Heads UP!

I can finally speak about my weight loss surgery experience! On 9/20/06, my lawsuit against Dr. Henry J. Pearce and Edmond Medical Center was settled. I have not posted here in years because of the ongoing legal issues. But, other than what the actual amount of the settlement is, I can speak of all issues. Something to consider, which I did not even think about... Before you have any elective surgery (yes, wls is elective), thoroughly check out your doctor and the hospital--especially their policies regarding sponge counts during surgery. In my case, they (Pearce & ERH) left a surgical sponge inside of me during my gastric bypass surgery. The results have been devastating and I am still experiencing a "living death" as a byproduct of this negligence. According to the director of surgical services (testimony) at Edmond Medical Center, "Edmond Medical Center does NOT require sponge counts during gastric bypass surgery." I can see how a mistake can be made. Hey it happens and I was the unlucky recipient of the sponge lottery. What I cannot understand, however, is that neither Dr. Pearce nor Edmond Hospital did anything to ensure that this would not happen again. In fact, most of the legal wranglings they have done has been to attack me. Before you chose your doctor, spend a few extra bucks and do a background check. This could be sometime as simple as paying to get access to, say The Oklahoman's archives. Then do a search for your surgeon. I did this many years after the fact and was horrified to see that my surgeon 'allegedly' got arrested for a DUI a few years earlier. So what does a DUI have to do with anything? Poor judgement, poor decisions. Run, don't walk, away from any doctor with poor judgement. Also, check out all hospital count procedures before admitting yourself for surgery. The Integris Baptist Hospital has recognized that there is a big problem with retained surgical sponges and has instituted modern technology to track sponges during surgery. Kudos to Integris on this!

OMG!!! I went to dr floyd and he is in the same office... so i used the same hospital and i had no idea that they didnt count sponges during surgery... how scary is that??? i hope things work out for your best and that you can heal up completely in time and very soon... im glad to say that nothing like that happened to me and im just over a year out... geez im glad i didnt read that before my surgery cause i wouldnt have had it done since im on medicare and that was the only surgeon's office i could find that would do it...

Were you sick from the very beginning or was this something that took time?

I have a couple of questions.....(I am a nurse & have worked in a major OR that did bariatric surgery) was your surgery open or lap???? THe facility I worked in a few years ago only did open, and that justified a sponge count- OF COURSE!!!! Any time you open a body cavity two sponge counts must be performed, one is done before the closing of the cavity (belly) and the second is done before the closing of the skin. But if you had lap, that doesn't (or it didn't where I worked) justify a sponge count, because no sponge has the oppurtunity to get into the body. Let me know.

Kathleen, I am very sorry to hear about your horrible experience! I hope you are on the mend. I am curious -- Do you happen to know if your lawsuit had anything to do with the closure of Edmond Medical Center's bariatric wing and/or with Dr. Pearce's retirement in July? I started out with Dr. Pearce and while I heard only good things about his surgical technique, I was not impressed with my initial consult. I became even less impressed with his office staff and ultimately ended up switching surgeons. After hearing about your experience, I'm glad I did! Thanks, J.J.