Some of you may know, but when I had a surgery 7 months ago I had a bad situation where they screwed up and my blood oxygen was allowed to dip to 60% or so for a long time. I had vision issues and I still have some to this day. I come home after a day of work and am tired. I go to sleep and in my dream there is an earthquake. The bottles of expensive liquor all break in half, and I go to salvage a bottle by pouring it into another bottle. Empty bottle under my arm, and broken one over the sink, I am pulling the neck out of some conac or schnaps when the bottle under my arm shatters. I feel my blood leaving, I grow fainter. I wake up for real, and my oxygen monitor is going crazy. It's down to 60% and takes 30 seconds of deep breathing to bring my levels up again. You see, they fried the part of my brain that controls breathing a bit with drugs in the hospital... Very unsettling.
Do you sleep with an oxygen mask/CPAP-style machine? If they really did cause damage to your autonomic system, you might need to. It's good that you have an O2 meter (IR meter on the finger I assume), but just having an alarm isn't going to help much if you aren't waking up to it early.
No CPAP, just a blood oxy / pulse I wear every night. My pulse / pressure is never low, so it's not any kind of cardiac issue. Problem is all the doctors won't talk to me, they are insurance hired doctors so they get the stuck tongue when I ask about what really happened. Dying in a dream I can deal with but combined with a real life situation it's never been so dramatic.
SUE THE FUCKERS! They charge $50 for an aspirin, yet this third-world crap happens? dude you may never be 100% back to normal. Sue them, this problem won't be going away and they're not going to help you when it gets worse.
I have literally never known anyone to have as shit luck and as complicated a medical history as you! You even have to ask? They give you permanent brain damage and you are questioning whether to sue or not? Go pick up that 'phone today and start suing them for medical incompetence or whatever the correct US legal term would be for malpractice.
I am with all of the guys who recommend a lawsuit. Sir, sue them for all it is worth. You got screwed over, and it is time they paid for their mistake.
Don't let them ignore you in the hope you'll go away! People sue hospitals and doctors all the time over lots of stupid stuff, With something this serious you need to do something now.
What everyone else said - it's time to make a date with Johnny Law. If the hospital injured you permanently, they need to pay to take care of their mistake. Plus, if the original doctors really are stonewalling you, you may be able to get some useful information during discovery.
How about you talk to a real lawyer and let him advice you on what steps of action to take instead of asking on here? Seems like a professional opinion would be better..
Agree with Giel, you should discuss this subject with a lawyer. Given the situation suing them is probably the best idea, but in this kind of stuff if you want to make things right, talking to a professional is the best way to start.
To successfully sue your surgeon or the hospital, you have to prove negligence. There are only three things to prove in negligence, but the three things must all be proved on a balance of probabilities. The three things are a) That the surgeon owed you a duty to take reasonable care in conducting the surgery (which reasonable care will be measured, not by the success of the surgery, but by the result from the effort he put in because success in never guaranteed) b) That he/hospital breached that duty of care c) And as a result of that breach you suffered consequential loss d) Question is, how ill you prove that breach? Oh, and those papers they usually have you sign before surgery which pretty much make it sound like you're waiving all your rights to sue if something goes wrong won't usually hold up in court.
I'm not a big fan of suing doctors unless it was gross negligence so I voted for help but don't sue. But that's purely unless you can get proof of negligence/malpractice. Sorry to hear of your latest health problems Kev, wish you all the best.
Agreed, it would depend on whether it was negligence or an accepted risk that you were made aware of. It might be worth checking whether any of the medication you're taking could be interfering with your blood oxygen levels.
Here's the problem: why was your O2 level allowed to get so low in the first place and why was it allowed to stay that low for an extended period of time? An anesthesiologist is there to make sure that this exact situation does not happen. The fact that this happened and that no one is willing to give you an explanation is an indication of gross medical negligence. Negligence, particularly gross negligence, will override any medical waivers you may have signed (which may also have been signed under duress, depending on your situation). I know that you don't want to sue, but you have to protect yourself for the future. A lawsuit doesn't necessarily have to provide a large lump sum; at minimum, you should sue for medical care for your complications for the next X years.
Yes, there have been malpractice lawsuits based on these incidents and can happen to ANYONE that undergoes anesthesia. The anesthesioligist's main and redundant job is to make sure your O2 levels never drop that low. Assembler: how do you know that your O2 levels dropped so low? Did a doctor tell you? If any professional told you, have them give you that data in writing. That should be good enough and you might get a settlement a lot quicker than going through the legal process because in the end you need money to fix this problem you have.
Why do you not want to sue the doctors? They were the ones that messed up your operation, not the hospital, though they represent the hospital. If you want revenge in the form of money, sue those responsible. Do you see my point? I voted to sue, by the way.
