Hospitalized for wrong dx

[kfrancis]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado

7 weeks ago it was thought I had a stroke. I went through the ER and admitted. I had a CT scan, MRI with contrast. I was told the CT scan and MRI were clear. They didn't know what was wrong but treated me for a TIA. I had bubble test, a tube down my throat looking for a PFO, I was given blood thinner injections for 3 days but I kept getting worse. The told me to take blood thinners and treating it as a TIA.

A week later I got sick again unable to walk, dizzy and slurred speech. They did an MRI, could not find anything and told me I had conversion disorder. The neuro said she was never wrong and asked if I had problems in my family. I said I cant walk and I am slurring!!!!!!! She gave me ativan and sent me home.

Finally a week goes by and I see my regular neuro, he was going by what the hospital stated and all scans were clear. He did an EEG looking for seizures and nothing came up. Finally he has his own MRI run and it showed 3 lesions meaning MS relapse. He then called the hospital for a report and it said the first day I was there they found 3 lesions on the MRI! yet somehow they treated for everything but an MS attack.

Now 7 weeks have passed and I am much sicker, this all could have been treated with steriods and stopped 7 weeks ago. Who is responsible when this happens? The hospital, the neurologists? who?? They ran so many tests, cost me a lot of money for something I didnt have yet it was documented I did have 3 ms lesions,

 

[justalayman]

Finally he has his own MRI run and it showed 3 lesions meaning MS relapse. He then called the hospital for a report and it said the first day I was there they found 3 lesions on the MRI! yet somehow they treated for everything but an MS attack.

first, if you had MS did you inform the hospital?


second, Lesions are not definitive proof of MS but especially since they have not been your regular caregiver, they could not determine if the lesions were new, old, larger or smaller than they were on your last scan. That is but one reason you are ALWAYS told to follow up with your PCP.

Finally, an ER is, well, and ER. Their job is to triage, test, diagnose, stabilize, and then shuffle you off to your PCP or admit you to the hospital. They are not intended to be long term providers.



so, did what the hospital do cause any permanent, or even long term damages?

 

[kfrancis]

Yes I have a hx of MS, they were aware. I was seen by 3 neuros there, they had MRI scans of my brain 20 years back to compare,. They stated no changes. This was not all in the ER, this was 3 days in the hospital. Yes you can determine a new MS lesion, thats why they use contrast. That is the purpose of contrast, no contrast shows old lesions. It was clear I didnt have a stroke since I kept having attacks in the hospital. People do not keep having TIA's, thats per the doctors there. However my MS has been benign for 20 years, it obviously is not now. They should have given me a medrol pack and sent me out the door.

 

[justalayman]

so, did what the hospital do cause any permanent, or even long term damages?

 

[kfrancis]

It's possible. With MS relapses you want to hit them early and hard before it spreads. It's typical they might do IV steroids 500mg to 1000mg a day for 5 days. The key to MS is to stop it from spreading to prevent damage. As you know it;s incurable, so you want to hit it hard early on with an attack because it can cause long term damage. I feel fortunate to have it almost 30 years with hardly any residual damage, I prefer not to have any more.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

The problem is the symptoms you complained of, are generic symptoms that can be caused by many things. The lesions, in and of themselves are not indicative of only MS. MS is a final diagnosis that is arrived at, when other things are ruled out. Had they not attempted to treat you for the life threatening issue you were interpreted to be suffering from and you died, your relatives would be upset about that. You cannot be sure that the symptoms could have been stopped by such a treatment 7 weeks ago. Not all doctors treat MS the same. If you thought you were having a relapse of the MS, you should have gone straight to the doctor who has treated it for you. Consider yourself lucky. I have been attempting to discover the source of similar, yet much more extensive issues for a few years. I keep running across specialists who run through their entire repertoire, then say they have run out of things to explore. It has cost me several times the cost of a short hospital stay.

 

[justalayman]

It's possible.

and it's possible there was no damage as well. If you are looking to sue, you would have to have provable damages as well as proving the treatment provided was outside of the standards of care given the information at hand.


I'm not seeing it but you surely could speak with an attorney or two who can review it. If you are looking to have the charges discounted or cancelled, it's unlikely it will happen. Again, if you can show the tests and treatments were so far off base for the symptoms and findings they would rise to the level of incompetence, then start with asking the charges be cancelled. If they say no, off to the lawyer you go who can review the facts.

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado

7 weeks ago it was thought I had a stroke. I went through the ER and admitted. I had a CT scan, MRI with contrast. I was told the CT scan and MRI were clear. They didn't know what was wrong but treated me for a TIA. I had bubble test, a tube down my throat looking for a PFO, I was given blood thinner injections for 3 days but I kept getting worse. The told me to take blood thinners and treating it as a TIA.

A week later I got sick again unable to walk, dizzy and slurred speech. They did an MRI, could not find anything and told me I had conversion disorder. The neuro said she was never wrong and asked if I had problems in my family. I said I cant walk and I am slurring!!!!!!! She gave me ativan and sent me home.

Finally a week goes by and I see my regular neuro, he was going by what the hospital stated and all scans were clear. He did an EEG looking for seizures and nothing came up. Finally he has his own MRI run and it showed 3 lesions meaning MS relapse. He then called the hospital for a report and it said the first day I was there they found 3 lesions on the MRI! yet somehow they treated for everything but an MS attack.

Now 7 weeks have passed and I am much sicker, this all could have been treated with steriods and stopped 7 weeks ago. Who is responsible when this happens? The hospital, the neurologists? who?? They ran so many tests, cost me a lot of money for something I didnt have yet it was documented I did have 3 ms lesions,

Did you tell anyone at the ER or at the hospital that you do have MS?

 

[kfrancis]

They claimed my MRI was normal, when it wasn't. When you have a 30 year hx of MS and new active lesions ((capt obvious)??? I had no way of knowing I was having an attack since I don't have active MS but I do have old lesions. They ruled out stroke right away yet saw the lesions on my brain but claimed they didnt know about it when it was in fact documented?

Sorry this apparently is a bad place to start. I know my neuro is upset and gathering all the labs and scans from the hospital. Someone messed up along the way, when it was clear it was an MS attack and in the neuro's defense they probably got a report that said my scans were normal, however my neuro got a reports stating my scans were not normal.

I have found throughout the years the DX if MS is worse than the disease itself. SO much gets overlooked as a patient when you state you have MS, I found this to be true in life with friends, family coworkers and even with the replies in this forum. It's a stigma that seems impossible to overcome.

 

[justalayman]

Did you tell anyone at the ER or at the hospital that you do have MS?

OP did say this:

Yes I have a hx of MS, they were aware. I was seen by 3 neuros there, they had MRI scans of my brain 20 years back to compare,. They stated no changes

From that I presume OP informed the hospital of the condition.



One thing that is nagging at me is;

a person with MS is going to know their symptoms better than anybody else, including a treating physician. Either the OP did not see this as an MS event or they failed to "stand their ground" and push to have the possible MS connection investigated. A patient is ultimately responsible for their care. I know with my issues, if they are changing or I am having problems that are consistent with my issues, I am going to push the docs to assure me whatever is happening is NOT related to them.

 

[Silverplum]

They claimed my MRI was normal, when it wasn't. When you have a 30 year hx of MS and new active lesions ((capt obvious)??? I had no way of knowing I was having an attack since I don't have active MS but I do have old lesions. They ruled out stroke right away yet saw the lesions on my brain but claimed they didnt know about it when it was in fact documented?

Sorry this apparently is a bad place to start. I know my neuro is upset and gathering all the labs and scans from the hospital. Someone messed up along the way, when it was clear it was an MS attack and in the neuro's defense they probably got a report that said my scans were normal, however my neuro got a reports stating my scans were not normal.

I have found throughout the years the DX if MS is worse than the disease itself. SO much gets overlooked as a patient when you state you have MS, I found this to be true in life with friends, family coworkers and even with the replies in this forum. It's a stigma that seems impossible to overcome.

I'm sorry, I was just asking a clarifying question. I'm sure you can see that, if you never notified anyone of your MS diagnosis, it's difficult to legally blame them for not treating you for such and for running many tests looking for an answer you already had. I don't need to teach you about the slippery nature of MS symptoms.

 

[kfrancis]

OP did say this:

From that I presume OP informed the hospital of the condition.



One thing that is nagging at me is;

a person with MS is going to know their symptoms better than anybody else, including a treating physician. Either the OP did not see this as an MS event or they failed to "stand their ground" and push to have the possible MS connection investigated. A patient is ultimately responsible for their care. I know with my issues, if they are changing or I am having problems that are consistent with my issues, I am going to push the docs to assure me whatever is happening is NOT related to them.

I was dx 30 years ago, my MS has been stable for 20 years. I have NO symptoms yet I do have MS and always tell my doctors. How would someone with no symptoms or attacks understand an MS attack? I was going to the bathroom and my arm flopped down, I tried to talk and I was slurring. I feel blessed my MS journey has been easier than others, however I am finding it to be quite frightening and challenging.

 

[justalayman]

kfrancis;3169882]They claimed my MRI was normal, when it wasn't. When you have a 30 year hx of MS and new active lesions ((capt obvious)???

age of lesions is a relative term. Additionally, as you should know, the presence of lack or lesions is not definitive of MS and as such, the presence of new lesions (but how new is also very important) is not definitive of an MS episode


.

I had no way of knowing I was having an attack since I don't have active MS but I do have old lesions.

TIME OUT BIG TIME.


If you have asymptomatic MS, then the docs are not going to jump on the "let's treat her for MS" when the symptoms also mirror other, more serious and urgent issues.

They ruled out stroke right away yet saw the lesions on my brain but claimed they didnt know about it when it was in fact documented?

DID YOU SPECIFICALLY TELL THEM YOU HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH MS?


additionally, not all of your records are going to be available to them without researching your history. If there was nothing to indicate it is what they should be doing, then they are not going to research them.

Sorry this apparently is a bad place to start. I know my neuro is upset and gathering all the labs and scans from the hospital. Someone messed up along the way, when it was clear it was an MS attack and in the neuro's defense they probably got a report that said my scans were normal, however my neuro got a reports stating my scans were not normal.

but were there damages? If not, this really isn't going to go anywhere.

I have found throughout the years the DX if MS is worse than the disease itself. SO much gets overlooked as a patient when you state you have MS, I found this to be true in life with friends, family coworkers and even with the replies in this forum. It's a stigma that seems impossible to overcome.

It sounds like you intentionally failed to inform the ER that you were diagnosed with MS.

 

[kfrancis]

I'm sorry, I was just asking a clarifying question. I'm sure you can see that, if you never notified anyone of your MS diagnosis, it's difficult to legally blame them for not treating you for such and for running many tests looking for an answer you already had. I don't need to teach you about the slippery nature of MS symptoms.

yes yes and YES they were aware of my MS dx. That info was given in the ER and to every 3 neuros that saw me and from my part MRI's done at the exact hospital because of MS! Neuros repeat MRI's every year to look for progression. The hospital had all those records.

 

[justalayman]

I was dx 30 years ago, my MS has been stable for 20 years. I have NO symptoms yet I do have MS and always tell my doctors. How would someone with no symptoms or attacks understand an MS attack? I was going to the bathroom and my arm flopped down, I tried to talk and I was slurring. I feel blessed my MS journey has been easier than others, however I am finding it to be quite frightening and challenging.

How were you ever diagnosed with MS if there were no symptoms? As has been said, lesions are not a definitive basis for a diagnoses. Symptoms are the greater means to diagnose MS.

and your symptoms sound EXACTLY like a stroke or TIA which could be a life threatening issue. Additionally, quick treatment can prevent or limit the damage.


The more you write, the less I see there was anything wrong with what happened.