Question:
What would you do if this happened to you?
I went in for my two year check up today with a new surgeon. Found out that when I had my surgery two years ago they took out my left falopian tube due to a cyst...which I was told was on my ovary and never told that my falopian tube was totally removed from my body. I was never told what type of surgery I had until today - open Roux-en-Y bypass....no blood was ever taken for labs during these two years...my new surgeon was flabergasted... I lost 65 pounds the first year and nothing after that. He put me on a medical grade protein supplement that is 100% absorbed in the body. All the vitamins, etc i've been taking "WASTED" no one told me I had to take chewable everything cuz the part of my intestine is bypassed. ARGH! I'm low in protein, low in iron, you name it - i'm a mess. So now I'm put on a diet of one protein shake for breakfast one for lunch and 1/2 cup of something protein for supper....which is fine.. But I wish I would have known all this before...SOME DOCTORS! I found a wonderful doctor now! But just thought i'd throw this out there to see if anyone had this happen or what you would do if you found out two years later that one of your body parts was missing and you didn't know it. Thanks guys - hopefully i'm on the path to weight loss again under the instruction of a WONDERFUL doctor. GOD BLESS! — Jonna M. (posted on January 19, 2004)
January 19, 2004
SUE! it's the american way-
— Jannie N.
January 19, 2004
Jonna,
I had the same surgeon as you 10 months ago. I am sorry to say that I am
not one bit suprised at his lack of care. I can also tell you that things
haven't changed at his office. They saw me to remove my sutures and then I
could have dropped off the face of the earth since then for all they know.
They never even mentioned needing labs, let alone attemped to do them. I
have learned way more from this site that any thing I have learned from his
office. I would not recommend them to anyone I care about.
I met with him for 5 or 6 minutes in June 2002. I didn't get to have my
surgery until March 2003 and I did not see him in between times. He did
not even want to do any kind of physical or blood work at all. I was
totally freaked by that and had a pre op physical at my own doctor before I
had the bypass.
I am soooo glad you are working with a new doctor who sounds way more
knowledgable and compassionate. Best of luck to you!
— TESSY T.
January 19, 2004
I really don't think that suing him would solve anything.
My best offer for recourse would be to report everything to the american
medical association and any other professional group this so called dr.
might belong to. Also, post a editorial letter in your local newspaper
asking for any others people who may have the same situation as you and
encourage them to post complaints as well.
This Dr. needs to be stopped he obviously cares nothing for the patients he
accepts.
Good luck and I hope this helps. JIM
— Jim S.
January 19, 2004
Thank God you have a wonderful doctor now! Hopefully, your blood work will
be normal soon and you will be feeling wonderful. I’m sorry that
you didn’t know about everything before. <p>I
didn’t find this sight until several months after my surgery. I
am just so thankful that I went to Kane, PA and had Dr. LaBrie. The
Liv-Lite program at Kane has the best follow-up program. You are probably
not going to believe this, but Dr. LaBrie called me last night,
I’m thirteen months post op, to see how I was doing. Now is this
an exceptional doctor or what? I wish I didn’t live so far away
so I could go to the support group meetings. God Bless You! Sapala-Wood
Micropouch 12/12/02 – 213/134/125.
— Jazzy
January 19, 2004
Suing only makes the medical costs go up and in the end alot more people
wont be able to have this surgery.
— Kathy S.
January 19, 2004
You have every right to be upset and maybe your new doc will get you all
fixed up. I have to say though, if you have been on this site any amount
of time at all you should have known about the vitamins and etc. All us
old ones are constantly trying to tell the new ones about the importance of
the type of vits and etc that we have to take. Funny, no one wants to
listen until a story such as yours comes out. Good luck to you.
— Delores S.
January 20, 2004
You might want to update your profile about your wls surgeon and the new
doc you have now. It would be helpful for others in your area looking for
wls. I agree with reporting him to whatever boards he belongs to, the AMA?
not sure what they are called in the U.S., I'm Canadian and that is what I
would do here.
— mary ann T.
January 20, 2004
I am sorry you two got such bad care, I hope you put in in your profile and
report him. I was just wondering did he tell you that you were getting a
different type of surgery? I am kinda confused on that part, how did you
not know it was an open RNY? Thanks!
— Saxbyd
January 20, 2004
Hi there. First let me say that I'm so sorry you've had this problem.
Next, let me say that you may find some comfort in knowing that your post
will do many people a WORLD of good! I coordinate a large surgical weight
loss program in Birmingham, Alabama. We have a very comprehensive program
including lots of pre op education, counseling, evaluations and more. It
never ceases to amaze me the number of people who are actually ANGRY when
they come in the door because we want them to be educated and healthy
before they go into the WLS journey. Everyone wants surgery so FAST (I'm
not saying you did - I'm just saying that lots of folks do.) It is
imperative that patients and surgeons alike stop focusing on speed and
start focusing on wellness both preoperatively and postoperatively. We
didn't become obese overnight and we won't reverse it overnight. Shame on
any surgeon who lets a person walk out of their office without a good
understanding of what lies ahead. Good for you that you have found someone
who will take good care of you and steer you in the right direction. Your
surgeon did you wrong. Best wishes!
— ronascott
January 20, 2004
I would like to know how much research you did prior to surgery and what
questions you asked. The Doc may be a
flake - who knows? I work in a hospital and on follow up surveys and phone
calls asked if they recieved the white folder of educational info, and
gotten answers like yeah but I threw it away. Or I didn't really read it.
(very often by the way) Then they complain about lack of education. Yes,
you could invest the next 10 years of your life in a law suit , and if he
has not documented that he educated you and that you understood that
education, and that risks were explained and understood, you might even
win. Did you sign a consent to surgery? And read it before you signed???
The consent **has** to spell out exactly what surgery is being performed,
the consents often do include permission to do other procedures that may be
necessary during the surgey such as the fallopian tube removal. Another big
mistake doc make is talking to the patient about how the surgey went while
that patient is in recovery room, still under the effects of very strong
drugs, then expect that patient to remember the info. He should have also
talked to the person who accompanied you to the hospital about how the
surgery went.
— **willow**
January 20, 2004
Question: How did you figure out that your fallopian tube was removed,
rather than just an ovary? I'm guessing this information may have been in
your medical records, and the new surgeon noticed it? If so, your story is
a good reminder to all of us to get copies of our medical records for
*ourselves*, not just our doctors. It is remarkable what we are not told
that shows up in these reports. I never leave the doc's office without a
copy of whatever latest lab test or surgical report is in there; oddly, I
sometimes still get resistence from the staff when asking for them (though
less and less these days), but I'll never *NOT* ask again, based on my own
experiences and yours. As willow said, sometimes, docs will try to tell you
stuff in Recovery and figure you now know whatever they were explaining to
you then, when you were grogged out on anesthesia. That's really not the
best time to talk or absorb complicated information.<P>I'd definitely
want a follow-up opinion on the cyst to be sure there's no follow-up care
to be done there (such as, was there a path report? what did it say?).
Sounds like the bariatric situation is well in hand with your new doc,
though, who sounds great. All bariatric surgeons should have a follow-up
program, at least to monitor labs and vites, if not also to provide group
counseling for newbies learning how to eat all over again.
— Suzy C.
January 20, 2004
That doctor would get a letter from me copied to the Administrative office
- short and right to the point - how dare he - that is totally unacceptable
patient after care!!!
— Anna M.
January 20, 2004
Jonna,
Sorry if this sounds harsh and I understand that you are upset but I
really need to ask...How was it that you didn't know what kind of WLS you
had? I find this really irresponsible on your part that you allowed someone
to operate on you and you didn't know what they were doing. The
information about post op care/nutritional needs is all over this site and
most of us have educated ourselves with on-line information. I'm sure that
somewhere in the admitting process you signed a form that gave the surgeon
permission to do what he did. You have learned a lesson the hard way and I
glad that you have found a new doctor but you MUST become an active
participant in your own health care.
— Pamela B.
January 20, 2004
Is the new doctor Dr. Obrien? I lived in SD and heard he is one of the best
surgeons around and there is a lot of support from people who have had him
for a surgeon.
— Jencastle
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