Some Stuff From an Askapatient Reviewer

I got some e-mails from the lady who wrote this review of Versed on www.askapatient.com 

1

cataract surgery

Got Versed+morphine IV for cataract surgery. I was totally aware of the cataract surgery and absolutely terrified (though the surgery itself was not bad) -- awful experience. I was slowed down and near immobilized but coming-unglued anxious and doing all I could to not come totally unglued and cooperate with surgery. Sheer terror.

what made me the angriest is when I got the second cataract surgery and an anesthesiologist tried to bully me into taking it again, saying I hadn't gotten enough. I absolutely refused and the second surgery was fine. Worst drug I ever took.

F

61

don't know 1X O

12/18/2011

She has kindly allowed me to reproduce some of what she says here;


The anesthesiologist the 2nd time made me furious, and unfortunately he is the HEAD GUY not only at this place but at a number of centers around town.

I do feel fortunate that the surgeon and his assistants were kind and meticulous and I didn't have any of the horrible, disrespectful and cruel experiences that others have had. And having read in advance, I was not surprised by either wetness around my eye or the purple and black "light show" I saw (microscope light and stuff) during the surgery.

But I sure am worried about any future procedures and getting what I want at that time.  Reading about propofol on askapatient is not too reassuring, and I think  (not sure) I would rather just get valium or ativan, but that could be quite difficult. Sigh.  (I would be interested in what thoughts you have about propofol if and when you have time.)

Thanks for making your experiences and those of others known.  I was shocked by the exchanges on the CRNA message board you pointed to, it shows that bad attitudes are incredibly common and unfortunately typical, which again worries me. After my experience I ordered several books used to train medical personnel about sedation and they absolutely tend to omit a lot of what can occur.

I knew I was not doing well and if someone had ever even asked me how I was doing, I'd have told them so (too immobilized to take any initiative though).  I'm stunned that there is no acknowledgement that people can react differently to this drug as to MANY others and that this needs to be allowed for and respected.

Pelvic Exams On Anesthetized Women

We seem to be having a problem among medical workers.  They are viewing us as living cadavers and perpetrating sexual assaults upon us, while we are unaware.  This must stop.  These bodies belong to US and we are paying these people OBSCENE amounts of money to help us.  Using us in such a vile way is inexcusable. 

The ethics of conducting a pelvic exam on an anesthetized woman

These UNinformed consent forms bear part of the responsibility.  In every single one of these documents I have perused, there is always a clause or two about allowing "anybody the doctor directs," "anything the doctor deems necessary" or something about allowing others to observe.  Did you know that this allows anybody at all to expose your vagina and dig around in it, in front of of anybody who wants to watch?  Drug reps, device reps, the janitor?  Did you know that your sedation for a toe bunion can be used to hide the fact that people are doing pelvic exams on you?  Remember that amnesia and "cooperation" are the main components of sedation with Versed.  They will tell you to spread your legs and you will do so.  Then they can claim that because you spread your legs for them, that you wanted it.  You won't remember it anyway, (probably, but not necessarily) so ANY humiliation is just fine with them. 

Just so you know, this is rape.  It doesn't matter if it's medical people or some maniac.  Sticking foreign objects, fingers and the like into a woman's body without her consent is rape.  Look it up.  Do you see anything in the LAW about this being OK if the woman is anesthetized?  The informed consent document which doesn't SPECIFY what is going to be done and by whom isn't a legal consent.  So the phony little clauses that medical workers like to point to ARE ILLEGAL!  This turns informed consent on it's head! 

When are patients going to be able to defend themselves, their bodies and their minds against this kind of rapist mentality.  When are we going to get true INFORMED consent?  You know, the ones which document what they can and cannot do, and by whom.  Why are these people being allowed to do this kind of thing? 

I already know that medical people were playing with my exposed crotch or I wouldn't have gotten a kidney infection when (according to the patient relations, lawsuit mitigation nurse) I never had a catheter.  I guess I'm to imagine that they let me pee all over myself when they illegally gave me general anesthetic?  Yeah right.  I'm not that stupid.  How many people had access to my vagina etc. while I was under?  Who knows?  This has to stop.  Suppose some person who was fingering my privates decided that a hysterectomy was "medically necessary?"  Would I have woken up to discover that I had been gutted?  According to the misleading and unlawful "informed consent" I signed, this would have been perfectly fine.  WOW!  Did I get lucky or what? 

I could have gone in for a simple bone break in my wrist area and awakened to find that I had no female parts left!  I mean, I already got sedation which I had refused.  I got general anesthetic which I had refused.  I got anesthesia performed by a NURSE which I would certainly have refused.  I got a botched surgery performed by who knows who, which was so bad it required corrective surgery by somebody else.  I would have refused to allow whoever that was to perform the surgery.   So all the way along people were doing things to me which I had refused, passed off to people who I wouldn't have allowed to touch me and in general treated me as an expendable piece of medical equipment, IE the living cadaver.  Then they charged me for the assault.

If medical people want to treat us like this then they need to pay US!  They also need to get permission for all of this stuff, the SPECIFICS.  PRIOR to the injection of Versed. 

Medicare Billing FRAUD!

Here is a really good article about medicare billing fraud.  How Doctors and Hospitals Have Collected Billions in Questionable Medicare Fees | NationofChange  I have already talked about the expensive (cough) "consultations" which are nothing more than a few minute office visit with some coercion thrown in for good measure.  I have gone on at LENGTH about the stunning claim from medical workers, crna's in particular, that "supervision" is only a MEDICARE BILLING PLOY!  They claim that they "suffer" no supervision at all, that the LAW is simply a way to bilk medicare for a supervisor which was never there.  They proudly proclaim this little fraud all over the internet.  Our government must be so incompetent that they deserve to be ripped off by medical workers EXCEPT that they are using our tax dollars to pay off these cheats!

SEDATION via Versed is the biggest ripoff of all!  This nasty brain poison adds THOUSANDS of dollars to each and every simple little procedure done in this country.  It also has been shown to cause mental deterioration in elderly patient.  Hmmm.  What "insurance" might these elderly people be using by and large?  Why it's MEDICARE!  So now we get to send these poor people whose brains have been fried by Versed to a nursing home.  Who pays for that? Why it's MEDICARE again!  It ain't cheap either!  I looked into one for my uncle near me...  It's a lovely facility, unlike the ones I've heard about, but it's $5,800 a MONTH for a shared room, with medical expenses and other misc. added on for good measure. 

Maybe some of those 16,500 new IRS agents tasked with enforcing the provisions of the Obamatax in the UNaffordable Care Act can go after these drug pushers, liars and medicare cheats?

How To Avoid Versed; From Somebody Else

How To Say No To Versed | Jnspire Hypnosis  Versed avoidance is mainstream no matter how much your anesthesia provider may protest.  Remember, it is my opinion that the reason we patients are meeting with such obstreperous resistance from anesthesia providers is because they LOVE Versed.  It makes it so much easier to abuse patients and be careless with them that they probably can't IMAGINE having to actually deal with patients and have some concern about them. 

PANIC Sets In!

I was checking up on the crna Aaron, the crna who is completely responsible for the existence of this blog, and guess what?  He has moved to my city!  Just when I thought I was safe, I read that he has moved to my new state AND my city.  I am panic stricken!  This man must NEVER, EVER touch me again, or in any way be responsible for any kind of care in regards to me. 

I can't seem to find out which hospital(s) he works at or what group he is working under.  We need some kind of laws so that we can track these people who are responsible for injecting us with poison against our will, lying to us, and treating us in an illegal and unlawful manner.  I never want to even hear his voice!  I heard his voice ridiculing me after he smashed into my brain with his 'vitamin v' the 'simple muscle relaxer.'  I'll never forget the smirk on his face as he deliberately and maliciously drugged me against my will.  NEVER!

Unfortunately my daughter is attending a good school here and I can't move for 3 more years.  A crna should not cause this kind of fear and loathing in his patients.  Panic City! 

This crna person also went to the same college as my daughter was planning to attend for 2 years!  This will have to change as well.  Since my kid will only be 16 when she graduates with her AA degree, that means that I must MOVE so that she can be at home with her parents until she finishes her her BA and turns 18.  I don't think she will want to leave home at 18 either because she wants to go to college for a number of years and get several  PhD's all of which cost lots of money. 

All this drama to avoid a rogue crna who is intent on defying patient wishes and imposing his will upon them.  I can't risk being injured by or subjected to this horrible crna again.  I realize that there is only a very slim chance of encountering this particular man, but the nature of PTSD is that being rational about the root cause of the illness is impossible.  I KNOW it's irrational, but the fear is real.  If he would treat me like pond scum because I was "just a truck driver" albeit a "pleasant woman in no distress" what will he do to me now?  I can't risk it. 

I wonder if my gp can put in my chart that Aaron can't work on me in any circumstance?  Do you think that the hospital would go along with this directive?  Or would they just claim some exigent circumstance to avoid my following my wishes?  I mean, it didn't do me a damn bit of good to refuse sedation or g/a with Aaron!  He went right on ahead with his notion of what HE wanted me to have.  What in the world would make me think that refusing to allow this nurse access to me would make a single bit of difference at a hospital?

New Word: Contumacious

I found a new word to describe the behavior of medical workers who like to inject unsuspecting patients with Versed.  Often they do this against the precise instructions of the patient.  They inject us without informed consent.  They make false statements about the effects, side effects and the exact nature of this drug.  They get belligerent and abusive if we discuss our bad experience with their (cough) wonder drug.

I m very pleased to present the word 'contumacious' into my blog to describe the behavior of medical workers.  I have exhausted my current supply of multi syllabic words so this 'contumacious" is a real jewel. 

Contumacious - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

This word is often used in court proceedings to show 'contempt of court."  I will be using it to show the attitude of medical workers towards patients.  By LAW, we patients are the judge of what we find acceptable.  We patients hold the authority to determine if Versed is used.  These medical workers are in contempt of both their patients and the law.  They willfully and illegally use Versed against us in a medical setting.  They are contumacious.

Private Jet Pilots

Today I was working at the very airport where my boss keeps his corporate jet.  Here's what it looks like; 

My boss sends this aircraft to fetch us when he sends us out of town and needs us back quickly, among other things.  It's always the same pilot and while the rest of the employees are drinking cocktails in the passenger area, I sit up front in the co-pilot seat and chit chat with the pilot.  I LOVE big machinery that can be driven, operated, ridden or flown, so I really like it when I get to go in the little turbo prop jet.  Can you imagine the brain power it must take to engineer this kind of machine?  It boggles the mind.  I digress, back to the pilot.

Our pilot is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365.242199 days per year including leap year.  He is a former aeronautics mechanic, so he can explain every little detail about the craft itself and the flight; things like uncommanded slat deployment or the major importance of setting barometric pressure in a small plane.  Yeah, yeah, get to the point lady!  What's this got to do with Versed and Versed pushers?  Are you ready for the big segue?

Guess how much money he makes to fly the plane and to know every single little detail and pretty much every single nut, bolt etc that's in this expensive little aircraft.  $600 an hour.  Remember he's always on call.  He has to know everything about the plane so that if there is an emergency he can land it safely.  I think his job is a teensy bit more involved (and more dangerous to himself and others) than an anesthesia providers job and they make $200 an hour more. I trust this pilot with my life, but anesthesia providers? Not so much.

$600 an hour seems fair for the job that our pilot does.  $800 dollars an hour for some prissy little amnesia provider seems like such a RIPOFF!  If our pilots were as careless as anesthesia is, there would be a whole lot more crashes, dontcha think? 

There is a self preservation instinct that goes along with flying a jet, which is lacking with anesthesia.  Just because they wreck YOUR life, it doesn't mean a thing to them as long as we just keep paying those $800 an hour ridiculous fees. NO WAY is an anesthesia nurse worth more than a private jet pilot.  What a skewed system we have.