You have got to be kidding me!!!!!!!!

C Craft

C Craft

Well-Known Member
So I was supposed to have surgery on my right leg this morning! A VNUS procedure. For those who might not be familiar with this procedure here is explanation of the procedure!

The endovenous radiofrequency ablation (or VNUS Closure) procedure is a minimally-invasive vein treatment used to treat the great saphenous vein (GSV), small saphenous vein (SSV) and other superficial veins. It uses a patented radiofrequency catheter inserted into the vein, which applies RF energy to heat the vein, thus closing the vein off!

The hope was that when the procedure was done that it would help with the circulation problems in that leg. So this morning I had my son to drive me over to Pensacola for the procedure. The nurse for the doctor is getting me prepped for the procedure! She does an ultra sound to check everything out and,...…………

To make a long story short. I do not have a saphenous vein in my right leg. It was stripped out when they did my quadruple bypass back in 2010!!! The tech that did my recent ultra sound and the doctor that scheduled me for the procedure, NEVER went back and looked at my medical records. Which plainly states the saphenous vein was stripped out of that leg for use in the bypass. It is no wonder so many people die from medical screw-ups every year. Had it not been for a good nurse who knew her stuff they may have not realized their was no vein to close off until they were already cutting on me! Go figure!!!!!!!!!!
 
Last year when I had deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary emboli I was discharged with instructions to take two anti-coagulents. Admittedly, having worked in the health care field, I should have questioned it but I didn't. Neither did the pharmacist who dispensed the medicine. Two weeks later when I followed up with my Hematoligist and he went through the roof was the mistake caught. Well I'm off both now and just taking a baby aspirin.

Doug
 
Ted, I really don't know. There are about 7 doctors in this group and mine is not a surgeon. So I haven't talked with him yet but,...…….. when I do. I am gonna do the talking and he is gonna do the listening!!!

I wonder if I sent that doctor/surgeon a bill for about a $1000 he would pay it!! o_O

I wasted my whole morning and not to mention the medication I had to purchase to have on hand for the operation, or the damn compression sock for the one leg. It cost me nearly a $100. I was told insurance would not pay for it so had to buy it outright!!

I have yet to contact the company I had to buy it from but since the box was not sealed or the stocking in it, (just looked at it for the first time today) I doubt they will take it back!!!!
 
That's ridiculous, Cliff! You would think that a professional would do his homework. Just look at the paperwork for crying out loud. I know it's not health related, but I did have a mechanic at the local oil change place try to sell me a front differential service on my 2 wheel drive pickup the other day. Go figure.
 
I've seen more lack of attention and common sense in the medical community than almost anywhere. Now, I ask and ask and ask...and ask again.... and still get clothes-lined at times....
 
See what kept me from knowing was ignorance on my part. Could have something to do with the pain and coming out from under the anesthesia but I thought they told me that they had taken vein for my bypass from two sites on my right leg and I thought they had said, each was about 2".

However after the nurse found the report from the doctor who had done the bypass back in 2010. It stated they cut the vein at the groin and they stripped the vein from an incision just below my knee. They stripped the entire vein from the groin down to that point. Then they decided they needed more and they made another incision halfway down the calf and they stripped the vein from where they had stopped before, to just about six inches above the foot. So in fact the entire vein was stripped except for that last six inches.

What makes me so mad is that fact my doctor took over for the doctor I had at the time of the surgery. So when I started talking to him about having pain in my lower legs and feet, he should have been thinking about the fact that I had a bypass and I had told him that leg has always swelled since they took out the vein for the bypass!!! He then sent me to have testing ran on my veins and blood return. He should have already been aware that I had the bypass!! That was the first miss!!

The tech that done the ultra sound should have realized that there was no vein there. After all the nurse for the surgeon knew something was wrong as soon as she did her ultra sound!!! That was the second miss!!

Any MRI, ultra sound, or x-ray is supposed to be seen by a trained radiologist at the facility to make sure the technician's findings are correct! That was the third miss!!

I was then called in for a consult with a surgeon. Who had gone over the findings of the tech who did the ultra sound ,and the radiologist who reviewed the ultra sound and put his interpretation into a report! The surgeon never looked at the ultrasound himself, or he also did not know what he was seeing! My money is on, he never looked at ultra sound, he only looked at the report from the radiologist!! The surgeon told me that the vein in both of my legs was good down to the knee and then both were not good from that point down. The right leg was a candidate for the Vnus procedure. The left leg the vein was smaller than the probe that they would use to do the Vnus procedure. This was the fourth miss!!!

And the one thing that makes the most irate, is that if any one of these people had read my file. The report on my bypass, plainly states that the entire saphenous vein was removed from patients right leg to use in the bypass!!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top