Incorrect Surgery

[burakfhu]

Hello Everybody,

I will write the story briefly. Your opinions will be very important for me.

For long time I had a problem with my nose in breathing. Basically, the bone inside was not straight and was blocking the air coming in. I went to a doctor and explained my situation. As I said to you, I told him that the bone was not straight and needed to be fixed. After that, as it was expected, he recommended a surgery. After telling much, he told me that pushing the part of the bone at bottom would be enough for me to breath comfortably. Not understanding what he said much, I agreed and had the surgery. A week after the surgery, I started to realize that there was not difference at all, but he told that it would improve after a while. Fortunately, Insurance paid most of the cost, remaining 3500$ for me to pay.

A week ago, I visited a doctor for a medical exam. In the exam, she said "your nose septum is deviated to the left and you can not breath like this, you need to use medicine". After I mentioned that I had had a surgery, she was amazed to hear it.

I was aware that It would need another surgery, however, I did not think if I would have any right to sue the doctor. My only aim is to breathe but paying for another surgery seems strange a bit. What do you think that the right action would be in this situation?

*I am sorry for misusing vocabulary and any other grammar mistakes. I am not a native speaker.

Thanks for reading.

+State: Tennessee
+Surgery: 2 Years ago

 

[ecmst12]

What state? And how long ago was the surgery?

 

[burakfhu]

It is Tennessee. I had the surgery two years ago.

 

[ecmst12]

You will need to get the records from your surgery to find out what was done and why it didn't work.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

You may also need to prove you have not suffered other nasal trauma over the period.

 

[burakfhu]

Thank you for your responses.

The records would be easy to get. The reason is clear: the doctor thought that only fixing the entrance of the nose would be enough to breathe even I stated the deviated septum.

I am not sure how I would prove that nothing happened to the nose after the surgery. I would need some medical knowledge.

 

[cbg]

Keep in mind that medicine is not an exact science, and a less than favorable result does not necessarily mean that the doctor did anything wrong.

 

[Willlyjo]

Thank you for your responses.

The records would be easy to get. The reason is clear: the doctor thought that only fixing the entrance of the nose would be enough to breathe even I stated the deviated septum.

I am not sure how I would prove that nothing happened to the nose after the surgery. I would need some medical knowledge.

I'm curious...did the doctor cut away any of the tissue that was impeding your breathing? I never heard of simply moving "the bone" away or aside. I had a deviated septum when I was younger and my operation consisted of cutting away a certain amount of tissue which took a couple weeks to evacuate normally and then it was so crystal clear as far as breathing goes.

Another doctor could probably examine and see if in fact any tissue was trimmed away which should have allowed you normalcy regarding your breathing. It seems to me that your share of the costs at 3500.00 was pretty steep since you feel virtually no improvement at all.

Seems to me like the surgeon did a quick, cheap job that did not warrant the excessive fee charged. Good luck!

 

[burakfhu]

Willlyjo,

You seem to have understood the situation very well. The cost would not be problem since I had insurance and would sacrifice more money to breathe. That is right that he only move the bone aside to open entrance. I felt like he chose the simple process. Normally, for deviated septum, the whole bone is removed and then put back after getting straightened. I would certainly accept the doctor would agree doing this surgery with no charge surely. However, trusting him again is another issue, also I wanted to know if I would have any right to claim anything.

 

[cbg]

Ask willy what his medical credentials are...

 

[ecmst12]

So the doctor did a less invasive procedure that would be easier to heal from to see if that would help you so that you wouldn't need the more invasive procedure. Nothing wrong with that. Turns out it didn't help you that much and you need the more invasive surgery after all. That's a shame, but there is nothing wrong with attempting more conservative treatment first. There's no malpractice there.

 

[burakfhu]

Ecmst12,

I may agree with your opinion. However, three things were wasted: My health by having lots of medicine, my time, and my money. I do not think that your body should be a playground. I told the problem, he decided another way, which I needed to agree on as he was the doctor. So, there seems to be problem here..

 

[Willlyjo]

Ask willy what his medical credentials are...

Ummm...perhaps you overlooked the part in my post which shows I went through a same type of operation.

So why even bother with such a nonsensical post? A professional like you should easily see that my experience with such an issue that the OP is concerned about is exactly what the OP is looking for in finding answers to his concerns.

It isn't medical credentials which allows me to educationally and logically define the fact the OP paid an excessive price for an operation that obviously was quickly performed more for the sake of making a quick buck than to reasonably address the OP's issues with his breathing. That is my most honest opinion based on the fact that in my case, cartilage was cut away allowing me a clear path within my nostril to breath. It makes no sense to me that this wasn't done in the OP's case.

Most if not all Septoplastys involved removing or the cutting away of cartilage in addition to straightening the septum. It kind of looks to me like not enough was done with either the cutting away of tissue or the proper placement of the septum or both.

I know in my case, my nostril was plugged up for a couple weeks after surgery during which time chunks of tissue would be evacuated whenever I blew my nose. After all the chunks were evacuated, I felt a very strong flow of breathing from the affected nostril. The OP hasn't speciffically mentioned anything of the sort which logically makes me beleive his operation didn't go like it should have. In fact, based on the fact he didn't feel any improvement afterwards, the operation was a failure. Doesn't take an expert or a rocket scientist to deduce that, CBG.

 

[ecmst12]

Well, that is a conversation to have with the doctor. I don't know why he didn't explain to you what he was doing ahead of time. Do you have the paperwork you signed before the procedure? That should describe the surgery you were consenting to.

 

[Willlyjo]

So the doctor did a less invasive procedure that would be easier to heal from to see if that would help you so that you wouldn't need the more invasive procedure. Nothing wrong with that. Turns out it didn't help you that much and you need the more invasive surgery after all. That's a shame, but there is nothing wrong with attempting more conservative treatment first. There's no malpractice there.

So you call a procedure which cost the OP 3500.00 which he says was a great deal less than the total cost of the operation, 'less invasive'? I'm guessing the total operation cost at least 15k. to me this seems like a major operation in regard to septoplasty.

I agree with the OP, he may have a claim against the doctor. It surely wouldn't allow him to hit the lottery, but he should recover some kind of damages up to and including free surgery of the nature that should have been performed on him in the first place. Just my opinion--I'm entitled to that.