Has anyone been injured besides me

injuredbyDaVinci
injuredbyDaVinci Member Posts: 35
edited March 2014 in Prostate Cancer #1
I'm still around. I have not posted anything for about a year now. I just finished reading Man to Man, even though I've had th book for several years. Mr. Korda had a walk in the park compared to the night mare I've been living. I'll give just a short history of what I've been through. Had RP on 06-15-09. While in hospital, started getting sicker than a dog. My colon had been perferrated during surgery. I developed sepsis and damn near died. Had emergency surgery and wound up in a ICU unit for another week. After another week in the hospital I went home with a wound vac, ostomy bag and foley cath. I had the wound vac for 6 weeks, the foley cath. for 4 and 1/2 months anthe ostomy bag for 5 months.After all this BS being removed I thought I was out of the woods.
Lo and behold to my amazement I wasn't. I started having blood in my urine really bad in March of 2010. Went to the url.and they found a piece of foreign matter in my bladder from the first surgery. It had plugged up the perferration they thought was closed.I had to have another surgery to have that removed. I was told that I would have have at least three more surgeries to get heald up if I ever do.
Once the foreigh matter was removed from my bladder that opened up the flood gates. I could pass urine out my anus and stool out my penis. I had an ileostomy on July 31 of this year. So here I sit with my ostomy bag looking at at least three more surgeries next year in order to get better if I ever will. The reason I'm waiting until next year is because I"ll have to have a cath for another 4 to 6 weeks.
By the way I am 66 years old and in damn good shape for my age. Don't ever complain about incontence to me. I have worked my **** off with kegels to get down to one pad a day. Seems like I take one step forward and two steps back. Your comment please. Since my RP I have spent twenty-five days in the hospital. Also my surgery was done using the deVanci as you can tell by my post name.

Comments

  • lewvino
    lewvino Member Posts: 1,010
    Sorry to read about your
    Sorry to read about your problems with your surgery and hoping things will improve in the new year for you.

    Perhaps though you should change your post named to injredbyADumAs*Doctor instead since the Davinci is only as good as the surgeon at the controls.

    Larry
  • 2ndBase
    2ndBase Member Posts: 220
    Malpractice
    I hope you have filed a malpractice claim of some sort as your damages are extreme. My sister is a top malpractice lawyer and has been able to help many victims as yourself. You deserve to be made well with cash as they pretty much tore you apart. I wish you all the best.
  • CharlieG
    CharlieG Member Posts: 67
    Injured
    I am so sorry to hear about your surgery results. I was told, when evaluating options that the surgeon nicking the colon was a possibility - rare as it may be.

    I think that it is a matter of the skill and care of the surgeon and maybe some anatomy of the patient, however, I am no Dr.

    I had a good friend get sepsis from his prostate biopsy, of all things.

    I opted for the open radical vs. DaVinci because I thought about the surgeon getting his hands in there and using tactile feedback during the surgery vs. the camera only.

    Thank God you survived.

    Best wishes and good luck on your full recovery.
  • JR1949
    JR1949 Member Posts: 230
    Injured--Can you say malpractice!!!!!
    Man, I am so sorry to hear about your problems from the surgery that should have not left you in such a condition. I had radical prostatectomy Mar. 09 and the only complication I had was mild case of pneumonia in the hospital so I was in hospital for four days. You truly have my sympathy and you will be in my prayers.

    You can thank God that you did not lose your life over this botched up surgery. I agree, you need to find a good medical malpractice attorney that will "go for the jugular" if you know what I mean. You go to the hospital expecting healing, not complete carelessness.

    I wish you recovery from all of the damages that resulted from carelessness.

    JR
  • JR1949
    JR1949 Member Posts: 230
    One step forward, two backward
    By the way I can truly relate to one step forward two steps backward, in fact I feel like it is one forward and three backwards sometimes. That's been my story with the incontinence issue.

    JR
  • injuredbyDaVinci
    injuredbyDaVinci Member Posts: 35
    JR1949 said:

    One step forward, two backward
    By the way I can truly relate to one step forward two steps backward, in fact I feel like it is one forward and three backwards sometimes. That's been my story with the incontinence issue.

    JR

    General reply
    I'll try and comment to most of you all at the same time if you don't mind. Thank you guys for all your kind thoughts. This is going to take at least two full years out of my life if I ever do recover. I'm a Marine vet. and a retired truck driver. I consider my self a tuff old goat, but this has reall kicked my ****. I spent 23 months in Vietnam, that's probally why I ended up with PC. I am working with a very good lawyer at this time, sure hope he is better than my urologist. I did my home work before I dicieded on RP. I had an extremely enlarged prostrate. I was given meds to try and make it smaller several months before my RP. I guess it didn't work. About the incontinence, I did the bio feed back kegels. It really helped me. Like I said , I had a foley cath for 4 and 1/2 months. I use one pad a day still, but hard telling what it will be after my next surgery because I'll have the cath for another 6 weeks. I guess there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it keeps getting farther away all the time. Have any of you seen a post where some one other than I has been injured during RP. My post name should be injured during DaVinci. Thanks.
  • hightide
    hightide Member Posts: 26

    General reply
    I'll try and comment to most of you all at the same time if you don't mind. Thank you guys for all your kind thoughts. This is going to take at least two full years out of my life if I ever do recover. I'm a Marine vet. and a retired truck driver. I consider my self a tuff old goat, but this has reall kicked my ****. I spent 23 months in Vietnam, that's probally why I ended up with PC. I am working with a very good lawyer at this time, sure hope he is better than my urologist. I did my home work before I dicieded on RP. I had an extremely enlarged prostrate. I was given meds to try and make it smaller several months before my RP. I guess it didn't work. About the incontinence, I did the bio feed back kegels. It really helped me. Like I said , I had a foley cath for 4 and 1/2 months. I use one pad a day still, but hard telling what it will be after my next surgery because I'll have the cath for another 6 weeks. I guess there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it keeps getting farther away all the time. Have any of you seen a post where some one other than I has been injured during RP. My post name should be injured during DaVinci. Thanks.

    Injured
    I think your post name should be "injured during DaVinci by a WITCH DOCTOR." I am retired from 25 years in the health care field and have never heard of such a comedy of errors as this befalling one patient !!! Good luck and I hope you are getting REAL medical care at this time.
    Regards, hightide
  • mrspjd
    mrspjd Member Posts: 694 Member
    hightide said:

    Injured
    I think your post name should be "injured during DaVinci by a WITCH DOCTOR." I am retired from 25 years in the health care field and have never heard of such a comedy of errors as this befalling one patient !!! Good luck and I hope you are getting REAL medical care at this time.
    Regards, hightide

    medical incompetence
    So sorry and sad to read of your horrific medical malpractice ordeal. Hoping that you will be able to, first and foremost, regain a measure of previous good health and that your malpractice suit will bring you just rewards (not that that kind of malpractice tragedy can be compensated by financial reward alone--perhaps md license suspension?). While no one expects you to name names or disclose confidential info, especially given your pending lawsuit, it might be ethical and helpful to the forum readers if you consider posting ONLY the state and local county where the "doctor" practices & where the medical malpractice took place. Anyone considering a similar procedure in that locale/area of the country would be best to inquire whether their urologist/doctor/surgeon has any previous and/or pending malpractice suits and check with local AMA or similar medical board/entity to verify (always a good idea anyway, no matter where your doctor is located).

    All the best.
  • Swingshiftworker
    Swingshiftworker Member Posts: 1,017 Member
    OMG!!!
    I'm really sorry to hear your horrific story. Unfortunately, you're not the only one who has experienced such problems following PCa surgery.

    Your story is a prime illustration why surgery (of any kind) should only be considered as a LAST RESORT! There are many men w/PCa who have had good results from surgery, but sh*t happens (no pun intended) and, as your experience shows, sometimes does.

    IMHO, PCa surgeons and men who have had a successful PCa surgical experience mislead and do an injustice to men who have just learned that they have PCa by failing to mention and largely underplaying the risks of surgery -- especially RP -- as a form of treatment, which as your and other men's stories prove, are SUBSTANTIAL.

    There are some cases where surgery cannot be avoided. I don't know if that was the case in your situation, but I hope that it was because it would be awful to realize that you could have chosen another form of treatment -- such as radiation -- without such awful consequences.

    I hope you're able to recover some monetary compenstation for what is obviously a case (if not multiple cases) of gross medical malpractice.

    Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
  • ncobjim
    ncobjim Member Posts: 37
    Surgery side effects
    Had RP in August 2006.
    After 10 days at home i was hit with a massive pulminary embolism. Rushed to the hospital and was saved by the use of clot busting drug. After 2 days in the hospital at 2:00 in the morning i devloped terrible pain in my left leg. Lasted about 1/2 hour. My leg swelled up to twice its normal size. By the morning my right leg swelled the same but with no pain. DR rushed me down for ulrasound. Could not even left my legs up on the table. Had blood clots formed in both legs DVT. Taken for the insertion of a Greenfield Vena Cava Filter to stop any more blood clots from getting to my lungs. Now i could not breathe or walk. 2 Days later still in the hospital i was told my kidneys were not working right. Turned out that was only a side effect from the dye injected in me for cat scans. It corrected itself. Went home after 2 weeks with oxygen and a visit from a nurse every 2 days. After 4 weeks i started walking but had severe pain in both of my feet. 6 months later i was diagnosed with permanent nerve damage in both of my legs. Have to be on pain meds forever.
    PSA went up from 0.2 to 0.4 this year. Just finished 8 weeks of IMRT with 6 months of Hormone Therapy. Will be finished in January 2011. PSA is now below 0.0
  • mrspjd said:

    medical incompetence
    So sorry and sad to read of your horrific medical malpractice ordeal. Hoping that you will be able to, first and foremost, regain a measure of previous good health and that your malpractice suit will bring you just rewards (not that that kind of malpractice tragedy can be compensated by financial reward alone--perhaps md license suspension?). While no one expects you to name names or disclose confidential info, especially given your pending lawsuit, it might be ethical and helpful to the forum readers if you consider posting ONLY the state and local county where the "doctor" practices & where the medical malpractice took place. Anyone considering a similar procedure in that locale/area of the country would be best to inquire whether their urologist/doctor/surgeon has any previous and/or pending malpractice suits and check with local AMA or similar medical board/entity to verify (always a good idea anyway, no matter where your doctor is located).

    All the best.

    It's the law
    Dear mrspjd, I won't post names and addresses but I will say I live in St. Louis, Mo. In this state you can not find out who has had a medical malpractice suit filed against them. You can hire a good lawyer and they can't even find out the information. Doesn't seam right, does it. I think a hospital can find out but we as consumers can't out. I'll keep you posted
  • ncobjim said:

    Surgery side effects
    Had RP in August 2006.
    After 10 days at home i was hit with a massive pulminary embolism. Rushed to the hospital and was saved by the use of clot busting drug. After 2 days in the hospital at 2:00 in the morning i devloped terrible pain in my left leg. Lasted about 1/2 hour. My leg swelled up to twice its normal size. By the morning my right leg swelled the same but with no pain. DR rushed me down for ulrasound. Could not even left my legs up on the table. Had blood clots formed in both legs DVT. Taken for the insertion of a Greenfield Vena Cava Filter to stop any more blood clots from getting to my lungs. Now i could not breathe or walk. 2 Days later still in the hospital i was told my kidneys were not working right. Turned out that was only a side effect from the dye injected in me for cat scans. It corrected itself. Went home after 2 weeks with oxygen and a visit from a nurse every 2 days. After 4 weeks i started walking but had severe pain in both of my feet. 6 months later i was diagnosed with permanent nerve damage in both of my legs. Have to be on pain meds forever.
    PSA went up from 0.2 to 0.4 this year. Just finished 8 weeks of IMRT with 6 months of Hormone Therapy. Will be finished in January 2011. PSA is now below 0.0

    was this malpractice
    Dear ncobjim, I'm sure we all sign some kind of a disclaimer every time we go to the hospital for surgery. They flash so many papers in front of us and say sign this and sign this, and on and on. I'm sure a good lawyer can get around this. Any contract is only as good as the paper it's written on. I hope you have recieved some compensation as a result of all your health issues.
  • Swingshiftworker
    Swingshiftworker Member Posts: 1,017 Member

    was this malpractice
    Dear ncobjim, I'm sure we all sign some kind of a disclaimer every time we go to the hospital for surgery. They flash so many papers in front of us and say sign this and sign this, and on and on. I'm sure a good lawyer can get around this. Any contract is only as good as the paper it's written on. I hope you have recieved some compensation as a result of all your health issues.

    Informed Consent and Malpractice
    When you sign the "informed consent" waiver forms prior to surgery you are stating that you have received specific information concerning the risks of the surgery and that you agree not to sue the doctor(s) or the hospital if you suffer any of the anticipated risks that you have been informed about

    However,Informed Consent does NOT indemnify the doctors or hospital from liability for compensatory damages for any physical, psychological, monetary or any other injuries that you suffer as a result of a surgery that has been performed "negligently: (ie., not in accordance w/the professional standards expected of a properly trained and experienced surgeon).

    Your lawyer knows all this and from what you told us there certainly seems to be a good basis for a suit based on malpractice (ie., negligence on the part of one or more surgeons or other medical "professionals" who were involved in one or more of the surgeries that you had performed on you.)

    FWIW, they're probably not going to pay a cent of any judgment awarded to you anyway -- their medical malpractice carriers will. So, GO GET'M!!!!