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Jives
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Post by Jives »

I've had some difficult times lately, my poor wife picked up a microorganism in the Bahamas and it's been eating huge holes in her legs and feet.

On top of that, I had to put up with some pretty egregious unprofessionalism at the hospital. ( I actually had to begin a documentation timeline, contact the Director of the hospital, and contact my lawyers to get a decent level of care for her.)

Interestingly, as soon as I mentioned "lawsuit" and gave them a copy of the timeline (you wouldn't believe the stupidity! Records lost or not consulted, nurses verbally abusive, etc, etc.) amazingly they became very, very helpful!

They finally got down to business and used those powerful microscopes that were sitting around gathering dust and found a very rare, but very serious little critter eating her skin.

Once they had found what was really causing it, they quit accusing her of "picking on her sores" as the reason and found an antibiotic that would actually affect the vicous little bugger. Good thing too, because by then she was pretty depressed, especially when they kept insisting it was "self-inflicted".

Moral to this story? Be your own advocate, get a lawyer, and force people to do a good job if they aren't. I'm not hospital bashing, or nurse bashing, but it is absolutely true that health care professionals are only human and can make mistakes.

Meanwhile, I've been on Spring Break and clearing out the dead Mums so that the happy little Daffodills can breathe. It feels wonderful! :cool:
All the world's a stage and the men and women merely players...Shakespeare
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abbey
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Post by abbey »

Power to the Daffs..

I'm glad that the powers that be finally listened to you Jives, they really can be bloody arrogant sods some docs.

I hope that your wife makes a speedy recovery now they've made the correct diagnosis. x
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valerie
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Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2004 12:00 pm

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Post by valerie »

It is always good to have a good patient advocate. And I think you will

find in some cases that the hospital doesn't even mind them, depending

on how they conduct themselves!



Good for you for sticking with it until you got results, and best wishes for

a speedy recovery for your wife!



There have been times when *I* had to speak up, not on something

to the degree of your wife's... but just to let them know that I was NOT

like 99% of the rest of their patients!



I suggest firm but nice, no bad language and don't raise your voice! You

will get farther.



:-6
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weeder
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Post by weeder »

Jives wrote: I've had some difficult times lately, my poor wife picked up a microorganism in the Bahamas and it's been eating huge holes in her legs and feet.

On top of that, I had to put up with some pretty egregious unprofessionalism at the hospital. ( I actually had to begin a documentation timeline, contact the Director of the hospital, and contact my lawyers to get a decent level of care for her.)

Interestingly, as soon as I mentioned "lawsuit" and gave them a copy of the timeline (you wouldn't believe the stupidity! Records lost or not consulted, nurses verbally abusive, etc, etc.) amazingly they became very, very helpful!

They finally got down to business and used those powerful microscopes that were sitting around gathering dust and found a very rare, but very serious little critter eating her skin.

Once they had found what was really causing it, they quit accusing her of "picking on her sores" as the reason and found an antibiotic that would actually affect the vicous little bugger. Good thing too, because by then she was pretty depressed, especially when they kept insisting it was "self-inflicted".

Moral to this story? Be your own advocate, get a lawyer, and force people to do a good job if they aren't. I'm not hospital bashing, or nurse bashing, but it is absolutely true that health care professionals are only human and can make mistakes.

Meanwhile, I've been on Spring Break and clearing out the dead Mums so that the happy little Daffodills can breathe. It feels wonderful! :cool:That is a horrible story. And how awful for your wife. My outlook has always been to avoid being in the hospital at all costs.. If you have to be there you must have someone looking out for you. The incompetent staff in a brooklyn hospital almost killed my former husband back in 1984. And a neurosurgeon was so rude to me, that I had to ask for him to be removed from the case. Hope your wife is well soon.
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minks
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Post by minks »

oh Jives hope your wife gets well quickly sounds rather hellish to me.

Good plan of action you took, my suggestion would have been a good lawyer next.

Good thing to remember when dealing with anyone and anything, anymore...document document document EVERYTHING!!!

Cant say enough how many times that helped me out in life.
�You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.�

― Mae West
contact
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Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2005 7:54 am

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Post by contact »



Please don't be too alarmed when I tell you that for the most part,the medical profession has known about the #1 preventable cause of death in the U.S.,but it still kills more people than:all cancers put together,and motor vehicle accidents.You have seen the advertisements on television,and in magazines,it's called a DVT (BLOOD CLOT).These are caused by many different means,some are caused by a long plane flight,or from sitting for a very long extended period of time.They are also caused by unfortunately the medical profession,when the lack of care (preventative measures are taken to prevent them).If you look up DVT on the net or any web link associated with medical information,look up DVT,then look up its nastier cousin,the PE (pulmonary ebolism)that derives from the DVT.Then ask yourself.Has anyone you know that was in a hospital,like an aunt,uncle,grandfather or grandmother,or worse,someone who was apparently doing well for the most part,but suddenly passed away.I pray this has not been the case for any of you that may read this.But I tell you this,it happens,and according to nationa statistics,it happens about 250,000 times a year!

Who would order an autopsy on our beloved older relative who was in the hospital for a hip replacement,or in a nursing home,when after all,they lived quite a long live.But could they have lived longer?Certainly the medical profession will tell you that they passed from medical "complications",or for some unknown reason,"they just started to go down hill".But even in a car accident or some kind of trama,the medical profession will mostly say"the patient died from complications".But was the patients death from a DVT,which caused a pulmonary embolism to go to their lungs.Yes,I'll admit that a DVT can be difficult to diagnose some of the time,but they do have signs,and when the signs are ignored,and the symptoms are not recognized by competent medical professionals,the results are certainly "DEADLY".When you read the information on these silent killers,and I hope you will,then you will be more aware or what to look for,and when to speak up to see that you or your loved one gets the preventative measures to keep one from taking place,or if the signs appear,you be the "medical expert" and demand that the proper test be taken to rule out a DVT.

Sincerely,one who has the experience to know.Unfortunately,now I have the long,life-long complications that go with an un-detected DVT,that was not caught in time (but before the pulmonary embolism's could do me in).I received blood thinners,but unfortunately,the clot was so large,that now I am postthrombotic.I wear the "funny stocking you see older people wear",and I must wear it every single day,because my blood circulation is so bad,if I don't wear the stocking I could develope sores,and loose my leg,or worse.

Thank's for listening,and please,read and learn.
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hotsauce
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Post by hotsauce »

Oh Jives! How awful! I have a similar story...i almost lost my hubs over dumb doctors. Way to stick up for the little lady. i hope she makes a speedy recovery!
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Lon
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Post by Lon »

I'm a bit late in reading your post Jives. I can understand and appreciate what you and your wife went through. Being assertive is almost a necessity these days in dealing with the medical community. Good for you.
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actionfigurestepho
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Post by actionfigurestepho »

If there's one thing I've learned this year, it's that being sweet and nice will get you nowhere when it comes to your medical care! You have to claw your way through it just to get any respect or decent care. Good for you! Your wife is a lucky lady to have you fighting so fiercly by her side.
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