There is an old joke, “What
do you call the student that finished last in Medical School?” The
answer “Doctor.” We want to prevent what happened to David from
happening to anyone else and have filed a complaint with the California Medical Review Board. Read
the details below
A Butcher’s Hand
Death comes stealthy on a cold winter’s
night.
A slip, a fall on a sheet of ice.
A week of saying “I don’t feel quite
right.”
A surgeon with a butcher’s hand,
In the ground you almost land.
Two weeks later, you’re on death’s door,
Finally I say, “I can’t take no more
So get ready and get your butt out the
door.”
I took you to the hospital four hours
away,
Where the doctor’s and nurses saved your
life that day.
I struggled and struggled to get you
care.
I looked to find competence, but it
existed no where.
For help I asked, I was your wife,
They said by doing so, I was
jeopardizing your life.
I looked for help not knowing to turn
where,
My cries of anguish like smoke in the
air.
The anger and frustration I had to vent,
So to U.S. Senator, Barbara Boxer an
email I sent.
I wanted to know the reasons why
Quality healthcare was just a lie.
She assured me, she gave me hope.
A Republican, a Democrat now has my
vote.
You’re home now just to wait.
Another surgery, another date.
They say Dr. Chandy is one of the best.
My God, I really would hate to see the
rest.
If I have my way he will be through,
Twelve weeks recovery instead of two.
Copyright
©2002 Tiffany D. Montano
Life is all about
choices and right now I have two. I can turn my back on humanity and
allow the system that has so failed me, to continue to fail the people it is
supposed to protect. I can allow innocent victims to continue to be
abused, to fall prey to the predatorial legal system, or I can stand up for my
values and try to make a difference. This is not an easy choice. I
am tired and sick. But years ago I joined a club. It is sort of an
unstructured byproduct of a training I took years ago called est. I do not
even if it still exists but the name of the club was “the Making a Difference
Club”. The name pretty much speaks for itself. This value has been
ingrained in every part of my being.
I cannot get justice for my husband. A victim of medical
malpractice, unable to hire a second attorney after the first one quit, my
husband was forced to act as Pro Per in a civil case against our local
hospital. The judge refused to allow him to speak, to address the issues
or to have me speak for him. He refused to allow the medical evidence
which clearly stated David was treated for a “misdiagnosed ruptured
appendix”. This almost killed David four times. The doctor admits
sending David for blood test for malaria the day before he was admitted to the
SFVAMC instead of sending him back to the hospital. The original
diagnosis of choliocystitis (gallbladder) was made by a physicians assistant
and the anesthesia was administered by a nurse anesthetist not even an
anesthesiologist. The locals tell me they are afraid to go to the
hospital. I thank the Veterans Administration for the great quality of
health care they gave David and sadly, I am forced to thank the Tax-Payer for
footing the bills for the doctors that didn't do their job, the hospital who
neglected David and the insurance company who should be paying the bills.
The reason our first attorney quit was because the
defendant's attorneys overwhelmed him with paperwork. He was a small firm
and could not “afford” to represent us. When one attorney quits, no
attorney will touch the case. I talked to one attorney who said he had
just settled a case against the same hospital for wrongful death. He said
he wouldn't touch a case against the hospital again without a $50,000.00
retainer because they donut settle. One attorney said I would be better
off if my husband died.
We must demand a Victims Legal Defense Fund similar to the
Miranda Act, paid for by the doctors, lawyers and insurance companies who so
abuse the system. We must demand a Victims Relief Fund to defray the
expenses caused by medical malpractice. This must be a federal law
because we have already seen doctors use the high cost of insurance to abandon
their patients and relocate. We need to prosecute doctors who repeatedly
make mistakes. We have a three strikes law for criminals, why not for
doctors and hospitals? They violate the public trust. We must
impeach any politician and unseat any judge that caves into insurance companies
and special interest groups. The lawyers overwhelm our court system with
their legal games that have nothing to do with justice. Millions
die. Millions are forced to file bankruptcy while the taxpayer bears the
burden and the doctors, hospitals, lawyers, politician, judges and insurance
companies get rich.
I don’t care about money. I just want justice.
On December 19th,
2001, David woke up vomiting, with fever and chills. He continued through
out the night and around 8:00 AM we called the SFVAMC Medical Advice Nurse,
who told us if he was dizzy to call 911 and take him to the nearest emergency
ward. At Oroville
Hospital in Oroville, California
where a PA diagnosed Gall
Bladder disease and called in a surgeon Dr Mammen G. (George)
Chandy told us if they didn’t remove David's Gall Bladder
he would die. During surgery the Gall Bladder ruptured
spilling it’s contents into the abdominal cavity. When questioned if he
removed David’s appendix
at the same time, Dr. Chandy
said no, it was healthy. I find this unbelievable because nothing else
was healthy. About a week prior, David slipped on ice and injured his
right side. The pathology report indicates this was when David ruptured
his appendix.
Even though his condition
continued to deteriorate, Oroville Hospital released
David on December 22nd, 2001 in an unstable condition. He was vomiting
when I picked him up, had not been able to go to the bathroom or eat and had a
fever. Dr. Chandy
had only removed the JP
drain that morning. When he removed the JP
drain, it was still draining cloudy bloody puss. David was sent home
with three days of antibiotics and pain pills. He was told to call the
office on December 24th to make an appointment. Over Christmas he
continued to complain of pain, was unable to walk and had a temperature of
101.0. I tried to call the office but the answering service did not pick
up. On the 26th David was feeling a little better so we made an
appointment for January 3rd, 2002.
When we went into Dr. Chandy’s
office, David had a slight fever and was complaining of pain. Dr. Chandy
glanced at the incisions said you are fine. I told him David was running
a fever of 101 the night before. He took his temperature ordered blood
tests and told us to monitor his temperature and come back in a week. If
we would have waited a week David would be dead. He lost twenty-six pounds,
could hardly walk or talk and appeared as if he had had a stroke the following
day, when I took him to the SFVAMC
where they ran blood tests, a physical exam and a CT scan which reveled more
than three abscesses in his abdomen. All his internal organs were swollen
including the prostrate,
liver and
everything else indicating a ruptured appendix.
They inserted two JP
drains and kept him for five days. Two days later, David became
constipated. This was very painful because of the JP
drains and even though the doctors at SFVAMC left orders how to
treat, those orders did not get conveyed to the Home Health Care nurse.
The Medical Advice Nurse at SFVAMC
told me to take David to Oroville Hospital
to be stabilized and if necessary transferred to SFVAMC. Even though they
ran x-rays (taking sprained ankles first), the doctors could not diagnose the
problem. After eight hours, he was transported to San Francisco. He
had to wait that long because none of the nurses wanted to make the trip.
He had to agree to self medicate in order to get transferred. He was
treated at SFVAMC and kept
for three more days. They removed one of the JP drains but left the other
one in. He had to return on January 29th to have the drain
removed and then on March 30th they will removed his appendix.
They couldn’t remove the appendix
sooner without risking spreading the infection throughout his system and they
needed the swelling to go down.
The pathology report from Oroville Hospital
indicated chronic Gall
Bladder disease not acute.
A small umbilical hernia was found and removed containing fat. Dr. Chandy told David it was strangling his Gall Bladder?
They completely missed the
appendix
the real cause of the pain, chills and fever. Dr. Chandy
told us it was healthy.
Both the nurse that has
been taking care of David at home and the doctors at the SFVAMC have expressed their
belief that the appendix ruptured when David fell on December 16th,
prior to December 19th, 2001. When the appendix
ruptured it spilled its contents into the abdominal cavity. This caused
the abscesses, infection and acute symptoms. As the infection gained
strength it involved the Gall Bladder,
pancreas, spleen, liver and even the prostrate gland. This could be felt
via physical exam. Why didn’t Dr. Chandy
do this? Why didn’t he look for the cause instead of assuming it was the
Gall Stones? Thickening of the walls of the Gall Bladder indicated the
condition was chronic. David had symptoms over two years ago. The
whites of his eyes were yellowed but I assumed this was from Hepatitis C which he
was diagnosed with before we met. In hindsight it is obvious the Gall Bladder would
have had to be removed eventually and did have to come out as a result of the
disease caused from the appendix.
The whites of David’s eyes are white again.
March 29th
David had his appendix removed. Even though the doctors cautioned us not
to have the procedure performed laproscoptic and David refused to consent to
laproscoptic surgery, after David was medicated Dr. Gibbs coerced David into
signing a consent for laproscoptic surgery telling him “I’m going to do it my
way”. The ironic thing is Dr. Gibbs was one of the SFVAMC doctors who
told David not to allow laproscoptic surgery because once you have the abscesses
in the abdomen there is a greater than fifty percent chance of further
complications. Well guess what. . .
Although David bled in the
recovery room and after being sent to the ward he was released two days after
surgery. He was given a shot of Demerol for the four plus hour drive
home. The following morning April 1st 2002, David woke up with
his side bruised. And when we called SFVAMC we were told to take him to the
nearest clinic, Mather Field in Sacramento, California. Thank the Great
Spirit we did because they had to infuse him with three pints of whole
blood. They kept him NPO (no food, water, or even ice chips) for three
days because they expected to perform emergency surgery at any time.
Finally they released him after four or five days only to return for more tests
due to diarrhea that couldn’t be controlled. At least they did not have
to admit him. We saw the doctor just a few days ago and he said if David
develops any type of fever bring him in immediately and “we will handle it in
house”. They scheduled further tests. He is still in pain and the
saga continues.
I want to say you have to be proactive with your healthcare. Doctors are not Gods and make mistakes. If doesn’t feel right to you, it probably isn’t right. Be a consumer and fire your doctor if they won’t listen to you. Research your symptoms on the internet. Be informed and don’t be afraid to ask questions. You know your own body better than anyone else does.
Update to
David’s condition. During all the
surgeries David suffered a degree of brain damage. The neuropsychologists at the SFVAMC have stated it is probably
due to the anesthesia from multiple surgeries.
I noticed the difference after
the first but I attributed it to the degree of illness. The anesthetist Mike Barrett, we find out
after the fact is only a nurse anesthetist not even an anesthesiologist.
Not even a doctor.
Medical Resources:
Check your Hospital, Doctor or Nursing
Home rating at:
American
Board of Medical Specialties
