"Crowded, dirty, noisy, the nurses were smelly and unkept. One nurse had such bad breath I thought I would die. When you have just had surgery you feel kind of queesy anyway. He smelled like he just ate a bowl of fried onions. Ugh. The staff did not believe me when I told them my pain pump was not working. Finally, someone looked at it and sure enough it wasn't working. I was in excrutiating pain for what seemed like forever until they got that under control. My sister heard the staff make a comment about my size and weight when they were lifting me from the gurney onto the bed after my surgery. I was so out of it, I didn't hear it but she did and it upset her very much. The next day they brought a tiny little wheelchair to take me to get a cat scan. I couldn't get my butt in it and they had to search all over for a larger wheelchair. How humiliating. Thank God I am now 110 pounds lighter and don't have to deal with that kind of discrimination. I hope never to have the misfortune to wind up in Kennewick General Hospital again."
"I just met Dr. Heap on February 13th. He seemed like a nice enough guy and genuinely interested in helping me. He is a very busy doctor and had a lot of people waiting in his office to see him. The staff seemed rushed and couldn't really take the time to answer my questions thouroughly as the phone was ringing off the hook! All I know is that I have a date scheduled for the surgery and I need to be at the office the day before the surgery for pre-op testing. They did not elaborate on what the pre-op screening is. They did not tell me what to expect after the surgery, what supplements or vitamins I would need to take, or anything about aftercare. Everything I have needed/wanted to know, I have found on this website. This has been a godsend. The doctor did not address the risks of surgery at all, just asked if I have been reading up on the surgery and I indicated that I had. I will update more about his surgical competence and bedside manner after my surgery.
4/3/01: I think Dr. Heap is a very competent surgeon. I am 11 days post op and am not having any problems and am healing nicely. Dr. Heap even had me stay in a motel to save money on hospital costs and came to see me at the motel when doing his rounds. I can't believe a doctor would do that for a person! The thing I liked least was that he doesn't really explain the operation and post-op course and what to expect, etc. as thoroughly as I would like. You need to have a list of questions to ask him and he will then answer them, but he doesn't offer a whole lot. Also, he pulled out my nasogastric tube and JP drain and then drew blood from me without putting on gloves and that bothered me a little. Not only for his safety, but my own. Someone told me that he is an older surgeon and they just don't see the need to use gloves as much as the younger surgeons. At any rate, it bothered me a little."
