Mountain Mama
Gall Bladder Saga Followup
Mar 16, 2011
I was scheduled for surgery to remove my gall bladder on Feb. 9, 2011. . . it didn't happen. I went for all my pre op labs and EKG on Feb. 7 at 8am and got a call from the surgeon's office the next day at 4:30pm that surgery the next morning had been cancelled due to an abnormal EKG that needed cardiac clearance for the surgery. The same day I had the tests, I ended up with an attack that lasted over 9 hours and began my trip through GB hell over the next few weeks.I was able to see the cardiologist on Feb. 10 -- the day AFTER the scheduled surgery. Luckily, I had gotten my pulmonary rehab records for the past 4 months that morning to take with me for him to review. The EKG actually showed that I had suffered a heart attack at some point in time. After reviewing an EKG from a hospital admission in Feb., 2008, it was determined it was sometime before then. But after reviewing all my blood pressure reading, blood O2 sats and resting/exercising heart rates, he said that I was already doing more in pulmonary rehab with good stats than he would expect to see with a stress test and cleared me for the surgery.
By the time the clearance got faxed to the surgeon's office the next day, I was going to have to wait another 3 weeks to get put back on the surgical schedule. You have GOT to be kidding me!! 3 WEEKS?!?!? At this point, I'm in constant pain, nauseous and can't eat and I have to wait another 3 WEEKS?!?!? I started taking some Lortabs for the pain that I was given for a pinched nerve in my back last Spring. But after a week on them, they just wouldn't touch the pain. I called the surgeon's office and asked for something stronger and was put on Percocets. That was the beginning of my insanity. I had hallucinations on them and even though I could only take them every 4 - 6 hours, after 2 1/2 hours, I was again writhing in pain.
Between the time of my first attack on Jan. 10 until the day of the appointment with the cardiologist a month later, I've already dropped 5 pounds due to not being able to eat. Finally -- 6 days before the rescheduled surgery -- I again called the surgeon's office and talked to the nurse. I reminded her that I am a bariatric patient and not being able to eat was going to negatively impact my overall health REALLY QUICK and something had to be done. I begged for an earlier date for the surgery or to be able to get in on a cancellation. . . anything. . . She called me back after talking to the surgeon and checking the surgery schedule again and told me that if the Percocets weren't touching the pain and I couldn't get any relief, I needed to get to the ER and have it taken out as an emergency procedure.
That same night -- just 3 hours after being told that -- off I went to the ER. I was in so much pain that my neighbor had to drive me. We get to the ER and I go through the whole story about the surgery having to be rescheduled due to needing the cardiac clearance, that it was scheduled 6 days in the future, but because my overall health was declining rapidly due to being a bariatric patient, the doctor had sent me to the ER to get it out as an emergency procedure. . . RIGHT!!! Wouldn't you know it but that I got "Dr. House" as the attending physician, who refused to do anything.
He chided me for not taking a pain pill before coming to the ER (I had taken one just 2 hours before heading there and it wasn't time for another one) and then expecting them to do surgery just because some "non medically trained employee" at the surgeon's office told me to go to the ER. The last I checked, nurses ARE medical professionals and have to have a medical degree in nursing to be an RN. But because I didn't talk to the doctor himself instead of "somebody sitting at the front desk of the doctor's office", he would not do ANYTHING. Oh -- he ran some labwork, did an EKG and a chest Xray to rule out any other "bad stuff", but refused me any kind of medical treatment and sent me home to take my pain meds "as directed." Excuse me -- I was already taking them "as directed" and wasn't getting any relief.
He further refused to do anything based on all the labs being "normal" and an abnormal EKG -- even though I had already told him that I had cardiac clearance for the abnormal EKG. He was completely insensitive to me being a bariatric patient and that my weight was dropping like a rock. At this point, I've lost another 5 pounds -- 10 pounds total since the first attack on Jan. 10. I argued with him . . . my neighbor argued with him and asked him "What if the thing ruptures?" His reply was "It's not going to rupture. Her liver enzymes are completely normal." And I was sent home.
Four days later, I get a call from the surgeon's office wanting to know if I've been sick or had a cold or anything going on because the white cell count from the ER visit was "elevated". Elevated?? I was told everything was "normal". I hadn't shown any signs of being sick, my temperature fluctuated between 98.2 - 99.5 (which is normal for me). She said it must have been elevated due to the inflammation in the gall bladder itself and suspected that it was now infected. GREAT!! This shows up on the ER labwork and "Dr. House" doesn't do a damn thing.
I was actually bumped up 3 hours earlier for surgery due to a cancellation 2 days later. When I hit the Same Day Surgery unit, the surgeon was there asking me what happened at the ER and told him that I was refused treatment. He said I was the 3rd patient that had told him the same thing had happened to them and he was LIVID and promised to start an investigation as to why his patients were being denied emergency procedures when he had been the one to send them to the ER.
The surgery itself went without a hitch. But 5 days later, I knew something wasn't right. The top incision was really red and angry looking and oozing pussy-looking bloody discharge. I called the surgeon's office again and had to go in to see him. I had developed a really severe infection and he told me that had I waited another 24 hours to come in, I'd have been in ICU fighting sepsis. He had to reopen the incision and clean out/drain the pockets of infection -- WITHOUT ANY NUMBING AGENT OR ANESTHESIA!!!! It took 2 nurses to hold me down while this was going on. He said that particular type of infection is really rare and that mine was probably the worst he had seen outside of actually having to be admitted to the hospital to manage it. So much for the "normal" labwork at the ER. . .
So, 5 days later, I had my regular post op visit/checkup. I asked him if the post op infection could have been prevented had the ER doctor at LEAST started me on antibiotics. His reply was "It certainly wouldn't have hurt anything". But he had already filed a complaint and put me in touch with who I needed to file a complaint with, saying that they listen to the patients even more than the doctors and nurses because the patients can sue them for malpractice. EVERY nurse, doctor and caregiver I've talked to has told me the same thing -- file a complaint. So, I'm in the process of doing so and have even gotten the name of a malpractice attorney to see if I don't get a satisfactory resolution to this.
At that post op visit, I had dropped another 6 pounds -- for a total of 16 pounds -- due to my body being so ravaged by the infection that I couldn't eat ANYTHING other than clear liquids. I couldn't even take my B12 because just the smell would make me hurl. But I WAS getting down my other vitamins and supplements. I'm now just 3 pounds above being clinically anorexic and fighting like the dickens to get that 16 pounds back on. The dietician at the Bariatric Center is working closely with me to regain the weight.
These past 2 months have been an absolute nightmare and not anything I would wish on ANYBODY!! I'm glad it's finally over, but I've got a long road ahead to get the weight back on to where I need to be. I can't eat more than 12-15g of sugar at a time without dumping and simple carbs sit in my pouch like a lead balloon, so my options are kind of limited with the restriction on putting it back on any time soon. I'm weak and do well to do a mile on the treadmill a couple of days a week. I've ordered a new supply of protein powders for drinks and protein bars to add some good calories and protein into my diet to try to jump start the weight gain, but we'll see if that works. I sure don't want to end up with a feeding tube.
Sorry this is so negative . . . probably the first negative blog I've done. But this is just beyond unreal. . .
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About Me
Evansville, IN
Location
23.0
BMI
Surgery
12/10/2009
Surgery Date
Jul 04, 2009
Member Since
Before & After
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