# WWYD? Very poor medical treatment



## Tracyarts (Oct 3, 2005)

Well, I am happy to say that I am all healed from my surgery 6 weeks ago and have nothing more than a pink line down my belly to remind me of my ordeal. I had updated on the previous board, saying that everything went well during and after surgery. (I had a benign cyst on an ovary, and it was the size of a small watermelon). 

Now that all the bills are rolling in, I'd like some input on what to do about some of them.

I had initially been seen at the hospital ER in my neighborhood. It's a very large hospital, part of a large hospital system in this area. From the moment I arrived until the moment I left, I was treated pretty badly and the staff was extremely hostile to me regarding my size. 

- A bariatric wheelchair was not made availible to me, we had to use my personal wheelchair (which is nearly falling apart it's so old). 

- No hospital gowns were availible in my size, I was made to wear my street clothes or wrap in a sheet.

- I was "parked" in a waiting room literally screaming in pain for several hours without seeing a doctor. When other patients complained or staff got sick of listening to me, they had me wheeled into a hallway and parked me there. I blacked out from the pain a couple of times and the only interaction I had with staff was a nurse hissing at me to be quiet because I was just making it harder for myself and upsetting everybody else. 

- I was initially denied an ultrasound, because it was stated that I would break the ultrasound exam table, as it was only rated to safely hold 250 pounds. When the doctor finally did force the issue and sign off on liability to get me onto the ultrasound table, neither of the technicians would assist me in any way, stating that they do not transfer bariatric patients and if I wanted the US, I had to get up and down from the table on my own. 

- When the doctor finally got around to reading the ultrasounds a couple hours after that, they shot me full of pain meds and then tried to strong-arm me into being admitted immediately without any kind of consultation with an Ob/Gyn surgeon. He said that because I was so obese, it would be impossible to put an IV line in my hand and he would have a surgeon come install a central line (I already had an IV in my hand, and held it up to show him and he just snorted and said that he was surprised they could get one in there.) 

- When the Ob/Gyn surgeon finally did arrive, the first words out her mouth were: "Your size is going to be a big problem for me, but I'll do the best I can" and the next few minutes followed with a rant about how horrible it would be for me, that I would risk dying on the table, that she would have to make an enormous incision to get past all the fat, that I would have rampant infections and multiple complications, and I would be facing a very long, painful recovery period and if it was indeed cancer, the chances of somebody my size having a positive outcome weren't good. 

So, the cyst had spontaneously gone out of torsion and with the massive shot of pain meds was not hurting anywhere near as bad by that time (the surgeon who I wound up having do my surgery said that all the struggling to get on and off the ultrasound table possibly twisted it back out of torsion). So I got my clothes on and got the HELL out of that ER with a reccomendation by a good friend to see a doctor she has worked with.

Well, the story did have a happy ending. I found an amazing doctor, he did the surgery, no complications, everything they took out was benign, and I was a very quick heal without any healing complications or infection. 

But we are getting tons of bills from that ER and it _royally_ chaps my ass every time I open one. Even with my insurance, I owe 20%. I had considered contesting the bills, but an attorney buddy of my hubby's said that they would just turn it to a collection agency and it would probably screw up our credit and our best bet was to try and apply for income deferral for the bills since I am not working right now. Technically, they did not engage in malpractice, because they did eventually address the issue properly. By ordering diagnostics, administering pain medication, and reccomending admittal and surgery. They just did it very slowly and with a really bad attitude.

At the very least, I want to make sure that they hear from me and know that the way they treated me is unacceptable. I didn't act sooner because frankly, I did not want to expend any of my energy dealing with that kind of negativity while I was healing. But now that I am healed, I am mad as hell. 

I have the name of the doctors who saw me and the one nurse who treated me well. But I never got any names from any of the other technicians, nurses, etc... DH and I were in panic mode and weren't thinking "CYA". I guess my best bet is to write a letter, detailing how I was treated, what was not provided for me which I needed, and how the staff could better address a supersize patient. And send it to patient relations, the chaplain, the social worker, the administration, head of the ultrasound department, and all the doctors who treated me. 

I'm not really looking to have my bill reduced or cancelled (but will apply for income deferral anyway). I just want to let them know that their treatment of me was unacceptable. 

Any suggestions. 
Tracy


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## AnnMarie (Oct 3, 2005)

This is in no way constructive advice to you or anything that should do more than go in one ear and out another, but I would NEVER in a million years allow that type of treatment to occur. The first instance would have been the last, and if I had to literally crawl out of there on my hands and knees, I would have. 

I'm not judging you or what you did at all, you were in pain, and you were the place you could be to try to deal with it... but I personally will just not allow that type of level of treatment, and would have instructed whoever I was with to immediately take me to the next available facility. Never in a million years..... I'm horrified.

Oh, and the letter... yes, write it and send it to everyone you can think of.... even a newspaper and local channel.... make your voice heard and let them know that it's completely unacceptable to treat ANYONE the way you were treated.


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## Webmaster (Oct 3, 2005)

Tracyarts said:


> I had initially been seen at the hospital ER in my neighborhood. It's a very large hospital, part of a large hospital system in this area. From the moment I arrived until the moment I left, I was treated pretty badly and the staff was extremely hostile to me regarding my size....



So sorry to hear of your ordeals. From my own experience, it seems like encounters with healthcare systems are hit-and-miss. Sometimes everyone is just terrific and other times it is one horror after another. I've had times when everyone was sweet, helpful and prepared, and other times when everyone seemed to be arrogant, unhelpful and incompetent. You can never tell.



> - I was "parked" in a waiting room literally screaming in pain for several hours without seeing a doctor. When other patients complained or staff got sick of listening to me, they had me wheeled into a hallway and parked me there. I blacked out from the pain a couple of times and the only interaction I had with staff was a nurse hissing at me to be quiet because I was just making it harder for myself and upsetting everybody else.



Personal experience in that department. I was scheduled for an operation, arrived at 7am, was prepped and medicated and then ...... waited and waited and waited. For hours. Drugs wore off, no one seemed to know what happened, no one had an answer. No one re-medicated to ease my pain and anxiety. Eventually they wheeled me into a hallway where I was left waiting for another two hours. Turns out the doc had forgotten the appointment and had gone golfing. Eventually I got into the OR. When I woke up the nurse told me it had been a false alarm and misdiagnosis. The doc had already left; it was up to the nurse to explain the errors. 



> - When the Ob/Gyn surgeon finally did arrive, the first words out her mouth were: "Your size is going to be a big problem for me, but I'll do the best I can" and the next few minutes followed with a rant about how horrible it would be for me, that I would risk dying on the table, that she would have to make an enormous incision to get past all the fat, that I would have rampant infections and multiple complications, and I would be facing a very long, painful recovery period and if it was indeed cancer, the chances of somebody my size having a positive outcome weren't good.



Though as an average-size person I don't that crap, the fat people in my life do. Almost every time. Some doctors seem unable to refrain from giving an ill-timed and wholly unnecessary lecture to every fat patient they encounter. It would be sooo nice if instead, they gave some thought on how to properly treat and medicate a fat patient, something a surprising number of physicians seem unwilling or unable to do. What is particularly dangerous is underdosages of antibiotics and other drugs. A 400 pound patient generally needs a different dose, but many doctors are unwilling to deviate from their textbooks, potentially putting lives in danger. Of course, if something goes wrong, they can always blame the patient's size. 



> But we are getting tons of bills from that ER and it _royally_ chaps my ass every time I open one. Even with my insurance, I owe 20%. I had considered contesting the bills, but an attorney buddy of my hubby's said that they would just turn it to a collection agency and it would probably screw up our credit and our best bet was to try and apply for income deferral for the bills since I am not working right now. ...I'm not really looking to have my bill reduced or cancelled (but will apply for income deferral anyway). I just want to let them know that their treatment of me was unacceptable.



That is another area that is TOTALLY out of hand. A friend of mine broke her ankle and was brought to emergency. It was a simple fracture and quickly fixed. She did not have insurance, but was assured that was no problem. The problem arrived in the form of a $28,000 medical bill!!!!!! The colossal overcharging was so absurd that it defies any logic or imagination. An attorney friend looked into the financials of the clinic and found that they were hugely profitable even though, on average, they settled for just 40% of the billing to uninsured patients. So the scam was to grotesquely overcharge patients, get some suckers to actually pay, and put the rest through endless hassle to squeeze as much as possible out of them. At the end, my friend was happy to be able to pay something like $8,000 for the fracture ankle, payable in installments.

That is not the way medicine and healthcare should be.


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