Endometrial Cancer

Hi Everyone,
My Daughter had LAVH on 10/09/2008.
The good news is that they got all of the cancer.
When my Daughter came out of the surgery, the nurses on her floor could not believe how bruised her whole body was! One Nurse would call another nurse in, etc until 5 nurses in all came in.
Since the surgery she has been back in the hospital 2 times, and had to stay 3 days each time, for unexplained pain. She cannot move her bowels on her own, and I have had to take her to emergency room because she would have pain from not moving her bowels.
At the ER they gave her 2 enemas, phosphus soda, and go-litely to drink. We were there all day, and she still did not go.
They then sent her home and told her to take miralax, 2 dulcolax, go-litely, stool softeners, until she went.
None of this worked. Finally she did move with a Fleet Prep 1 kit. They then took her in for a virtual colonoscopy, and a cat scan, and found out that her Colon is now narrowed due to surgery!! They now want her to see a Colo-rectal surgeon, because she may need more surgery.
This sounds like this was caused by neglience to me, she still is not able to return to work.
Believe me when I tell you that she has gone thru alot more than this, but I am trying to keep this as short as I can.
Does this sound like neglience to anyone else?

Sorry that it is so long

Deb's Mom

dear deb's mom...i don't blame you for being concerned. i would want to know what caused the bruising after the surgery...it could be a side effect to medication (maybe) or who knows what? did you get copies of the operative report and pathology report. if something went wrong during the surgery, then it should say on the operative report.

i'm so sorry about the pain she suffered with the constipation due to a narrowed colon. again, i have no idea what to think. i had a bowel re-section done as part of my de-bulking surgery for ovca (8") and it took me 11 days to have a b.m. it took several months before they looked normal but everything is completely fine and normal now with me.

don't apologize for a "long" post...that wasn't long at all...lol...in fact, the more information you give, the better we might understand. i'm sorry i can't help you with your question regarding negligence. i really think you have to sit down with the surgeon and your daughter and ask what happened to cause the bruising and also the narrowed colon. good luck...i hope everything will improve for your daughter. please come back and let us know what happens. take care.

p.s. what kind of cancer did your daughter have? she might benefit by seeing a specialist in gyn cancer, a gynecological oncologist once you get things sorted out.

I wish I had some words to tell you how sorry I am that this happened to your daughter.... Unforturnately I don't know about litigation.. Because our bladder and bowels are so closely knit by our uterus, knicking of the bowel, bladder, or both is not unheard of...I don't know what would cause a narrowing of the colon unless it somehow got "twisted" during surgery. I had a friend whose ureter was stitched shut during her surgery and they had to have several additional surgeries done to correct that.. Although some of the hospital bills got covered for that, I still don't think they got anything from the doctor for malpractice... The other thing is I don't think this forum will allow any discussions about sueing doctors...

Hi Deb's mom:

I'm sorry that your daughter has had to go through so much. I hope she gets well soon. I don't know what to say, but do have some questions.

Does your daughter have a medical condition that would cause her to bruise easily (either known or unknown)? I ask because it is possible that that's what it was from. I bruise very easily and always come out of the hospital black and blue. And everyone can tell when I've had blood tests or anything else requiring a needle, because of the bruises. I also get unexplained bruises that just show up for no reason and the doctors can't figure that out. I've been that way for as long as I can remember.

As for the narrowing of her colon, how do they know it was from the surgery? Could it be that it was like that before the surgery but didn't know it? Did she have problems with constipation at all before her surgery?

I would definitely get copies of the surgical report and other documents/reports from the hospital. As ngm stated, it would say what happened during the surgery.

And, as PattieO stated, our reproductive organs are almost intertwined with our other organs and it isn't out of the ordinary for a knick or cut or stitch. Any surgery has it's risks, and even something simple like a blood test has risks.

Hugs and prayers to you both.