Wife Almost Died!!!!

[tphillips78]

Ellencee:My Wife is Once Again Back in The Hospital

My wife is back in the hospital again. This after she just got out 2 weeks ago. The new surgeon doesn't want to touch my wife. That's the surgeon's own words not mine. I've seen a program on TV about people who were having problems with there bowels closing down and the doctors were giving them some type of drug that causes there bowels to open back up. This is the same problem my wife's doctors say she is having but they don't know what drug we are talking about and I can't remember the name of it.

We also have been having trouble with the attitude of the nurses taking care of my wife here lately. My wife has had to complain to the admin on a number of them for telling my wife that she's not in pain and that they will give her the pain meds when they want to give them to her even though it was 20 min past the time for her to have her meds. My wife doesn't ask for her meds unless it's time for them. It's pretty bad when you go to a different hospital and they ask you if you were DR. XXXX patient. Everyone seems to know my wife no matter where she goes. All the Dr and Nurse ask questions. Even are kids Drs have asked what happened because they heard through the grape vine.

 

[gryndor]

What has the expert said about the validity of the "doctored" records? What is your lawyer doing for you now? Is your case progressing, or is it waiting on something?

Best of luck to you and your wife,
Gryn

 

[ellencee]

tphillips78
I'll see if I can find the name of the medication to which you are referring but I have a feeling it is for less complicated conditions that your wife's. Maybe vrzirn will read this; I imagine he is familiar with the medication.

There is a real simple solution to the pain medication issue. Demand that your wife receive a PCA pump so that she can administer her medications when she needs them without having to ask anyone to bring her medications. If the surgeon didn't think of it, the nurses certainly should have. There is a drawback to pain meds, you know: constipation due to slowed intestinal motility and it doesn't sound like your wife needs the motility slowed any further. If one pain med isn't working, ask for the medication to be changed. Not all pain is equal; some pain won't respond to one type of narcotic and will respond to a different one.

If you have your private messaging option enabled or email enabled, I'll send you a private message or email with information on the medication. If not, I'll post it here.

EC

 

[tphillips78]

Gryndor

We haven't heard anything from the expert yet. We should hear something in the next few days or week. The lawyers are going to start looking into the treatment my wife is getting now and how the nurses and the hospital is treating her. We're just waiting on the expert to get back with us and the lawyers. One hospital that she tried to goto a few weeks ago flat out told her that she would have to wait 10 or more hours before they could see her. There was only 6 people in the ER and there wasn't anybody being shipped in.

Thanks for the wishes.

 

[ellencee]

tphillips78
Check your private messages, please.
EC

 

[tphillips78]

Ellencee:Thanks for the email help

We'll try that stuff and see if it works. It's not that my wife wants the pain meds all the time. She just wants the meds when it's time for them and when she is in pain. There was times were she was asleep and they woke her up to give her the pain meds. That doesn't make any sense because she was asleep. Why not wait until she wakes up and then give her the meds? That makes more sense to me since she would be in more pain when she is awake then when she is asleep.

I also don't get why all these nurses are being all hateful to my wife? She doesn't want to be there as much as the hospital don't her there. She getting out of the hospital again today. It seem like these Drs put in the hospital for a few days and run up the bills. Then they don't do anything and send her home. Then in a week or so she'll be right back in the hospital with the same problem. Like I said yesterday that new surgeon said she didn't want to touch my wife at all. I'll keep you updated.

 

[ellencee]

tphillips78
Pain needs to be managed before it screams. Once pain becomes unbearable and pain medication is needed NOW, it takes more medication to bring the pain under control. Encourage your wife to take her pain medication before she becomes truly uncomfortable. That method is not only the most effective way to manage pain but is the most effective method in avoiding addiction to pain medications.

As for the nurses' behavior, that seems to be a widespread problem in today's healthcare settings. Nurses are dissatisfied with working conditions such as the volume of meaningless paperwork that has to be completed so that if a lawsuit develops, documentation is abundant yet meaningless to anyone who was not present at the time care was rendered. There has also been a "dumbing-down" of healthcare delivery in an effort to reduce potential liability. Good nurses, like good physicians, are leaving acute healthcare settings, which only makes the problems worse.

FYI--When I became an RN, a discharge goal for patients was for patient(s) to be able to resume normal activities within 3-7 days (not including return to work in all patients). Now, the goal of patient discharge is "for the patient to be able to survive at home". That's straight out of the 'manual' for discharge planning and goals. No wonder so many patients get home and want to sue the physician and the hospital; patients are not being allowed to recover sufficiently and safely before being discharged to home and in the care of family members.

I hope all goes well this time and your wife is able to recover. She's fortunate to have you as her caregiver and advocate.

EC

 

[tphillips78]

Ellencee

She isn't home yet. Still waiting on the Drs to come and discharge her after 5 hours or more hours of telling her she's going home. Thanks for the kind words. Not all of her nurses have been that bad but I would say about 40% have. My wife has said something to the Dr about not wanting to keep taking pain meds but he keeps giving her more. I wish that this would of happened to me instead of my wife.

They need to get back to taking care of the patients and getting them back on there feet before sending them home. It just put more stress on the family and kids having to deal without their mom not being here. I'll keep you updated.

 

[pebbles13]

I Hope You Win!!!!

tphillips78,

I hope like he**, you and your wife win and win big!! I hope her healing process will go well.
As tuff as it is these days to prove a case, I do believe that if you and your wife do not win with this case, I will never come back to this site. Because it will prove that no one will ever win a medmal lawsuit, ever. Gee, unless the left leg should of been amp. instead of the right. Because that is what it will boil down to. Forget the quality of life a person is supposed to have. My prayers are with you both. Go get em'!pebbles

 

[tphillips78]

Found out

Just found out that the doctor that messed up my wife and the surgeon are friends. Found that out from the surgeons nurse today when my wife called and talked to her to get some info about a referral to an GI DR. She even told my wife that (after finding out what happened to her) that he doesn't do those type of cases. This is starting to get more and more f**ked up.

Still haven't heard anything from the expert yet. I know it takes time to go over fixed recordes and all the lies of the doctors and hospital. I'll keep everyone updated.

 

[ellencee]

tphillips78
I hate to sound incompetent and foolish, but here goes:
A week or so ago, when searching for a state's statute of limitations for medical malpractice, I ran across a case almost identical to your wife's claim. The statute had been tolled because of the need for the patient to undergo additional surgeries and treatments. I failed to bookmark the page!

The reason I want to find the case is not that your wife's claim needs the statute to be tolled but that the entire case was available and the plaintiff won a sizeable award for her damages and losses!

I think I found the case on a lawfirm's website, Indiana, Pennsylvania, or Ohio.
If anyone wants to help me search for this case, I'd appreciate the help.

EC

 

[tphillips78]

Ellencee

Let me know if you find it. I tried to find it but had no luck at all. I looked for 5 hours but never found anything. Thanks for the info.

 

[tphillips78]

Ellencee

How do you do a good search for a state's statue of limitations for medical malpractice? I'm not that good on a computer and don't know which search engine is the best to use. I have tried msn and yahoo search and they suck.

 

[ellencee]

tphillips78
I am sending you a private message, possibly two, depending on the size message I can send.

I found the case--it's a 1997 Connecticut case; plaintiff won against the hospital and the surgeon.

I also found another case I had read but forgotten! This one won't allow any case law application but has tons of medical opinions. It's a NZ Commission Investigation into D&C that resulted in removal of small bowel tissue.

As for the search engines: I use Yahoo! and Google.

EC

 

[tphillips78]

Ellencee

Thanks for the info and all the help with stuff. I recieved your private message. Check your mail. Thanks again and I'll keep you updated.