Is this a malpractise case?

[ericc08]

california
I am 38 years old. I have been a heart patient since 2000. At first I had arterial myxoma which was resection and then had pacemaker implanted because of complete heart block (April 2000). Because of the tumor mitral valve was damaged so doctors tried to repair my cause I was young and I wanted to have children, but that didn’t work so I decided to go with a replacement of mitral valve with a bovine valve. That surgery was done on May 2001 and since than I was doing ok. I had my child Last year on Nov 2007 I was having chest pain and shortness of breath so I went to a emergency room at Loma Linda Hospital in San Bernardino, CA. Doctors did and echo cardiogram and TEE and they saw that the valve had severe steno sis so I needed a surgery. We agreed to do so and the best option for me this time was to go with the mechanical valve. On Dec 7, 2007 I had the surgery (mechanical mitral valve replacement). Surgery lasted 12 hours??? Don't know what happened. Docs said that was very hard surgery. I asked them to do a generator replacement for my pacemaker (cause end life battery) and they didn’t do it because the surgery lasted to long, and also during the surgery they cut one my pacemaker leads. Couple days later I had another surgery for the pacemaker (generator and lead replacement). Surgery lasted seven hours.
My longs are damaged too. Right long cannot open you can see from the xrays, they have a lot of scars too. Don’t really know what happened with the longs I never got an answer. I am having hard time walking. Oxygen level drops when walk. I really have hard time with the stairs too.
Since than I am not feeling good; very week, no energy, having chest pain and shortness of breath. I did follow up with Doctors and they told me that it is going to take time for me to recover (because that was my fourth open heart surgery). I have had open heart surgeries before. The last replacement that I did lasted four hours and not 12.
On July 2008 I went to emergency room on the same hospital having these symptoms. Stayed there about week and there found out that the valve is leaking and that I need another type of pacemaker to be put in. (I had dual lead pacemaker before and on the last surgery done at Loma Linda they put one lead pacemaker !!!!)
On that time I did refuse to do any more surgeries and left the hospital promising that I will go back for surgery but I never did.
What is your opinion? Do I have enough info to file a malpractice case.

[seniorjudge]

Hire a medical malpractice attorney to evaluate your case.

[lya]

You have a serious heart condition with serious sequelae. I would not begin to second guess the treatment and results you received. From my experience, your description of events does not exceed expected outcome (in patients with your history/presentation).

You left the hospital without having necessary surgery; at this point, you accepted liability and responsibility for the outcome. Perhaps, you should reconsider your potentially fatal actions.

[lya]

A qualifying consulting and testifying expert reviewed the described circumstances and I'm posting the expert's opinion, which is based solely on the OP's description of events:

It definitely does not sound like she has a case... it sounds like a sick lady who got sicker but is luck to be alive... scar tissue forms each time you have open heart surgery and for her to even SURVIVE her 4th open heart surgery is a miracle regardless of the fact that it took 12 hrs. the docs were right to not change out her pacemaker battery - it sounds like that was the LEAST of her problems and should have been addressed at a later date. The lungs take a huge hit when the heart is not pumping correctly - especially with her original need for the atrial myxoma. Further, cardiac filling pressures and pumping is altered when valves are failing and then corrected and it takes a LOONNGG time for the lungs to compensate - if they ever do (symptoms of heart failure). It is a miracle that she is even walking. As for the stenosis on the bovine valves, that is a risk of having the bovine valves placed but it is better to risk that than to start out on coumadin for the rest of your life - it sucks that it ended up that way for her (with the mechanical valve) but at least she tried the mechanical valve. After 4 open heart surgeries this lady should be looking to thank her guardian angel that she is still alive, is still able to walk, and that she has surgeons who were able to pull her through 12 hours on a heart/lung pump so that they could work through that stenosis (aka scar tissue). As for the pacemaker leads - if the atrial muscle is not functional (as I am assuming hers is not since it was excised with the myxoma) then there is no point in having dual leads because there would be no atrial conduction. Therefore only a ventricular lead is required. This also makes it even more essential to have a functional mitral valve. Hope this helps.