In mid life, my brother announced to the family that he was leaving his medical practice, because of the state of modern medical care. Before leaving, he had been in his hospital the day after hip surgery, and he called his medical practitioner wife..."Get me out of here before they kill me!"
Today, while back at the phone store to correct this months' bill errors, the associate was complaining about extreme pain in her mouth. She had had an ear ache and ended up having a root canal. The surgery caused an infection that resulted in another root canal that resulted in another infection!
A few days before, mom went for cataract surgery scheduled for 7:45 am. Shortly after arriving the smoke alarms started ringing that caused the fire alarms to start ringing that shut the elevator and fire doors. It took over 1.5 hours to stop the anguishing noise! She had her surgery during this! That night I was informed that she had felt pain in her arm, and was bleeding, removed a bandage, and discovered they had forgotten to remove the intravenous tube and needle!
Recently, I had been referred to a neurological ophthalmologist for a wandering eye. I went into the waiting room that was filled to over capacity. "Are you behind schedule?"..."No we are running on time!". Two hours later I was taken back to an examining room. I was given a few eye tests by a technician, and then I was given a series of eye drops to dilate my pupils to prepare for the doctor's exam. After 45 minutes in another waiting room, the doctor came in and introduced himself, and said that he would have to schedule another appointment because my eyes were too dilated! A week later I received a copy of the doctor's $730 bill to my insurance company for the first day at the office!
I went to my general practitioner for an annual physical. After two hours I was called back and weighed and my temperature was taken. "You have gained a lot of weight, and your temperature is normal."..."No, I lost weight!" We went back to an exam room, and the nurse opened a folder..."Are you still taking your dopamine?"..."You must have the file of my father who passed away eight years ago!"..."please go back to the waiting room and we'll straighten this out"...One hour later, I was called back and told to get on the scale again!..."You've had a big weight change!" ..."No, I lost a little weight"..."Your temperature has elevated!"..."Are you still taking your diabetes medicine?"..."You have the wrong patient AGAIN!"...I switched doctors after that visit (and the doctor had not even examined me during the physicals in years!).
When I went for out-patient removal surgery for a leg skin cancer, I was finally taken into the surgery room twelve hours late! Since the anesthesia had worn off, I was able to ask the attendants (in their spoken Spanish!) if I was supposed to be out? Luckily I wasn't because they started to prep the wrong leg for surgery! "And who are you? You aren't my surgeon!"..."He was too busy, so I was told to start the procedure! I was sent home that night, to experience extreme chills, and be diagnosed with mrsa staph infection the next day. I was placed on strong antibiotics too long, that resulted in nerve damage in both hands! Afterwards, my insurance carrier placed an exclusion on any procedure with cancer mentioned...
In my late 40's I had my first Colonoscopy. Three benign polyps were discovered and I was told to have a second one, three years later. At that time I had none, so I was scheduled for another four years later. One polyp was discovered. Even though I had cleared the procedure with my insurance company before, none of its cost was covered, because of the polyp. I contested the denial all the way to the insurance commissioner who agreed with the carrier..."Costs of colonosopies where polyps are uncovered will not be covered for 22 years!"
The best patient care is in hospice for most...other than for indignant illegal homeless individuals who also receive lots of care if they walk into a hospital!
A few days before, mom went for cataract surgery scheduled for 7:45 am. Shortly after arriving the smoke alarms started ringing that caused the fire alarms to start ringing that shut the elevator and fire doors. It took over 1.5 hours to stop the anguishing noise! She had her surgery during this! That night I was informed that she had felt pain in her arm, and was bleeding, removed a bandage, and discovered they had forgotten to remove the intravenous tube and needle!
Recently, I had been referred to a neurological ophthalmologist for a wandering eye. I went into the waiting room that was filled to over capacity. "Are you behind schedule?"..."No we are running on time!". Two hours later I was taken back to an examining room. I was given a few eye tests by a technician, and then I was given a series of eye drops to dilate my pupils to prepare for the doctor's exam. After 45 minutes in another waiting room, the doctor came in and introduced himself, and said that he would have to schedule another appointment because my eyes were too dilated! A week later I received a copy of the doctor's $730 bill to my insurance company for the first day at the office!
I went to my general practitioner for an annual physical. After two hours I was called back and weighed and my temperature was taken. "You have gained a lot of weight, and your temperature is normal."..."No, I lost weight!" We went back to an exam room, and the nurse opened a folder..."Are you still taking your dopamine?"..."You must have the file of my father who passed away eight years ago!"..."please go back to the waiting room and we'll straighten this out"...One hour later, I was called back and told to get on the scale again!..."You've had a big weight change!" ..."No, I lost a little weight"..."Your temperature has elevated!"..."Are you still taking your diabetes medicine?"..."You have the wrong patient AGAIN!"...I switched doctors after that visit (and the doctor had not even examined me during the physicals in years!).
When I went for out-patient removal surgery for a leg skin cancer, I was finally taken into the surgery room twelve hours late! Since the anesthesia had worn off, I was able to ask the attendants (in their spoken Spanish!) if I was supposed to be out? Luckily I wasn't because they started to prep the wrong leg for surgery! "And who are you? You aren't my surgeon!"..."He was too busy, so I was told to start the procedure! I was sent home that night, to experience extreme chills, and be diagnosed with mrsa staph infection the next day. I was placed on strong antibiotics too long, that resulted in nerve damage in both hands! Afterwards, my insurance carrier placed an exclusion on any procedure with cancer mentioned...
In my late 40's I had my first Colonoscopy. Three benign polyps were discovered and I was told to have a second one, three years later. At that time I had none, so I was scheduled for another four years later. One polyp was discovered. Even though I had cleared the procedure with my insurance company before, none of its cost was covered, because of the polyp. I contested the denial all the way to the insurance commissioner who agreed with the carrier..."Costs of colonosopies where polyps are uncovered will not be covered for 22 years!"
The best patient care is in hospice for most...other than for indignant illegal homeless individuals who also receive lots of care if they walk into a hospital!
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