Hemorrhagic Stroke Unnoticed While in the E.R.

[angemarod]

Hello.
Two years ago I suffered an hemorrhagic stroke that left me with a severe paresis on the left hand(although left arm and leg are slightly affected too), some cognitive limitation and an epilepsy with daily seizures that prevents me from of living a normal live.

This stroke happened while I was in the hospital ER and only was diagnosed 24 hours later.

The problem was that I entered the ER with smoke intoxication after a fire in my house.

I was still conscious but extremely dizzy and didn’t felt left side of my face and had trouble speaking or eating.

I was receiving oxygen for many hours and the next day (24 hours later) I was even worst. I couldn’t even speak (although I could write slowly and with an extremely small letter) and the hospital was sending me home. Fortunately my brother refused to take me in that state and finally I was seen by a neurologist and taken a TAC that showed the hemorrhage.

Procedures were made to control the intracranial pressure but only after another 24 hours I was taken to the surgery room. My head was already visibly swollen.

Because I’m a single woman in a difficult financial situation and don’t have supporting parents I'm looking into the possibility of seeking compensation for damage caused by this delay in diagnosis.

Even if I could control seizures working with just one hand is almost impossible in my area because I’m a nurse.

I’m writing this letter hopping someone would help me providing expert medical opinion on this matter.

Should the stroke had been identified if basic good medical practice were applied? Does this case reveals negligence?

Hope someone can help me.

Thanks in advance

[cbg]

Only a medical malpractice attorney who has reviewed ALL of your medical records from the time can say if you have a case worth exploring.

What treatment do you believe you could have received 24 hours earlier that you did not received due to the delay in diagnosis (which may or may not have been reasonable under the circumstances) and which would have had a longlasting effect on your condition?

[Mr. Knowitall]

Also, what U.S. state are you in?

[angemarod]

What I'm trying to understand is whether the symptoms exhibited in conjunction with the values read in blood analysis and the progression of my physical state could completely camouflage the stroke.
Regardless of the exact monoxide carbon values in the analysis (which I don't know) shouldn't the fact that I was getting worst have given the alarm?
Is there any literature referring the relation between highly stressful situations and strokes that could justify some special attention?
It is said that "after two hours the chances patient’s chance of recovering with little or no disability is greatly reduced"
If after 2, 3 or even 6 hours someone in that service noticed that I was getting worst and suspected something else could be happening and took some kind of action probably the consequences wouldn't be so severe.

Shouldn't the fact that I was getting worst sounded an alarm?
Shouldn't monoxide readings be more conclusive regarding the effects that ought to be observed?

Thanks again

[Mr. Knowitall]

Laws vary by state. What U.S. state are we talking about?

Your response suggests that you're not in the U.S., in which case you'll want to run your question past a lawyer in your country.

[angemarod]

I'm sorry. No, I'm not in the US.
I was trying to evaluate the situation on a medical base.
I'm going to write to several law firms but wanted to see if I could get a little more information.
Law firms in Portugal are not that willing to take a case like this and our justice system doesn't help either.

[Dogmatique]

I'm sorry, we deal only with US law here.

We honestly can't help you since the laws in the US don't apply to Portugal. The "standard of care" here may differ greatly from that of any other country.

[angemarod]

I understand.
Thanks anyway