Can you believe this?

[ace-red]

I'll make this as short as possible. My boyfriend was diagnosed with a rare and agressive form of cancer. Six months go by of chemotherapy and they say he can have surgery to remove it. Surgery happens in early September, the surgeon removes all of the tumor but there is a 'positive margin' (microscopic leftovers). Plan is to regain continence and radiation treatment, and the oncologist recommends seeing a hemotology oncologist that specializes in a certain blood 'transplant'. Patient opted for the radiation. <6 weeks post-op he is begining to have some abdominal pain and has a CT scan scheduled. Called. Dr. says that's pretty normal. CT comes and goes...pain is getting worse. Now it keeps him up at night. Called again. Now 2 weeks after the CT Oncologist reads it and the tumor IS BACK!! What's with the delay? This is his life that they are playing games with! The tumor shows in the CT as being 7-8 cm (2.5 cm per inch). So what can we do about it if anything. Any performance reprimands?? I'm not looking for the $$. I AM however seeking that the hospitals and and Dr's involved get some kind of kick in the teeth!

 

[lawrat]

I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

Basically, the patient had the option of the blood transplant. He didn't take it. Tumor is back. Was he informed of this possibilty with radiation?

If so, there isn't much you can do.

 

[ace-red]

The Oncologist (she) said, at the appointment 2 weeks after surgery, there are 3 options that he (patient) has.

OPTION 1- Radiation therapy (Recommended by the oncological surgeon in follow-up visit)

OPTION 2-Stem cell transplant with high dose chemotherapy

OPTION 3-More surgery, Possibly mutilating, removing parts of the bladder, and re routing the colon permanently.
(not recommended (surgeon) at such a young age, 35, )

So my answer is no.

 

[lawrat]

You told me his three options. What was he told about each?
This is the key to any type of question you have.

 

[ace-red]

He was given the 3 options. The oncologist and the surgeon both knew of his choice. The problem is not that the tumor came back its the lack of response from the Dr.'s. I called and called and told them he was in pain and they just brushed it off as being post-op discomfort. Never, did they say, "why don't you go ahead and bring him in; Maybe he should be seen"(!), or anything that could be construed as meaning that. That's the issue at hand. They could have done something alot sooner.
This tumor is really serious, and I have faith that GOD will do the right thing, I would prefer if he not take him home to be with HIM, but I know that it would be selfish if he stays here in such pain.
Please help me Lawrat. Do you understand now?

 

[lawrat]

I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

Okay, so your concern is when you complained, they ignored the situation. They assumed post-op discomfort.

Okay, here is the problem. YOu need to be able to prove medical negligence which is essentially/basically:

1. The patient didn't contribute to the injury
2. The damage occurred as a result of the doctor's negligence.
3. This type of injury wouldn't have happened unless there had been negligence.
4. Questions: was there informed consent? Was there discussion of side effects/consequences? Was there a chance another doctor would assume this was post-op discomfort, too?

See, these types of elements and questions are what's going to be basically addressed.

I think you need to seek a medical malpractice attorney in your state and see what he/she tells you about the possibility of a lawsuit.

Try attorneypages.com or call your state bar association and ask for lawyer referral.

 

[ALawyer]

I'd only like to say that I recognize this is an awful situation for you and understand your anger and frustration.

I would urge you to speak with a qualified therapist to understand the emotional stress you are under and how to better deal with the frustration and impending loss and the pain it will leave you with.

By no means am I making excuses for the doctors, but very often there is nothing that can be done, and when doctors recognize that, instead of telling patients, they ignore them. Had the doctors brought him in earlier it is likely that they could have done nothing to prolong his life, although they could have removed hope.

 

[lawrat]

I agree with you ALawyer. Unfortunately, medical care although a science, is not always an exact science. I have had to deal with the frustration of family members having similar situations happen.

The only thing to do now Ace is live in the now and not worry about the past. It will do nothing for YOUR health nor that of the family.

 

[ace-red]

Thanks so much for the information. And here's what has been happening of late...
This tumor sits between the bladder and the rectum. It is putting pressure on both. Dr.’s know that. We know that too. They were giving him stool softeners, and a laxative to help with the bowel movements. Chemotherapy drugs loosen stools but the morphine that they give him [10cc (I think) every hour for pain] binds that all back up and more. I had let them know that he hadn't had a bowel movement in 4 DAYS, they tried to get him to drink mineral oil and couldn't (I don't blame him really, I don't think I could choke that down). I mentioned that he had taken phospho-soda (magnesium citrate) once before and it worked to get the bowel moving. Dr said no, enema instead. No results, so another day goes by...still nothing and the pain is getting even worse. I told them again, what worked, and again they ignored me. Try a different type of enema, NO RESULTS!
His primary care Dr comes in. She has been following what has been going on since the beginning and came by to see him. I explained the situation and my concerns that it is going on 6 days w/o a BM. She looks shocked and ordered the mag-citrate immediately. I coax him to drink it (taste's bad too). He did. She also ordered another enema (this one has mag-cit in it to). Well what do you know????? That worked! The enema caused him to expel a little bit of stool, not much. But just @2 hrs later he was able to go a bit more, then a bit more. Little by little it is coming out.
This is the kind of stuff that I am talking about with his Dr.
Now I have had it, his oncologists ignore me and my plea's to help him. If it weren’t for the PC doc coming in he probably would have gone another day. (I had plans of interfering, Phospho-soda is available OTC and I was going to give it to him MYSELF)
This is the ROOT of my FRUSTRATION. Thanks for lending me your ear...again

[Edited by ace-red on 11-15-2000 at 12:46 PM]