1. I asked my surgeon 3 weeks before the surgery if I could have the Foley
catheter placed while I was awake- he agreed.
2. On the day of my surgery, I asked him again- he agreed.
3. I asked the OR nurses if I could have the cath placed while awake- they
all agreed, and one said she'd be the one to do it- it was fine with her.
4. The anesthesiologist was very snappy with me because I asked if I could
keep my tongue jewelry in. She bossed me very rudely " Take it out now!" and the
nurse explained that I wanted to keep it in until the very LAST possible moment
(because tongue piercings can close very quickly). She said "The tongue ring
comes out NOW!"
5. When the anesthesiologist said "I'll go get the goodies" and left the OR
Prep room to get medication, another nurse asked me if I understood that one of
the medications they would issue would cause amnesia- I asked if they could hold
off on all medications until the catheter was placed- that I wanted to remember
it. Every nurse in the room agreed. However, no one explained to me AT THAT
TIME, that the medication would cause RETROGRADE amnesia. I don't even know if
this is true.
6. When the anesethesiologist came back, the other nurses told her that I'd
like to hold off on all medication until after the catheter was in. She walked
behind me and started fiddling around with "something", as she rudely agreed to
wait on the meds. She said in a way that frightened me "That is very unusual". I
asked her if I had upset her and she said "No! Let's go! Let's do this!" very
rudely.
7. I was immediately wheeled out of the room. Very quickly I started
getting drowsy. I don't remember the trip to the OR. I have short snippets of
memory- the feeling of being wheeled, waking up with my gown up and my legs
open, the pain of the catheter insertion. I remember talking at times throughout
this duration- trying to say that I shouldn't be feeling sleepy yet, asking why
I was feeling drowsy. However, I could not see straight, just bodies moving to
the right of me and at my head, arms reaching toward me, people grabbing my legs
etc. I kept drifting in and out of conciousness, I don't recall anyone answering
my questions and my last memory is rolling my head to the right and giving
up.
8. The next thing I remember is waking up (if you could call it that) in
recovery, shivering, trying to sit up and talk. There were people talking around
me, removing the EKG wires from my chest etc. I was trying to ask questions, and
once again, I don't recall anyone responding to me.
9. They wheeled me to a regular hospital room. When I was able to see the
clock, I noted the time, and asked for my husband who was in the waiting room.
The nurse came back a while later and said that my husband was not in the
waiting room. I began to cry for the next hour, confused and drowsy. Two more
nurses who noticed said they'd try to find him. Finally he came in an hour or an
hour and a half later and said he'd been in the waiting room the entire
time-asking about me at the desk. It turns out that they just didn't have my
paperwork there yet, so my husbands name was never on the "To Page" list.
10. My surgeon didn't see me for 2 more days. I asked him why I wasn't
awake for the cath insertion and he said that I was. He said he was there, I was
awake, and talking. As the days go by, I realize that I am completely
disappointed in my surgeon-who I really liked. I'm now realizing that he lied to
me as well. He told me that the Versed caused retrograde amnesia-implying that
the drug wasn't administered until after the cath insertion, and I just didn't
remember it because the amnesia was RETROGRADE. This is an obvious lie, as I
REMEMBER fighting sleep, trying to talk, not being able to see straight, and
waking up periodically during my move to the OR and the cath insertion. Why
would I have an immediate realization that I was getting sleepy, if I wasn't
even drugged yet?!
11. I requested the operative report, which stated that I was placed in a
lateral decubitous with low lithotomy
position. I am distressed by this as I did not know my legs would be open. I
also did not know that they would "prep" my perenium before surgery.
12. My surgeon failed to tell me that he DEFINATELY WOULD be performing a
cystoscopy (a camera up the urethra to view the bladder). I signed a paper that
gave consent to perform one- but as I signed it, my surgeon told me that he
would only do one in the event that he could not place the stent through the the
incisions "sometimes it's difficult that way". According to the operative
report, he WAS able to place the stent through the incisions. He performed the
cystoscopy to check the position of the stent after everything else was done.
Why then, did he omit the fact that he would check the stent that way? Why do
doctors try to hide what they do? I signed the freakin consent...why then not
inform me about things happening TO me?!
==============================================================
As you can tell this reader is not only unhappy with Versed, but also the same litany as I and others have expressed about the total and absolute disrespect for not only the patient but the law as well. I wonder what it will take to get these medical people under control! They are supposed to be trained personnel at OUR disposal! Why are we being subjected to this type of treatment? It puzzles me as these are NOT minimum wage workers who could understandably be resentful. Medical minions whole job is about customer service. IT'S A SERVICE INDUSTRY! How did it happen that we patients are now the enemy, to be treated like dirt? These people are bankrupting the entire country so that they can have their lavish lifestyle! Why can't we be treated with respect, dignity and within the parameters we place on them? Why can't we expect that medical workers will FOLLOW THE LAW? This is a chilling story about how much disdain medical people have for the very people they are (over)paid to serve.
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