse, but I couldn't relax my muscles. I was rigid with it.

DH called the doc's office and the nurse said drive to the nearest ER. Luckily we live near one. When we arrived my hubby went in and they said bring her in. He told them he needed help and they sent a nurse and an orderly with a chair. The silly nurse told me I needed to get out of the car so they could help me! Then two large orderlies were able to get me out. I only weigh 140 pounds but I was dead weight, tense and crying.

The ER doc was furious that they had us go there instead of back to the hospital where I had the surgery. He had me sent by ambulance back there. I think they gave me something for pain but it is all a blur to me.

Back in the original hospital, I had a ct scan. They were thinking maybe I had a hernia through an incision because my pain was mostly in one spot next to the largest incision. It was clear, but they kept me. I could not take a full breath and even with oxygen, my pulse oximeter alarm would sound because my o2 was below 90%. I could breath better the next day as the pain got better and was able to get off the oxygen.

They kept me a third day and I am not sure what medical reason was listed on the chart, but frankly I was scared to go home. I was grateful for the extra time. My DH looked worse and worse as I got better and better. I believe the poor guy never left my side. My love for him has grown deeper. I am a lucky woman.

He annoyed the final nurse of my stay by being persistent about wanting to know my medications and insisting that I have enough time to test the meds before I went home. I was on tordol and I was able to continue on it plus a double dose of the percocet. I felt pretty good and didn't have any problems going home.

I wanted to get my story out there so that others are warned about pain control issues when going home. After all the warnings I heard about staying ahead of the pain and not letting the pain get out of control, it was the hospital folks who let it happen to me!

I am wondering if any others felt they were sent home too soon and what you think can be done to prevent it.

Sorry to hear about your hard time! I had LAVH on june 28 my surgery started around 11 am and they sent me home the same day at 6:30 pm I really thought that was to early and besides that when they sent me home I have not even urinated yet... and I really thought that was wierd and its been almost 5 weeks since then and I still am not urinating like I am suppose to yet!

Thanks! Wow. That's less than eight hours. And part of that you were in surgery! How can they be sure you are even stable? I am sorry that you are still having problems. Have they told you what is up with the urination problems? Seems like long enough to be back to normal by now, right?

I dont know how they even had time to know if I was stable lol. They dont know they just keep on putting me on different meds. I am getting kinda tired of taking med that is not helping. So far I have been on 3 different types of bladder med and 2 antibiotics and nothing had helped.

when I had my first surgery laproscopic ( was supposed to be myomectomy but the Dr wanted to play golf so he just poked some holes in my then called it a day) ( I couldnt stand that man he was mean rude and uncareing and he had a personal problem with me because of my apperance wich i was disturbed to read the things he said about me in my medical file ugh ! ) any way with that surgery I litterally waked straight out the recovery room to the car and went home they wouldnt even wheel chair me out it was just a " you ate a cracker and had some 7 up , now go home ") i was in shock at how quick it was , then with my myomectomy ( different dr ) I was kept for 1 day and most of the next day ( my blood count was really low ) but for my actuall TAH on june 30th I was kept for 4 days ! and was on diladin pain pump for 2 of those days .. I am so sorry the hospital made you leave to soon , Im glad you were able to finally get you pain under control good luck and try to rest and heal

I had an open SAH on 7/8/10 at 7:40 a.m. They released me the next day by 12 p.m. I was shocked. A hysterectomy is a major surgery. Although I had passed all the milestones, I felt like they were rushing me out. Also, my blood pressure was still quite elevated. It was up prior to surgery. I just wonder if the insurance companies are responsible for early releases due to cost. This just doesn't feel fair or in a woman's best interest to be released so soon after a major surgery. Especially with large cuts. My incision was appx. 4 inches.

Oh, I do believe it has to do with insurance. The hospital is trying to keep the costs down and get paid. Maybe they were trying to follow the guidelines of the authorization from the insurance company. I don't know. But they ended up adding the cost of two more days of hospitalization and a ct scan.

I think there needs to be stronger rules to protect patients from being sent home the way we were. Maybe there are good rules but they are not being followed closely?

Wow - I cannot believe some of you went home the same day, before peeing on your own, etc. Flwrgardener - what a nightmare! I hope you're finally starting to feel better.

My surgery was at 10:45am, and they discharged me at 9:30 the next morning, I just needed to pee on my own before being allowed to leave. By noon, I still couldn't pee, so they put in a cath and sent me on my way.

My mom questioned the surgeon on discharging so soon, and his answer was that hospitals are meant for critical care, there was nothing the nurses could do for me by the 24 hr mark, that I couldn't do at home.

I am feeling great, but have to go back in for another surgery on Tuesday (exactly two weeks later) to have the urethra sling loosened. Probably one of the reasons I couldn't pee on my own in the first place...

My LSH-BSO was started about 12:15 and I was in the car on my way home at 5:15 that evening. I kept telling the nurses that I was having trouble catching my breath and they assured me that I was fine that it was because of the gas they they filled me up with during surgery. I also had not urinated and still had the catheter in. I vaguely remember them saying something about it being close enough so the removed it and brought me back to my room. I don't even remember putting my gown back on to leave. They walked me up and down the hall twice and that was it. I honestly don't think I was ready to go home, but wasn't in any condition to argue. I too believe that it's because of the insurance these days. It's all about the money.

Patsy, that is incredible! I am amazed that you were okay. I guess it is way more common than I thought.

Ladies, I am doing great now! The pain was under control when I went home the second time. I have hardly any pain now. I was sitting at my desk for a while and that area around the largest incision began to burn a little. I am back in bed now. I read my surgery report and that is the one that the morcellator (tool that cuts up the uterus and pulls it out) was put through. Must have really moved it around or something. A big bruise came up exactly where the awful pain was that day- right next to that incision.