She may have been right in that respect. But to not perform any tests and give me options was not what I expected in a doctor. By the way, just because I did all those things does not mean I wasn't in great pain. Driving towards Manhattan, I was praying that a cop would pull me over and put me in an ambulance.
I couldn't pee into the first 7 hours. Farting and sh!tting was out of the question until about 12 hours later.
Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't blame the candy in the vending machines, although I can't rule it out 100%.
Originally posted by: Perknose
Ouch!:|
My wife was moved too soon from the ICU after her esophagectomy. I came in that morning and they were moving her, wouldn't let me see her. I tracked down her lead doctor, and when I told him they were moving her, I saw him literally get white in the face. They kept me in some out of the way waiting room, alone, for nearly an hour. During the move, Jessie (my wife) aspirated stomach bile into both of her lungs. When they let me see her again, she was back in ICU, in a coma. She never made it back to consciousness, and 30 days later, she died. She was 42.
She deserved better.
I could have sued for some big bucks, in fact, I was urged to sue, but I did receive what I still consider some good advice. If you sue, the case can drag on for YEARS, it is not a pretty process, and the purple wound of your loss remains just that the whole damn time, opened and reopened by lawyers.
This was the goddamned Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and her presiding surgeon was head of the department and had done more successful esophagectomies in the last 20 years than anyone in the nation. His brother is head of the same dept. at Jefferson Hospital, and his son is a prominent surgeon in the same field.
Sometimes you do all you humanly can and Fate still turns its cold icy back on you. But, rich man, poor man, that's just the way it is . . . and, with you or without you, life goes blindly, busily bumbling on. If you stand and sulk in the corner, Life does not give a good rat's ass.
You don't get to take your toys with you, and no one is exempt. In the end, ALL you really have is your personal honor, your integrity, and the true friends you have made and known along the way.
But see? THAT'S what makes this life, this ephemeral, evanescent gift, this almost "unbearable lightness of being", the unmatched treasure it is.
May you greet the morning sun, as I am about to, secure in the knowlege that Today is a good day to die.
No one can ever take from you what you would freely surrender anyway.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Wow. This occurred at Hospital of U Penn eh? That's considered one of the premiere institutions too
Current literature suggest that given a physical examination suspicious for Appendicitis, a normal WBC (white blood cell count) has a poor negative predictive value (ability to rule out a disease with a negative test), thus current recommendations for CT unless the physical exam is so classic that a surgeon will take the person to the OR based solely on the physical.
But Narmer said he already had his appendix out.
moshquerade
No Lifer
- Nov 1, 2001
- 61,504
- 12
- 56
i would try going to an "urgent care" facility before a hospital ER.
ER's work on if someone acts more like they are dying (or in fact is actually dying) they go to the front of the line.
ER's work on if someone acts more like they are dying (or in fact is actually dying) they go to the front of the line.
Many urgent cares are simply extensions of the ER and thus have access to CT on site, but work more on a first come first served bases, not strictly thou. Our ED uses a fast tract to speed up minor ailments which works mostly the same way. Here in NJ most Urgent Care facilities are private outpatient doctors offices and have only basic laboratory and Xray capacity and thus would refer you to the hospital ER if they felt the abdomenal pain was severe. I have been an Emergency physician for 10 years now, I have worked in innercity, trauma centers, community hospitals and Urgent cares. If the Urgent Care in his vicinity has CT capacity and is staffed by experience Emergency Physician it could have been an option.
DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
At which point, you immediately set off alarms in her head that you were probably there just for pain relievers. ER's have a huge chunk of their time wasted by people seeking to get meds to abuse or sell.
2 minutes is probably plenty of time to determine that it's not an emergency situation. "If the pain is still bothering you tomorrow, see your regular physician." I'm sure that by the time the doctor got there, you had your blood pressure taken, temperature taken, pulse, and breathing rate monitored. Just a shot in the dark, but I'll bet one of the first questions asked was "when was the last time you had a bowel movement." The doctor and nurses didn't have their eyes closed - were you sweating? Pale? By this point, virtually every acute non-life threatening illness was ruled out, with the most likely culprit being simple intestinal gas. You weren't satisfied, because you still were in pain. So, you ran off to another hospital (and, unless you were discharged from the first ER, the insurance company has the option of not paying) where I'm sure you told them about your experience at the first hospital. Realizing that you would cause them all sorts of undue grief in the form of complaints, etc. if you didn't have every possible test run, they caved in and ordered those tests.
Maybe I'm a bit callous because I know too many people who work in the ER. The major theme of all the stories I hear from them is that people don't know what "emergency" means. I remember being a patient once in one of those little rooms, separated only by a curtain from the next room. For 2 hours, I got to listen to the husband or boyfriend of the lady next door ranting about how long it was taking for her to receive treatment "don't they know that you can get severe infections from burns?" She had been burned by candle wax; it was a 1st degree burn. But, everyone watches ER and all those other shows on television which frequently portray even the mildest of symptoms as stemming from or leading to severe life threatening illnesses. You went there for an emergency. I agree that it would be nice if all physicians had a pleasant bedside manner. But, they are there to treat emergency situations. If I'm there after a car accident, with blood pouring out of my body, or for a heart attack, or a stroke, or severe fever, etc., I'll forgive them if they don't smile.
- Oct 9, 1999
- 46,926
- 10,789
- 147
Werd. I thought I was the big man using my high levels of smartness to protect my wife ftw.Originally posted by: iliopsoas
Originally posted by: Perknose
Ouch!
My wife was moved too soon from the ICU after her esophagectomy. I came in that morning and they were moving her, wouldn't let me see her. I tracked down her lead doctor, and when I told him they were moving her, I saw him literally get white in the face. They kept me in some out of the way waiting room, alone, for nearly an hour. During the move, Jessie (my wife) aspirated stomach bile into both of her lungs. When they let me see her again, she was back in ICU, in a coma. She never made it back to consciousness, and 30 days later, she died. She was 42.
She deserved better.
I could have sued for some big bucks, in fact, I was urged to sue, but I did receive what I still consider some good advice. If you sue, the case can drag on for YEARS, it is not a pretty process, and the purple wound of your loss remains just that the whole damn time, opened and reopened by lawyers.
This was the goddamned Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and her presiding surgeon was head of the department and had done more successful esophagectomies in the last 20 years than anyone in the nation. His brother is head of the same dept. at Jefferson Hospital, and his son is a prominent surgeon in the same field.
Sometimes you do all you humanly can and Fate still turns its cold icy back on you. But, rich man, poor man, that's just the way it is . . . and, with you or without you, life goes blindly, busily bumbling on. If you stand and sulk in the corner, Life does not give a good rat's ass.
You don't get to take your toys with you, and no one is exempt. In the end, ALL you really have is your personal honor, your integrity, and the true friends you have made and known along the way.
But see? THAT'S what makes this life, this ephemeral, evanescent gift, this almost "unbearable lightness of being", the unmatched treasure it is.
May you greet the morning sun, as I am about to, secure in the knowlege that Today is a good day to die.
No one can ever take from you what you would freely surrender anyway.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Wow. This occurred at Hospital of U Penn eh? That's considered one of the premiere institutions too
Hubris always attracts the attention of the Gods. Pride goeth before the fall.
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