Re: Medical Malpractise

More | Report Post

On 8/05/05, Rick wrote:
> Approximately May 30th, 2005 my mother went to the
> emergency room in Lorain, oh because her stomach was very
> swollen, sore and she couldn’t pass stool for a number of
> days. While in the emergency room, she started developing
> chest pains. The hospital decided to admit her that
> evening. She was in a regular hospital room for about a
> day and a half. I spoke to her doctor and the nurses and
> expressed concerns that her stomach was swollen and I
> wanted them to look at it. They said they weren’t worried
> about her stomach at that point, that they wanted to
> figure out what was going on with her chest. I asked them
> on the phone from Memphis, TN if it is possible that her
> stomach can be related to the chest problem, and they said
> no.
>
> The next day I called and a nurse told me my mother had
> been moved to ICU. The nurse would not tell me anything. I
> called ICU and they told me to call back in an hour or so.
> I explained to them that was my mother and I am in TN. The
> nurse then handed my mother the phone and she could barely
> talk. No one else talked to me.
>
> Finally I called her doctor again and she told me my
> mother’s oxygen saturation went down to 30&37;, so they put
> her in ICU. I asked what could the problem be and he
> didn’t know. Again I asked if they looked at her stomach
> and she said no. I then told her that my mother drinks
> alcohol and smokes cigarettes. I also told her that I am
> the oldest and would be the one who would give consent for
> any procedures.
>
> I called the nursing station later that evening and asked
> what was going on. This time the nurse said my mother had
> pneumonia. I asked again if they were looking at her
> stomach and again they said no.
>
> I decided to go to Lorain and see my mother on
> approximately the 6th of June. I saw my mother’s stomach
> was very, very swollen. My mother was complaining that her
> stomach was very painful and she expressed that no one
> looked at it yet. The hospital had her on a CPAC, forced
> oxygen, to keep her oxygen saturation up. I asked them
> what was wrong with her stomach, they said they didn’t
> know. I asked about her lungs and this time I was told
> they didn’t know what was wrong with them as well. I was
> told they are not working well. I asked if they would get
> better and I was told they didn’t know. I was not getting
> any answers. The nurses told me my mother was very
> combative and was trying to take the oxygen mask off, so
> they kept her heavily sedated and tied her hands down to
> her side. They also told me she was hallucinating. They
> told me she was going through alcohol with drawls and this
> causes that. I told them that yes, my mother likes to
> drink. but when she came out here to TN to see us, she
> didn’t drink here and never hallucinated. I told the
> doctor that she is on medication and since she hasn’t
> taken this medicine for some time, that may be what is
> causing the hallucinations.
>
> On approximately June 8th, a surgeon called me and asked
> if I can come to the hospital. I went and he told me they
> have to perform surgery urgently. They said they have to
> find out what is going on with my mother inside her
> stomach and they were going to do this the very next
> morning. I asked about the risk and he said it is very
> risky, that she may not come out of it alive. I asked how
> she would breath during this and he said they would put
> her on a ventilator.
>
> The next day I came to the hospital to see her before the
> surgery. I spoke to the Lung doctor about her lungs and he
> still didn’t know what was going on. They took my mother
> down and performed the surgery. After the surgery the
> surgeon told us that she had Diverticulitis and he had to
> remove about a foot and a half of intestine. He said they
> gave her a bag. I asked if it could be reversed and he
> said if she lives.
> After the surgery, she still had the ventilator on and
> they kept my mother so drugged up that she didn’t even
> know we were there.
>
> I went home for the weekend and came back around the 12th
> of June. She was still knocked out from the heavy
> sedatives they gave her. Later that week, I happened to
> walk in while a doctor was seeing her. I told the doctor
> who I was and he told me he was the infectious disease
> control doctor. I asked him what happened and he told me
> that my mother has diverticulitis and her intestines
> ruptured. This caused her to contract sepsis which
> attacked her lungs. I asked him why the hospital made my
> mother sit in the hospital for 8 days before they looked
> at her stomach. He couldn’t answer that.
> After talking to the doctor, I went to the hospital
> administration. I talked to the chief nurse and told her
> that I am not getting any answers as to what is going on
> with my mother. I told her that one person says she has
> pneumonia, and another says they don’t know. I told her
> what the Infectious Disease control doctor told me and I
> expressed concerns for my mother’s well being there.
>
> I went back home to TN and waited to see what happened.
> My mother ended up coming out of it. She was transferred
> to a rehab center to help her walk again and show her how
> to take care of the bag.
>
> I am looking for some advice as to what I can do about
> this. My mother sat in the hospital for 8 days with a
> swollen stomach before they looked at it. Then it turned
> out that her stomach was a direct relationship to her lung
> problems. If they would of looked at her stomach first,
> they would of found the problem and maybe she wouldn’t of
> been so bad off. Maybe she wouldn’t of needed the bag.
>
> Now when she goes to her appointments, they all tell her
> how close to death she was, but no one will tell her for
> sure what happened. One doctor told her that she had no
> classic signs of diverticulitis. What is a swollen stomach
> and not passing anything for 7 days mean?
>
> This took a lot out of me. The worrying about my mother.
> The constant calling 3 times a day to the nursing station
> only to hear she has not gotten any better and no, we did
> not check her stomach yet. I had to drive to Lorain twice
> and leave my family here. I saw my mother the sickest and
> closest to death ever. And I feel it could have been
> prevented if they would of looked at her stomach.
>
> Do we have a case?
you very well do have a case and if I were you I would sit
down and document everything that had happened from the time
she went to the hospital. Also get a lawyer who specializes
in medical malpractice or at least talk to one. I work in a
hospital and if that was my loved one heads would roll and I
would go to the top. It could have been prevented. If she had
gone to her regular doctor and they did nothing either
document all of that. Try to remember dates,names of every
doctor or nurse you came in contact with.