bedo said:I will try and keep this brief, but there is lots more to this story.
He introduced me to a lot of drugs, namely cocaine and GHB. I had never heard of GHB. After 7 months of this downward spiral and very abusive relationship, I (voluntarily) checked myself into a drug rehab in Oklahoma called Narconon Arrowhead. This was March 3, 2003. I paid $18,000 Cash for their 3 month program. On my third day there, I started going into extreme seizures -- to the point where I was sweating so hard they had to change the sheets every hour. I had seizure activity for at least 5-6 hours. Finally, a nurse comes in and tells me my heart rate was over 200bps. I am not a medical professional, but I do know that the target heart rate for my age (24 at that time) is 120. I would think that this situation, of lengthy seizures and a perilous heart rate, would definitely warrant an ambulance, possibly even a care flight. Instead, at the extreme negligence of Narconon Arrowhead, they put me in a car with a 16 year old driver with no medical background whatsoever and informed me that he would be taking me to a medical detox that is 1.5 hours away. Not only is that preposterous considering the extreme distance to travel with a near death patient, but when we finally arrived at this medical detox, the facility was closed and could not admit me. Narconon did not even take a moment to phone ahead to make sure I would receive prompt medical attention. I finally had to take it upon myself to ask for an ambulance to be called. Within 10 minutes of arriving at Saint Johns Hospital in Tulsa, I went into a 7 day coma. The problems had been ignored too long, that I was first on life-support and the medical professionals were very doubtful I would live. After I was stabilized to be removed from life support, I was still in constant seizures for three days. I mean 24/7 severe seizures. It took this long before the doctor’s realization that to lower a heart rate you should administer a sedative, such as Valium. After 4 more days of comma, I miraculously pulled through. As for permanent life-long effects, I am instructed by the doctor’s at the hospital to have MRI's every year for the rest of my life to see if I will get any cerebral blockages, blood clots, aneurysms, or other complications of the brain. I also have permanent brain damage, documented by the hospital. I have scars on my wrists (very good pictures of them at the time of indecent). All of these things are something I live with every day.
In my mind, a rehab that I paid very high dollar to treat me, staffed with a nurse 24 hours, should have the knowledge and expertise to not send someone in my condition on a 1.5 hour trip through a bumpy countryside to a closed facility. I strongly believe I would not have suffered these terrible and permanent injuries if they had sought immediate medical attention. I have extensive pictures of me in the hospital, and am currently in the process of getting my medical records from the St. John Hospital in Tulsa, OK. I will also see about getting the official documents reporting the incident from Narconon Arrowhead, though upon my return to their facility, an employee there told me the documents had already been altered to show less liability on their part. I can identify this employee if needed. Let me know if there is anyone who can help me with this problem, or if there are any future steps I should take. I truly appreciate anything you can do.
San-Fran-Chick said:
I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, but you came here to this site with your story, and you got a responsible response.bedo said:I was pretty hurt by your reply, it was a bit narrow minded and not one bit based on any law advice. I did those drugs for 8 months and then changed my life by checking myself into rehab. Thanks alot for looking at the positive aspect of the situation. Regardless, the medical professionals at my rehab did neglect to take the appropriate medical judgement.