bad experience with er doc

[babycake]

has anyone had a problem
with a er doc
where you felt like you wanted
to not only kill him
well wed nite
feb 17th, i had dialyis
and i came home
everything seem to be good
a friend of mine came over
we went to the store
and omg... i started bleeding
we rushed in the bathroom
she called 911
i didnt want to go the hospitol
so they just re-wrap my arm
i came home
called my mom
and she told me to go
so i went and i was thinking geeze
the er is slammed , i should had went by ambulance
for i would had been out already
i waited for 5hours to be seen
well any how the dang doc that i had
i would NEVER refer him to anyone
in fact if i have to go again and hes there
im walking out
he unwrap my arm
and i was pointing i wasent touching my access
and he started to yell at me
he said im pretty sure i know you more
than you know yourself...
for he said i have a 7yr old daughter
that likes to pick
omg.
hes judging me over his daughter
and i wasent even picking.. anything on my arm
and he sure heck doesnt know me or my body
like i do
and when they released me they told me to call
my family doc for a update from the hospitol
and i was thinking, he not going to know nothing
about my arm
so i called my dialyis center on thrusday and i talk
to the nurse... and told her what the hospitol said about the doc
she said that didnt make sense at all so today fri feb 19th i went into dialyis everything went good and the nurse was saying there is no need to get a referal for i have appt coming up any how for a alter sound
but i did email the head manager of the er
and made a big complaint

[cassandra]

Good on you to make a complaint, but I don't think you should kill him as I'm afraid you'd never stop, and not many ER doctors would be left.

Love, Cas

[Michael Murphy]

When ever you go to the emergency room it's a crap shoot,  unless you get a experienced Doctor you may get a intern God help you. Years ago I got a deep cut on my palm and went to the emergency room,new intern and for a half a hour I was telling home he was suturing it too tight, Resident shows up. And yells at him he should have listened the patient was right. Took 2 years before the skin stretched enough to fully ope my hand. If I ain't bleeding or in a ambulance I'll wait for a visit to my doctor.

[babycake]

years ago
i went to the hospitol
for i had a issue with my stomach
the stupid vascular doc that was on call
  only looked at the xrays of my arm
from ohsu
and went ahead and put a baloon in it
ok
so i came that nite
but before i left the hospitol
i ask when should i take the wrap off
oh when you go to bed
 he didnt know me
for im a bleeder
i was back in the hospitol less than 3hours later
for i was still bleeding
 and this time i saw a differnt doc

[Charlie B53]

Not all ER Dr's are bad.  I've known a couple that were very good at dealing with 'out of the blue' cases.

Wife works in the H.S. Cafeteria.  Monday was Presidents Day so no school.  She pretty much didn't do anything all day.  No energy.  Tues goes to work, and came home sick, throwing up anything she ate or drank.  Wed  the same. Well, did go to work, otherwise, wouldn't eat or drink anything.  Late afternoon I told her she HAD TO drink or dehydrate and end up in the ER, again.   This has almost been an annual thing with her.   No bug, no fever, no chills.  Just can't keep anything in and within a few days dries out way too much. 

Thurs afternoon She let me make some chicken broth.  Kept it down fine.  So well she asked for a second cup.  couple hours later let me make her some chicken noodle soup.  That even worked.

Friday comes around she heads to school.  Came home 45 minutes later.   Told her she had better call her Dr.     Come to find out our most favorite Dr has RETIRED Dec 31.  No notice, nothing.   Some other unknown has his office and is taking over, but booked solid til late March.   Go to Urgent Care.   That was a serious waste of time.  Ended up being transferred to the ER.  Should have gone there in the first place.  At least the $100 co-pay was waived since transferred to a real ER.

ER has a problem getting an IV in.  Wife is so dehydrated by now most all veins have flattened enough they are rubbery and roll off.   THREE Techs, Nurses, whatever, two or three sticks each, no go.  Fourth Lady went straight into Wife's breast with a very short 24 and made it work.  I finally went for a walk to have a cigeratte and call Son and Dau to let them know as it is now almost 5 p.m. and we started out at 10:30     I have been telling EVERY staff person, especially the Dr, how many times she has been through this dehydration thing and every time they end up keeping her for a day or two until she can keep solid food down.  Otherwise I fear she will back within two days all dried out again.   Dr assured me no problem, they would make sure she would be fine.

After my smoke I come in and the first thing I notice is the IV bag is STILL at one liter.  Hasn't gone down a bit.      Drip rate only about one drop per MINUTE.  Check the lines, all valves wide open.  I go find someone.   Tech verifies all looks good, but not flowing.  He leaves and a new Lady comes in.  Decides that loine in the breast has clogged, and isn't big enough anyway.   So we had that talk about how many times Patsy has dehydrated like this, yada yada yada.   I am now late to start my PD as it is now 7 p.m.   She tells me she is the Attending, shift change, etc.   And she was going to make SURE Patsy was admitted.  She ordered ultrasound to come in and guide an IV to a large vein.   And for me to take my happy a$$ (my words) home and get hooked up to my Cycler.   Finally.  I thank her very much for the care and head home.

Wife calls me a couple of hours later and tells me when that bag runs dry they were going to send her home in a cab.    I flip. if I could.

I call the attending and learn she isn't given the choice.  Police is the CURRENT Primary Car Dr must make the decision, and this new guy, we don't' know yet and has never seen Patsy, much less seen her history, refuses to allow her to be admitted.

She's home.  I'm making Chicken broth and Chicken soup.

And come Monday will be shopping for her a new Dr.


EDIT:      Oh, now I'm on the hool for the $200 ER co-pay, which was to have been waived with her over-night admission.   I could spit nails.

[PrimeTimer]

fri feb 19th i went into dialyis everything went good and the nurse was saying there is no need to get a referal for i have appt coming up any how for a alter sound
but i did email the head manager of the er
and made a big complaint

I think you did the right thing by sending a complaint about the ER doctor. Hope your fistula is okay.

[PrimeTimer]

She's home.  I'm making Chicken broth and Chicken soup.

And come Monday will be shopping for her a new Dr.


EDIT:      Oh, now I'm on the hool for the $200 ER co-pay, which was to have been waived with her over-night admission.   I could spit nails.

Dang, Charlie B53! What an ordeal you guys went thru! Hope your wife is feeling better and that this hasn't thrown you too far off on your PD. I was once so dehydrated from being sick that my lips blistered and I wasn't allowed any fluid at the hospital until they got some lab results back. Funny, of all people it was the Xray tech that showed me a little trick...he gave me a wet washcloth and told me to suck the water from it just to "get me by" while waiting on lab results. They don't want too much fluid in you in case you need to go into surgery and I guess fluid in your stomach doesn't go too well with anesthetic (can make you real sick and then you can choke and die on the OR table). Anyway, sucking on that wet washcloth really helped. Of course I had to do it when the nurses weren't looking. But once they were allowed to "open the lines" to an IV to give me fluid, oh what a relief that was!

[babycake]

fri feb 19th i went into dialyis everything went good and the nurse was saying there is no need to get a referal for i have appt coming up any how for a alter sound
but i did email the head manager of the er
and made a big complaint

I think you did the right thing by sending a complaint about the ER doctor. Hope your fistula is okay.

 i went to dialyis on
fri and nothing went wrong
 i havent heard anything from
the head manager as of yet
but i did find her on facebook
and left her a message
 and to find out
that  idiot doc is also
on facebook
felt like leaving him a email
and bitching him out
but i didnt

[kristina]

Not all ER Dr's are bad.  I've known a couple that were very good at dealing with 'out of the blue' cases.

Wife works in the H.S. Cafeteria.  Monday was Presidents Day so no school.  She pretty much didn't do anything all day.  No energy.  Tues goes to work, and came home sick, throwing up anything she ate or drank.  Wed  the same. Well, did go to work, otherwise, wouldn't eat or drink anything.  Late afternoon I told her she HAD TO drink or dehydrate and end up in the ER, again.   This has almost been an annual thing with her.   No bug, no fever, no chills.  Just can't keep anything in and within a few days dries out way too much. 

Thurs afternoon She let me make some chicken broth.  Kept it down fine.  So well she asked for a second cup.  couple hours later let me make her some chicken noodle soup.  That even worked.

Friday comes around she heads to school.  Came home 45 minutes later.   Told her she had better call her Dr.     Come to find out our most favorite Dr has RETIRED Dec 31.  No notice, nothing.   Some other unknown has his office and is taking over, but booked solid til late March.   Go to Urgent Care.   That was a serious waste of time.  Ended up being transferred to the ER.  Should have gone there in the first place.  At least the $100 co-pay was waived since transferred to a real ER.

ER has a problem getting an IV in.  Wife is so dehydrated by now most all veins have flattened enough they are rubbery and roll off.   THREE Techs, Nurses, whatever, two or three sticks each, no go.  Fourth Lady went straight into Wife's breast with a very short 24 and made it work.  I finally went for a walk to have a cigeratte and call Son and Dau to let them know as it is now almost 5 p.m. and we started out at 10:30     I have been telling EVERY staff person, especially the Dr, how many times she has been through this dehydration thing and every time they end up keeping her for a day or two until she can keep solid food down.  Otherwise I fear she will back within two days all dried out again.   Dr assured me no problem, they would make sure she would be fine.

After my smoke I come in and the first thing I notice is the IV bag is STILL at one liter.  Hasn't gone down a bit.      Drip rate only about one drop per MINUTE.  Check the lines, all valves wide open.  I go find someone.   Tech verifies all looks good, but not flowing.  He leaves and a new Lady comes in.  Decides that loine in the breast has clogged, and isn't big enough anyway.   So we had that talk about how many times Patsy has dehydrated like this, yada yada yada.   I am now late to start my PD as it is now 7 p.m.   She tells me she is the Attending, shift change, etc.   And she was going to make SURE Patsy was admitted.  She ordered ultrasound to come in and guide an IV to a large vein.   And for me to take my happy a$$ (my words) home and get hooked up to my Cycler.   Finally.  I thank her very much for the care and head home.

Wife calls me a couple of hours later and tells me when that bag runs dry they were going to send her home in a cab.    I flip. if I could.

I call the attending and learn she isn't given the choice.  Police is the CURRENT Primary Car Dr must make the decision, and this new guy, we don't' know yet and has never seen Patsy, much less seen her history, refuses to allow her to be admitted.

She's home.  I'm making Chicken broth and Chicken soup.

And come Monday will be shopping for her a new Dr.


EDIT:      Oh, now I'm on the hool for the $200 ER co-pay, which was to have been waived with her over-night admission.   I could spit nails.

Hello Charlie B53, I am so sorry for your wife's terrible ordeal and I am so sorry for you as well.
Please give Patsy my kind regards and I keep my fingers crossed for her to get well soon and hopefully such an episode won't repeat and I do hope things go well when registering with a new doctor (I shall keep my fingers crossed!!!) ... What an ordeal ! Hopefully things go well in the future and good-luck-wishes from Kristina.

[Charlie B53]

The retired Dr was a gem.  Always managed to squeeze people in when sudden illness occured.

Always spend however long it took to make SURE you where well heard, cared for, and explained everything and asked questions to make SURE you understood.

You don't find many with that much patience and caring nature.

He moved back to Seattle, where he was originally from, and his Dau's family is.

I am so jealous.  That's where we are from, and I would sure love to move back except we have Grandsons down here and I would have to kidnap the boys and take them with us.  They wouldn't mind much.  They would enjoy seeing and doing so much in the North West.  Salt water fishing, crab, clams, oysters.  Beaches, snow covered Mountains, desert saand dunes for miles in the Eastern parts where I grew up.   Clear streams, rivers, deer, elk.  LOTS of reasons to get outside in all the seasons of the year.

I seriously miss it.


Maybe someday.  Just not today.

[kitkatz]

I had an ER doc diagnose gas when I had the beginning of a serious intestinal perforation.  Ended up almost dead from the infection it caused.  Was back in hospital by ambulance 2 days later.

[Charlie B53]

Monday afternoon
Blood clot, right iliac.  Whole leg white, cold, and absolutely on FIRE.    Sitting waiting two hours to be seen by ER DR there was enough flow for color to return and the fire reduced to a simmer.  Dr said labs looked fine, he felt a pulse in the foot, sent me home.

Monday night late
Difference hospital ER, pretty much everything the same as above.

Thursday night sleepover at VA Hospital Sleep Lab

Friday morning VA Ultrasound, Doppler blood flows of both legs.   The tech Lady told me I should check in with the ER Dr as scheduling said they couldn't get me in for at least 10 days for an angiogram.
ER Dr told me the same as the other two Dr's on Monday and was about to send me home when his phone rang.   It was the Head Dr from Vascular.  Seems the Tech walked in on him and pointed out the resullts of my leg and that I was about to be sent home, again.   

I was on the table less than an hour later.  There was NO pulse, anywhere below the illiac.    I spent 5 days in ICU with a drip melting out the clot(s) after the Dr had run a probe through them to establish some flow.  Dr told me if I had left most likely my next trip to any ER would have ended up with me losing the leg.

This was arterial clotting.  NO possibility of movement as in a DVT.

[Simon Dog]

Always spend however long it took to make SURE you where well heard, cared for, and explained everything and asked questions to make SURE you understood.

Sounds like my neph.  When I needed to increase HGB to get ready for surgery, he was with me all the way, and when I was discharged monitored my INR and calibrated my coumadin 3x/week until I had fully recovered and could return to home treatment.