Post-Op Mistreatment after Lap Bad Surgery

[beaute]

My question involves medical malpractice in the state of: Illinois

I had weight loss surgery called "Lap Band".
Here is my story so far:

I woke up in the recovery room feeling very sore. I was quite out of it and the only thing I mumbled was that I was in pain. I got morphine and everything was pretty good for most of that morning.
Once I was put in my room, the horror started.
My night nurse neglected me. I called her four times and told her I was in a lot of pain and I couldn't sleep. I was supposed to be on morphine every 2 hours and even though it was time for my next dose, the nurse kept telling me she will bring it soon. Five hours passed and I was crying in my room from the pain. The nurse left for the day without giving me my morphine. She brought me Toradol right before she left even though I specifically kept asking for morphine. Toradol did not make any of the pain go away and she knew that because I was given Toradol first and then morphine after it failed.

So, as I am sitting there crying and begging for someone to help me, the transport guy comes in to take me to radiology. The nurses assistant comes in right after he did and they stand there talking amongst themselves while I cried in my bed. They didn't leave nor did they try to comfort me, just chit chatted like I wasn't there. Then when I finally crawled out of bed, the guy took me down, talking to everyone he passed on the way down, completely ignoring my crying. When I was done with the xray, he came back and had the NERVE to say 'Oh, that was quick baby doll'. BABY DOLL! What the hell! It was extremely disrespectful.

I went back to my room, covered myself under the covers and cried my eyes out. I have never felt so neglected.
I was discharged a day and a half after my surgery even though I was in no shape to walk. I complained to the nurse that I can't lift my legs and it went ignored. When I was leaving, I asked the head nurse to provide me with a wheel chair. Her answer was: "You can walk". So I walked to the elevator and rode down to the first floor. I tried to walk to the door, but I couldn't continue because of the pain and difficulty breathing. I stopped in the middle of the hallway and bended forward and cried again because I couldn't catch my breath. A paramedic was walking out of the ER and noticed me and offered to help. I was NOT in any shape to walk. I again was very frustrated that I was denied a wheel chair, especially because there was snow on the ground and I had a hard time walking through the parking lot.

I did not get to see the surgeon after the surgery. He sent some other doctor I have never seen before. The doctor seemed clueless and minimized every one of my complaints. He didn't allow me to explain what I was feeling. He cut me off mid sentence and told me "you had surgery, ofcourse you feel discomfort". After I asked if there were any complications, he said yes, and asked me how I knew. HOW PROFESSIONAL! Turns out that my liver was cut during surgery. I knew that could happen, but I am sure that I was supposed to be informed about it. The doctor also had no idea what size band was put inside of me.
When he was in my room to discharge me, I asked if he can prescribe pain medication for me to take at home. I explained that my legs hurt to the point where I needed someone to help me lift them. He said that when I get home, I should take liquid Tylenol. He did not prescribe any pain meds.


They also did not give me ANY heparin on day 2, although I have a history of blood clots and a hematologist wrote a letter telling my surgeon that I need to take lovenox for 2 weeks after surgery. They only provided heparin on the day of surgery.


After I got home, I was in so much pain that I couldn't breathe properly. I called the Surgeon's office but it was an automated message saying to go to the nearest ER if there is an emergency. I called the nurse line of my regular family doctor and the nurse told me that it is an emergency if I can't breathe properly and that I need to go to the ER. I called 911 because I was not able to walk down the stairs of my house. The paramedics took me downstairs and helped me into my mom's car. My mom drove me to a hospital that I have been to before, which was a few minutes further away than the hospital the paramedics would be able to take me to.

In the ER they put me in a room right away. They did an EKG, a chest x-ray, and a CT scan. They also gave me lovenox right away. They also gave me morphine twice. The morphine really helped me. I wasn't able to fully inhale from the pain, so after getting morphine, my breathing got much better. They kept me for a few hours and allowed me to receive a second dose of morphine before letting me go. The ER doctor also prescribed Tramadol for me to take after I get home.

The lap band clinic where my surgeon works has an online support group. I went online to the support group and posted my story. After a few hours I tried to log in and it turns out that my membership was deleted. The moderator of the group deleted me. Instead of calling me to ask how I am doing or figuring out if I needed something, they just deleted me. I am extremely pissed off about that.

I am appalled at the lack of interest from the lap band clinic and their behavior on the online forum. I was put through so much pain, was denied a wheel chair, was ignored by my nurse and doctor, and in the end, my story was simply deleted.

How should I deal with this? I don't think this clinic should get away with how they behaved.

[Dogmatique]

What are your damages?

[beaute]

I just don't want them to treat people this way.

[lealea1005]

Being given Toradol for post-op pain is well within the standard of care.

Obtaining a post-op x-ray is well within the standard of care.

Being treated/visited/discharged by the on call associate of your Surgeon, or the hospitalist, is wiell within the standard of care.

Perhaps your bleeding or prothrobin time results were not within normal limits , so the heparin was held. We are not privvy to your medical records, so this is merely speculation.

It is well within the standard of care to advise a patient to seek treatment at an ER in the case of an emergency after hours.

Your treatment at the ER was well within the standard of care.

Unfortunately, the hospital staff/online forum moderator acting like jerks is not malpractice. Write a letter to the CEO of the hospital and/or your Surgeon and ask that s/he investigate their behavior.