What would you do???

[beachbum0519 0]

Okay, so here is what's going on....I was suppose to have surgery on Tues. Well...I got into the operating room and was "put under" only to be in there for a total of 15-20 min. :crying:The surgeon I had basically under estimated my torso and ended up cutting into my diaphragm and saw my lungs.:regular_smile: She pulled out ASAP and sloppily stapled me up to get me out of there to get a chest X-Ray done to see what kind of damage she had done. I ended up going to ICU to be monitored. Well about 3:30 that afternoon, her office called to inform me that my surgery had been moved to next Tues. and they wanted me to call them back to confirm the time. Please keep in mind that she has yet to come in herself and check on me. She just automatically assumed that I would continue with the surgery next week and be okay with what happened. I'm so confused...I don't know what to do. I understand that surgeons are human and I took that risk going into this whole thing. In a way I don't blame her or have any hard feelings but I am really really really skeptical about having this surgery now.

Do I go ahead with it and take another risk, or do I back out now and be fat the rest of my life?????:tt1::blushing::crying::biggrin:

I need some help y'all....what would you do?????

[Jachut 487]

There ARE things that can go wrong in surgery but sloppy work like that? I find it hard to believe that she could "underestimate" where to cut and what she was going to find underneath when she did. She must be experienced at this sort of thing afterall.

I wouldnt let her near me again personally.

I'm sorry that you had to go through that and it must be painful. I'd be finding another surgeon, the wait to get through all the preliminaries again may be hard - but I'd say to her that you'd lost confidence and would prefer to be operated on by someone else and ask her to refer you to someone else - and pass over your history. I dont know how it works there, would the insurance approval and everything still stand? Here the surgeon could just refer you to a colleague.

[TheGh0st 9]

Sorry to say it but I'd tell her she needed to refund any money given you PLUS pay for a different doctor to do the surgery and money to cover the extra time off work and "emotional trauma". I realize that any surgery has it's risks but that complication just does not sound acceptable to me.

[Patriciann 0]

Wow, sorry you had to go through that. I am an insurance adjuster, so I'd sue, lol......Seriously I agree w. The Ghost, but you'll need an attorney to get that from her. Meanwhile, take care of yourself. Find a good surgeon and get it done. I would think another surgeon would accept the preliminaries you had to go through. I wouldn't let her near me with or without a scalpal.

[VegasGrace 1]

Don't let that doc touch you again!

IF you do....you would not ever be able to sucessfully sue...be made whole. Basically it's like leaving a tip for a bad haircut.

Don't do it and get a second opinion RIGHT NOW from another, independent doctor.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[TheGh0st 9]

Wow, sorry you had to go through that. I am an insurance adjuster, so I'd sue, lol......Seriously I agree w. The Ghost, but you'll need an attorney to get that from her. Meanwhile, take care of yourself. Find a good surgeon and get it done. I would think another surgeon would accept the preliminaries you had to go through. I wouldn't let her near me with or without a scalpal.

Oops... I hadn't finished my post. I meant to end it with and if/when the doc tells you she won't then sue her sorry @ss! (Forgive my language) Ofcourse I'm not a doc or even in the medical field so I could be wrong but this really sounds like a stupid incompetent mistake she made.

[gkeyt 0]

Hmm. I'm not a surgeon, but I am a health care professional. I've never heard of a miscalculation like that before, but that doesn't mean it's a matter of incompetence. People are anatomically different and there really is no way of truly knowing what you will find until you open someone up, even with all the imaging available in the world. I'm not saying that this is or is not a matter of incompetence, but I do know that sometimes surgeons get "surprises" like that even if they go by the anatomical landmarks that they are trained to use.

As for suing...I don't think you have grounds to sue, just from the brief overview you gave, and it doesn't sound like that's what you want anyway. She did the appropriate thing in stopping, closing, and assessing the possible damage, and then having you closely monitored afterward. There are risks to having surgery, and this is an included risk, I'm afraid. She CERTAINLY should have come to see you as soon as she could to talk to you honestly about what happened and apologize.

There is a lot that can be said about the appropriate use of litigation in US healthcare. You said it best yourself: the surgeon is human, and we accept a certain risk when we sign on to have surgery. But she definitely should have spoken to you directly about what happened, been honest, and apologized to you. That is the professional way to handle it. Unfortunately, a lot of surgeons were trained (especially years ago) never to apologize because then they are "admitting" fault and asking people to sue them. They have it in their heads that it's too risky to apologize, but for most patients that's what they actually want, not really to sue but to hear from the doc that they made a mistake.

Despite all of that, I think it's totally normal that you would be hesitant to have surgery with this doctor again. If you are really uncomfortable about it, I would trust your gut and find a new doctor. I think if the doctor didn't take the time to explain what happened and how something like that can happen, apologize for the pain and inconvenience and extra risk and cost to you, and make you comfortable with her doing surgery on you again, I would find someone else. You will have to live with this decision for the rest of your life, and you need to be comfortable with it.

Thank goodness that it was caught before something worse happened, and it sounds like you are recovering well. I don't think you have to be "fat forever". You've just had an unpleasant reminder that this is all major surgery and it carries real risks, however low they might be.

Best of luck to you, and hopefully it will all work out for you soon!

[Marimaru 7]

If the doctor 'sloppily' stapled you up, I would say you need to find a doctor to make sure that you aren't going to have issues from that, before you worry about getting banded. It's also a red flag to me that this doctor hasn't shown you the respect of coming to see you after she's done this to you. I think she definitely needs to be prepared to make arrangements for any issues you may have as a result of her mistake. I'm a little surprised that she'd want to put you under and open you up a week after this incident. It sounds like your diaphragm is going to need some time to heal.

Nothing says you can't get banded by another doctor if you are uncomfortable with this one. If you have a gut feeling, I'd go with that.

[shortgal 5]

If the Dr. personally never saw you after this incident, then who explained what happened in surgery to you.

I would schedule an appt with th surgeon and ask her exactly what happened. Make her explain it completely until you understand it totally. I would have someone else with you to help decipher the information. Unless your a meical professional it can be difficult to understand in one quick explanation while your still groggy from anesthesia.

Once you understand how this happened, you'll be in a better position to determine if this was incompetence. You could also ask the hospital physician review board to review your case.

I would not wait long to start asking these questions while nurses and the anesthesologist remember the details. Your surgeon was not in the OR alone! Then another physician can look at your incision and staples as well, while their still "fresh"

[kacee 3]

Find a new and HIGHLY reputable doctor PRONTO and get evaluated. Then see a lawyer.

[beachbum0519 0]

Thanks y'all for your responses. I honestly don't have any hard feelings toward her but I am a little apprehensive about her doing the surgery again. I called this morning and I have a meeting with her this afternoon to discuss everything and get it on the table.

[Wheetsin 714]

I would proceed with the surgery, with a different surgeon.

[aubrie 6]

I have to agree with gkeyt above to some degree. Not everyone falls within the "normal" range anatomically. I was told for years that I only had one ovary and that I would have trouble getting pregnant. When the time came, I was pregnant within six weeks. I was puzzled. It wasn't until much later I discovered that I did indeed have two, but the other one was under my tilted uterus and hiding. Not the doctor's fault. Not my fault. It just was.... That being said, I also feel that the doctor did have an obligation to come to you IMMEDIATELY and explain to you what happened. That was unprofessional. Based on that alone, I would look for another surgeon. I would no longer trust this one. Not because of what happened so much as how it was handled afterward. I would definatley demand an investigation.

[juliegeraci 7]

I would find another surgeon. I can't believe she didn't even visit you. My surgeon would have totally done that.

[pearlygirl 1]

I agree 100% with gkeyt. I was going to type out a similar response but decided that I couldn't have said it better. Medically speaking you don't have grounds to sue(and from what I understand, that isn't what you want anyway). The only thing that I would find somewhat disturbing is that your surgeon didn't come to see you afterward. Maybe he/she will have an explanation during your visit? I do not think that because of this, you do not have a good surgeon.