Cauda Equina Syndrome and Medical Negligence

I probably have a great case against the hospital, but I doubt I could ever win. I was up wobbling with a walker not 3 days after my first surgery. Now, I can hardly wobble & I drag my left leg, thanks to the first neurosurgeon's mistake, and utter confidence in himself, which turned out to be very dangerous. I was vomiting sick for about 2 weeks after the first surgery, and at the 2 week mark, my mom came to visit. I had been complaining about pain in my incision and had been told multiple times by the nurses AND the doctors that it looked fine. It was torn open and oozing pus all over. At one point, I went to scratch it, and my fingers slid inside the wound and I touched my own spine for a millisecond. My temperature spiked to over 105°F overnight, and they rushed me into surgery. My back was cleaned out and stitched back shut, instead of stapled. I was told that if they would've waited any longer, I would've gotten meningitis and probably died. ???

After recovery from the second surgery, I was no longer challenged to walk, and had to work on balance exercises because I lost some trunk control. I was told I was an incomplete L1 SCI, and it was likely that I'd never walk again. After 2 more weeks, the recreational therapist and one of the physical therapists got me in the parallel bars and got me "walking" while bracing my legs. I had almost zero leg function at that point.

Then I was sent to the nursing home in Richardton, which is a small, 18 bed facility. I spent a month there, on my IV antibiotics. The physical therapist there pushed me and I was able to stand with a walker.

I was discharged the day before my birthday, and had to pitch a fit to get my meds from the nursing home. I wasn't going to stay another night there! Keep in mind, I had a nurse who repeatedly tried to give me someone else's meds. I wonder who was all jacked up on mine!

I continued PT with the same therapist in Richardton, until I moved to Dickinson in January 2013. I was able to walk pretty long distances with a walker. I was kicking butt!

For a few months, I dated a guy who constantly tore me down, day after day. I never attended PT, and allowed him to run my life and use me for my money. He dumped me in May 2013 and everything started looking up. I was out and about a lot, and decided to go to PT again. I went twice a week, and improved 25%. Then, slowly, I started deteriorating. I lost function and feeling in my legs. I couldn't walk, and went from a workload of 4 to 1 on the NuStep. My pain was out of control.

I went to see a pain specialist at Sanford, and was referred to a neurosurgeon because my hardware had dislodged. I was later told that it never would have dislodged if it had been put in correctly. I suffered Cauda Equina Syndrome after the dislodged screws crushed part of my CE. I had another surgery to remove the hardware. I developed spastic bladder afterwards, and regained some function in my legs and bowels. I was diagnosed as a T12-L2 SCI.

Now, I am trying to figure out the cause of my rare episodes of AD. The only thing I can think of is that in the early stages of my care, the staph & strep infection must have crept up my spinal cord a bit. Who knows.

Anyways, that is my story, and I probably have a good case, but I will probably never file because it would be against a big Catholic hospital. I'm glad other people can get justice. I would rather move on with my life and put this horrifying story behind me. I need peace, and that requires me to forgive. The doctors and myself. I just want to move on, though sharing my story and my warning against St. Alexius hospital in Bismarck, ND gives me a good feeling. I hope no one ever has to go through what I did. Sorry my post is so long!

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Thanks for sharing and being open Knight! You've certainly been through a lot but have also made it very far. It's good that you want to put things in the past and move on with life. That's the only thing we can do really so it's a great idea!

There has definitely been lots of negligence in your situation as well. It's too bad that the first neurosurgeon messed up. I had a friend at rehab who had the same thing happen unfortunately and he too doesn't want to take any legal action against the hospital

Keep up the hard work though Knight, there's no limit for recovery so don't ever accept what the doctors say when they tell us that we'll never walk again

Are there any Canadians here that have gone thru the medical negligence process? I live in Ontario and need some guidance. My case involves a WSIB Neck and Back Clinic Neurosurgeon. Any direction would be of great assistance. Thank you.

My latest update is that the letter of reply that was due by the end of December was not ready still. The reason given was that they had decided to send all their defense case to a barrister to look at.

The new date it is expected to be given is now the end of January.

My solicitor just hopes that the letter states an admission....we shall see If not...it goes to Court.