How it all started

Here is the original x ray from the clinic. Yes it is a bad break, but to say that it could only be treated surgically is a lie. If I had known then what I know now after years of research, I would have taped a golf ball under my wrist at the break and wrapped my arm so that the hand was pulled slightly under and down. I bet I would have been a lot happier and I would have retained hand function. I also bet that NONE of what Dr. M threatened would have happened! Unbelievably I found this link showing that what I wanted was NOT unheard of! Distal Radius

Here are the notes from my surgeon. I have NEVER SEEN A PATIENT CHART, just these notes written to the nurse who sent me to this Dr. This is against the law, but all I have are these notes. I want to show how inaccurate this can be. In the very first sentence, where it says I had a "fall from a horse?" This is inaccurate. I repeatedly stated that I had been knocked down by a horse. Big difference. On the second page it says that "...the fracture has settled further with an increase in dorsal tilt and dorsal collapse of the fracture leaving an overall unacceptable reduction." Unacceptable to whom? There WAS a barely noticable tilt, in the x-rays, but this was acceptable to me! However, using scare tactics and complete lack of pertinent information of was manipulated into having this surgery.

Here are the scare tactics; "...if this injury is treated non-operatively without any attempt at reduction that her wrist would likely go on to heal with considerable deformity leading to subsequent chronic pain and stiffness and posttraumatic arthritis of her wrist." (He also mentioned in another letter that he told me I would never work again in my profession if I didn't have this surgery. I'll put that up on this blog as well.) I wish he had tried this first. Maybe there isn't enough money in this?

At the top of the second page which contains this statement, read where "Other than the swelling, she does not have any visible or grossly palpable deformity at the wrist." So how come it would "go on to heal with considerable deformity?" On the first page it says "She has normal sensation and motor function in the radial, median and ulnar nerve distributions." This is not what I have now, due entirely to the surgery.

Also of note is this "Physical exam reveals a 51 year old female in no urgent distress. Her mood is pleasant, and her affect is appropriate. She is alert and oriented." This description is consistent all the way through every single chart, from the Dr's office to the hospital intake. "Pleasant woman in no distress" is what the hospital personnel said. I have not been the same since this ill advised surgery. Not physically nor mentally, nor financially.

Nothing in here about me declining general anesthesia. Nothing in here about me being "crazy to start with." Nothing in here about the severing of tendons, screw placement causing tendon rupture, nothing about where the incision was going to be, nothing substantive about the surgery, repeated surgeries, just the threats of chronic pain etc.

Later on this Dr. claims that he gave me a "choice" of having the arm reset in his office. Look what all he says in his statement. He never offered me this choice, just mentioned that if he tried something like that, that it wouldn't work anyway.

I was uninsured as my employer didn't offer health insurance. I wanted external reduction, not surgery. Did you note that an "external fixator" is never mentioned? He only told me about that option after I was in hysterics over the poor outcome of the ORIF. Yes Dr. M offered to let me pay in payments, but his office misrepresented the cost of the surgery, to the point that it is just impossible to pay off. If they had told me the truth, I would NEVER have consented to this surgery based on cost alone! (not to mention the horrible consequences of the surgery and the forced anesthesia!)

We need REAL HEALTH CARE REFORM WITH COST TRANSPARENCY! THIS IS WAY TOO EXPENSIVE FOR THE MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS TO CONCEAL OR UNDERESTIMATE THE COST!

I made 12,000 dollars in 2006 and my cost for a 70 minute operation was more than I grossed for that year. Angry about it, you bet. I am a conscientious consumer and I keep my bills under control. They had no right to quote me one price and then pad it by thousands of dollars. How am I to manage my finances with this kind of thing going on in the biggest expense after housing? This whole surgery was completely unecessary, and way too expensive for a poor truck driver.

Bad anesthesia and bad surgery

Here is snapshot of what was in my arm. The screw on the bottom was by far the most painful. I thought it was because my Ulna was also fractured, but surprise, surprise, once this stuff was out of my arm, most of the pain went away. Lucky me because it was excruciating! One of the "LOCKING SCREWS" was sticking out the tender underside of my wrist right into all those tendons!!! ( here is a problem with nobody answering my questions... That most distal locking screw head that is loose (confirmed by Dr. who removed this hardware) isn't covered by the remnants of the quadrate pronata and actually is cutting the tendons or is it covered by the tattered remains of the qp and only causing more damage to it? I don't know, but it was REALLY painful. Aching agony on the underside of the wrist that periodically shot up my Ulna almost to the elbow!) File:Gray817.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia He also took apart my pronate quadratushttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Pronator-quadratus.png You can see the screws sticking out into this here, it's a blue screw. The purple ones and the gold one are in other pictures as well. No wonder I am half crippled now. This was the worst surgery ever. I was never warned about Dr. M severing my Brachioradialus tendon, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Gray418.png never warned that my thumb wouldn't work, never told that there is a 50% complication rate, necessitating further surgery, not informed that by fixing my bone that I would sacrifice my hand! I am still facing reconstructive surgery for the partially ruptured tendons, Two Case Studies of Patients with Flexor Tendon Injury Following Locked Volar Plating eOrthopod.com and my hand is turning into a claw. I was never warned about the numbness, 70% loss of grip, the crushing of my upper arm by a tourniquet. My upper arm muscles have never been the same either, simply because of careless application of crushing pressure. I will never do any heavy lifting again because Dr. M severed the brachioradialus http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Gray418.png and the next Dr. had to sever it a second time. I can't ride a high strung horse, use a shovel, ride a snowmobile or ATV, do any rock climbing or pick up a child because my hand and arm don't work. They don't tell you about this when you "ELECT" to have this surgery. I would never have consented to this kind of surgery if I had been told the truth. The law says that they must reveal these things, but they don't! They want your MONEY! My feelings on this are that I was mugged, drugged, raped and physically harmed by this Dr. and all of his minions. The anesthesia was forced on me, I am am still in counseling for the Versed induced PTSD and my hand and arm are permanently ruined. The cost for this was about 14,000 dollars. Then I had to pay for more surgery, a kidney infection, counceling and drug therapy. Bad anesthesia and bad surgery. I wish I had just gone home. Complications of Volar Locking Plates for Distal Radius Fractures: Experience of a District General Hospital. -- Britannica O...