My nightmare hospital experience this weekend

brandyII

Although the organization doesn't approve of weight loss surgery or diets in general you could contact the National Association To Advance Fat Acceptance, maybe a letter to them and cc them on all the complaint letters may help. Just a thought.

nurse niki

I am so sorry that you had such a terrible experience! I can't imagine how scared you must have felt! I would write a letter to the higher-ups at the hospital, and request a meeting to present your side of the the situation. If you don't get anywhere with them I would contact local news stations and fill them in on the terrible treatmemt you recieved. That would make the hospital listen to you for sure!

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LilMissBand-Aid

(((((((((80'sChick)))))))))

I'm truly speechless. I mean, what if you had appendicitis or something equally as serious? Would it have taken you to go into a coma before they decided, "Hey, this lady is really ill...".

I'm glad it wasn't something so bad as that, but I do hope you get it checked out. Best wishes and let us know how you are faring.

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@~'~Irene~@~'~




Surgery Weight: 283 lbs. Surgery Date: 2/11/2008 by Dr. Koura, Sacramento, CA.






Short Term Goal: Century Club!! 100 lbs. total lost!

80s_chick

I really want to express how grateful I am for all of the concern and suggestions you all have given me. I am so glad that I found this community. You are all such wonderful, caring people. I am glad to be here.

I am not sure what is wrong with me. I am still hurting (which is why I haven't been here much) and I continue to have a terrible, awful pain in my shoulder and neck. It became so unbearable that I finally went to Care Now. The doctor there could only prescribe me some Flexeril. To my exasperation, the medicine is not working. It doesn't even put a dent in the pain. I called them back today and the doctor told me to go to the ER. YEAH, RIGHT!

So, I am very depressed. I suffer from depression anyway, but this has really done me in. I am tired of being in pain, I am tired of doctors, and I am tired of what I feel is failure to be well. I am sorry if this is not positive, and I really should not be negative, but I feel like I am drowning and it is hard to pull myself out of this. I continue to pray about it, and I guess that's all I can do. My health problems are beginning to take a toll on my marriage. I don't know how much more my husband can take. He literally does almost everything. I wouldn't blame him for leaving. I don't even like to be around me.
Again, sorry for the negativity. Today is not a good day. I even ate some pizza.

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Surgery 4/16/08
High-255
Goal-135
4cc Fill 6/30/08!

brandyII

I don't know what to say, is this pain something different? Before you had a pain lower, related to the lap band, possibly intestinal? Are you being treated for depression and taking any meds for it? I hope I'm not being too forward about the topic.

We all have times where we feel really bad about almost everything! I think your experience in this hospital was very traumatic for you and can affect you in a lot of ways. It doesn't sound like your husband was there with you at the time and I don't know if that's an issue but maybe you need someone to talk to about it all. Of course I don't know you but you just seem to be in despair and as a person who has been there many times I usually try to get people to be proactive about their mental health as well as their physical health which to me is equally important. Hope things get better, brandyII.

kathystrick

I'm sorry you are having to go through all of this and hope you get some answers soon. Take care and keep us posted on how you are doing!

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Turler

80'schick: I don't know how to help you feel better. I would certainly suggest that you find another doctor. Even if that means going to the ER for immediate relief. You had mentioned a differrent hospital that was nearby. Maybe you could go to THAT ER instead. You have been in pain for a little while now and as stated before it is changing (was lower, now higher).

Flexeril is a muscle relaxant. If it's not working, than maybe the pain you have is not muscle related after all. What diagnosis did the physician at Care Now give you?

Are you in touch with your surgeon? You are so newly banded that you NEED to be seeing a doctor to manage at least the band/post op part of your health. If what you're experiencing is not band related, than you need to be seeing your Primary Care Physician to establish a plan. Maybe you need to see a specialist. Have you had x-rays? CT scan? Lab work?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to help.
~C

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~Turler
If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got!
Band Date: April 10, 2008

*JASMINE*

I'm so sorry you're feeling so down. Have you gone in to see Dr. Carter, yet? If you have no luck with him, I would recommend Dr. Jayeesilan (?) from Medical City. I went to him when I was having issues and he did a full work-up on me. He also has a great bedside manner. I know it is far from Arlington, but he is well worth it.

Something you might want to look into is that your body might be rejecting the band. You should do a search on the complications section for this. I've read of it happening to a small percentage of people. I hope that this is not the case for you, but it is worth looking into.

One last thing is, steer clear of Care Now. They are great for little things like colds and ear infections, but for things like this, you need a full work up to figure out what is causing the pain.

Please keep us updated on how you are feeling.

snowbird

What I am missing is the resolution to your pain and suffering. Obviously you are not still dehydrated and unable to get liquids down, so what happened? Did you ever figure out what was wrong? Why was the surgeon telling you that you were able to get liquids down when you weren't? Did you ever figure out what was causing the pain?

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Banded 10/10/07
Dr Ortiz, Tijuana

80s_chick

The doctor at Care Now was not very helpful. I did finally go to a different ER today because when I called to tell them the meds weren't working, they sent me on my way. The doctor I saw listened to me, asked me a lot of questions, and gave me some pain medicine that I didn't ask for because I was too afraid. She said that Flexeril won't work as well without it being taken in combination with steroids and NSAIDs. Of course, I can't take NSAIDs, so she gave me a prescription of some steroids and some Lortab. She actually scoffed at the fact that I have been hurting so bad and the Care Now doctor...AND MY SURGEON...both prescribed Ultracet.
I was treated for a bulging disk four or five years ago. I had some steroid injections at that time, but they didn't help or hurt, and it is a pain in the butt to have to go through all of that. The disk didn't require surgery, and the pain was irritating but I felt that I could deal with it and take some Advil or something when I needed it. Over the years, my neck would get stiff a little, but nothing that I really paid too much attention to. The doctor today told me that it was a huge mistake that I ignored this problem. She thinks the disk probably slipped, and she said it could have happened just when I picked up my baby (who weighs 30 pounds now) or something that seemed relatively minor. She referred me to a neurosurgeon to get an MRI to see what is going on with that disk.

As for my surgeon, no, I haven't called. They have been calling me though. The nurse (who is also the doctors wife) said that he wants to see me in the office. The thing is, I don't want to see him! At first they told me I could have a fill at 4-6 weeks and now he wants to wait three months. I called Dr. Carter's office and they said that as a rule he doesn't do fills for three months post-op. I am sending a letter to Dr. Harrison tomorrow.

My primary doctor is not that awesome, either. I seem to be batting a thousand here. I had to stick with him for my pre-op diet, but now I will find a new one. I had some tests done for my thyroid because my hair is falling out, my nails are breaking, and I am dead tired all the time. He ran the bloodwork twice and told me that the T4 discrepancy was because of artifical hormones, aka the Pill. I talked with my GYN about it, and she said that she never heard of such a thing and she referred me to an endocrinolgist.

UGH! I hate doctors!!!!

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Surgery 4/16/08
High-255
Goal-135
4cc Fill 6/30/08!

80s_chick

The pain in my stomach is not near as bad as it was before. It is still there though but not severe. I can't help but wonder if I got a bad, bad stomach bug. It was going around work and sent a few people to the hospital. My boss's husband was actually hospitalized for several days because he had it so bad. I have not been paying too much attention to the pain in my stomach because the pain in my neck (literally) was more painful.

I wish I knew why my surgeon was telling me that I could keep liquids down when I was clearly puking my brains out. He did the scan with the contrast and said that he just saw the contrast go thru the stoma so therefore I was keeping it down. When I got back to my room, it came back up! He did not care and was not listening.

I can't tell you how hard it was for me to go to the ER today. Of course I went to a different hospital. I just told them that I was in pain, explained my symptoms, and they did an examination and Xrays. I did not ask for any pain medicine despite the enormous amount of pain that I am in because I was afraid they would treat me like a junkie. They offered the meds to me and even gave me three shots to make me more comfortable. I thanked them for being so caring.

I really have a sour taste in my mouth regarding doctors. I do not know if I will ever find a doctor that I will be able to trust. I have heard good things about Dr. Carter and I will probably see him for my band aftercare. I just think that it stinks that when someone is hurting and in pain that a great number of doctors ignore it or minimize it and treat the patient as if they are looking for drugs. I guess a few bad apples will cause the suffering of many people. I have heard of some people locally that couldn't even get adequate pain meds due to cancer pain because their doctors didnt want to prescribe. I wouldn't do this of course, but it is easy to see why people resort to looking for drugs on the streets. Doctors won't help.

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Surgery 4/16/08
High-255
Goal-135
4cc Fill 6/30/08!

Sherilyn

Oh..wow...I wasn't apprehensive before but now I am after reading what happened to 80's chick...My surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning.

80s_chick

Oh, no, please don't take it wrong!! You will be fine. I am sure you have an excellent doctor. It wasn't my intention to scare pre-surgery bandsters!!! Please be reassured that I didn't have any problems with the surgery itself. Don't be afraid! I just had a bad experience at one hospital. Please don't let my bad experience frighten you. Keep in mind that the weight loss is your goal, and that is nothing but good!!!

Please forgive me for scaring you. Mods, if you think my posts are too negative or scary, please delete them. It was never my intention to scare anyone.

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Surgery 4/16/08
High-255
Goal-135
4cc Fill 6/30/08!

Sherilyn

No...It's ok...I know I will be fine. I just want you to get the help you need. How dare those so called professionals treat you that way! Just remember....each of them will have to answer for their dispicable behavior some day!

Turler

YES!!!! You are right! Now it's time to take the good experience you had today and turn things around for yourself! I'm sorry you had to go through all that you did, but it sounds like things are looking up. You'll be getting some tests done to figure out what's going on and it also sounds like you are getting some new doctors.

You should definitely talk to your surgeon. At least to tell him you won't be coming back due to the treatment you received from him at the hospital. Make sure you write that letter you talked about earlier. The hospital CEO needs to know what is going on in his/her hospital. Also, you should find out what school the students were from and write a letter to their director. Would any of us want people like that (laughing at patients in pain) caring for any of us???

Just remember...You can hire or fire any doctor. You are paying for a service. If you don't like their service for ANY reason, you can fire them. We tend to forget that we control which doctor gets our money whether you are self pay or have insurance.

Keep us posted.
~C

__________________
~Turler
If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got!
Band Date: April 10, 2008