Some will know that i am currently suing my docs for medical negligence..I just thought i would do a quick update. Its 3.5 years into the case now and we are towards the end now..thnak goodness. The case has been valued..papers finally served and all the witnesses have given their final statements again. I have still the joys of another Urologist visit as he says he needs to see me again and i am having the nerve testings carried out again just for an update..(not looking forward to either!) although London is very nice to visit...lol
I feel like im holding my breath...just waiting now...and then i can move on with my plans in my life and put this part of my injury behind me.
I can honestly see why some people decide not to pursue a court case but in principle i think its important to do this. I was reading one of my reports and it seems the some doctors may make the excuse that they never see people with CES and they have no experience of....So in other words , Cauda Equina Syndrome is easy to miss.... This implies and says a lot really because then when they are examining a patient who presents any unusual numbness etc, thier job is to hold their hand up and say 'nope i really dont know what this is'' and then thinks...il refer to somehere that she can get looked at by an expert or a scan.
Maybe its ego that dosent want these doctors to accept that simply, many dont know as much as we may believe. I have certainly lost much faith in general doctors, unfortunately!
Good luck. After my diagnosis I tried 3 different law firms and no one would take the case because "it was a pre-existing condition"
Thankyou for your reply bensan....Im really wanting this to be done now. Ive had enough of the testings and i have to go have them all again now.....Its crazy that no one would take your case on. I havent ever heard that CES can be a pre-existing condition?
Good for you Lara. My experience with the health care industry has not been good. The doctors do not understand that we are the customer. Society has allowed doctors to think they are better than the layperson.......and some doctors are lazy.....and some are arrogant......and some are incompetent. They need to be exposed.
Every doctor should be patient and courteous. Hell, they chose to be a doctor.
Good for you Lara. My experience with the health care industry has not been good. The doctors do not understand that we are the customer. Society has allowed doctors to think they are better than the layperson.......and some doctors are lazy.....and some are arrogant......and some are incompetent. They need to be exposed.
Every doctor should be patient and courteous. Hell, they chose to be a doctor.
You are so right dlevy, its really is something that needs to change..I have zero faith in doctors now. No doubt they have more medical knowledge than me but how someone applies that knowledge is what matters. Wether that be a doctors manner towards the patient or acting professionally in regards to our needs and ensuring that we get the best medical assistance.
I stayed with the doctors who were negligent, there was 3 in total who failed to act and send me to the hospital for a scan. One even put in her notes 'no evidence of CES'
It still amazes me to this day that 14 days prior to that appointment i walked in the very same practice with no assistance needed and no b and b probs. One the day this doctor wrote that statement into her notes i was in a wheelchair and couldnt feel or move my legs and numbness was spreading. The pain was indescribable....
My bowels and bladder were just on the way out next. Yet i was fine and sent home and told to attend a physio in two weeks time.
I cannot forget that 3 week period in my life...They were unable to control my pain and i was on morphine and tramadol and sleeping tablet..I couldnt sleep.i couldnt lie down....I stopped going to bed, there was no point. . I remember calling the doctors 3 days after that appointment to say that i had gone numb inbetween my legs (girlie parts)....and still no intervention.
I suffered two more weeks of what i can only describe as hell, living in one room and staying next to a commode, no sleep and wasnt eating..I was literally waiting to die because i thought that i had some terminal illness. Emotionally i felt like i was just being left to die.....I didnt even have clarity anymore and i look back now and wonder why my partner at the time never took me to hospital...
I sat awake...every night on my own drifting in and out of a sleepy state of pain and what can be only described as utter misery and dispair... I never talk much about this time i went through and what i have explained is only touching the surface...It saddens me that i accepted being ignored to this degree so you can imagine that my opinion of general doctor practice is low.
This was one reason i am passionate about helping others...Ive known pain and im so not soft and although i may be a very sensitive soul im not one to moan about pain or complain about my lot ....My pain threshold seems pretty high....but we all have our own stories eh
I'm sorry you had to go through this and I applaud you for taking action. Doctors are just a tool that we use and should be considered a very small part of our total health care management. They really are just pill pushers. Occasionally I need them for mechanical work (like removing my hardware) but that need is rare. I certainly don't expectany compassion!
They should visit us! It is ridiculous to expect paralyzed people to travel to doctors offices for appointments. The system is really screwed up.
I'm sorry you had to go through this and I applaud you for taking action. Doctors are just a tool that we use and should be considered a very small part of our total health care management. They really are just pill pushers. Occasionally I need them for mechanical work (like removing my hardware) but that need is rare. I certainly don't expectany compassion!
They should visit us! It is ridiculous to expect paralyzed people to travel to doctors offices for appointments. The system is really screwed up.
Do you know, this is my sentiments exactly...I find that here in the UK general doctors are on a time limit per appointment and this is part of the issue too.
I wont tolerate a rude doctor now..if they dont want to give respect and be civil then they wont get it from me. I am more so going to my doctor telling them what i want them to do rather than asking them,
They are working for us after all. I would love to put together a factsheet and advice for all the medical profession to read and refer to that will give them a patients perspective and a SCI perspective especially as they harp on so much about not knowing enough about SCI.
If i dont understand something...i learn about it...it can be as simple as that... ranting..(sorry)
Lara I'm in a similar situation to you and I couldn't agree more when you say you understand why people don't pursue a case.it is humiliating to be poked and prodded like a lab rat. I am traumatized by such gross negligence. I sat in the ER after being diagnosed with CES for 48 hours and never laid eyes on one nurse in a 12 HR shift. At my 6 week check I had hydronephrosis and detrucer muscle atrophy and they never monitored my urine output. I couldn't agree more that it is imperative to stand up and hold these people accountable since CES is largely preventable. Best wishes