I am STILL seething....(Doc/resident issues)

I know I'm new here, but I have to vent just a little about this please.....

So, I'm dealing with this fistula/abscess deal, and due for surgery on 7/15. In the meantime, my surgeon left town last Thursday for "a few weeks", but told me that if the abscess started up again, to call in for antibiotics......which I did, just before he left town, as things started swelling again, thanks to the placement of the fistula. Doc put me back on Cipro, and though I was rather dubious about it (it didn't work the first time), the nurse told me that it was in accordance with the culture report from the first drain.

Well, about a week later, the abscess is the size of an egg. Clearly, the cipro is doing nothing, and it hurt so bad I have to take Vicodin just to be able to sit down. So I call back to the surgeon's office, to check in with the doc on call. The nurse called me back, and I could hear instantly in her voice that she wasn't happy about something....she then informs me that the doc on call (who is a resident) told her to tell me that since I didn't like dealing with residents, that I would have to go to the ER to be treated. She also told me that before she called me, she checked around with the other docs in the dept, and no one would go against him!

The kicker to this is that I NEVER said anything about not being comfortable with residents. This goes back to my previous procedure. I had asked my surgeon to what extent the residents (teaching hospital) would be involved, as I had not had the opportunity to meet any of them, and that I wasn't comfortable with the idea of a resident "getting practice" on me (keeping in mind that there are different degrees of residents, I would have been more comfortable with say a 5th year over a 1st). I said that I had no problems with seeing them in clinic, or having them participate in small ways. I was VERY clear on this. In addition, when my catheter was pulled, my surgeon had left for the day, and the people that came in to pull it, at least by my recollection, were introduced to me as one doc, and one "house staff", which I later found out means resident. I brought this up to my surgeon at that time, as I felt they should have identified themselves to me. Turns out the other "doc" was a resident too.

So, I find out from the nurse, that the doc refusing me is the resident that I mistook for a surgeon. When I told the nurse that I had no issue with seeing a resident in clinic, and never had, she responded that she understood how I felt and didn't agree with it, but that her hands were tied.

So, this left me calling the patient relations dept, to find out what could be done. Luckily, the lady I spoke with was firmly on my side, because 30 minutes later, the Refusing Resident was calling me.....to let me know that there had been a misunderstanding, and OF COURSE he would be able to help!! He then tried to rehash the part of the cath pulling, saying that he was sure he identified himself to me...blahblah....I never brought that up, he did, first thing! All I wanted was a different antibiotic!

So to try to shorten an already long story, he called me in some Avelox, I'm hoping it will work, but it didn't stop him from asking at the end of the conversation if I would please call PR back and tell them he took care of me.....
I called and told the lady that helped me about the "miscommunication" and her response was "Perhaps.....but obviously NOT!"

So I had to go through all that crap, just to get an antibiotic change.....and now I'm wondering what I should do/say (if anything) when my surgeon gets back, because I highly suspect that some info from him to the residents started all this......where else would they have gotten the mistaken idea that I wanted nothing to do with any of them, ever?? Or was this retaliation from the catheter incident?? Anyone have any ideas on dealing with this kind of thing??

ITA w/Crohn'snme. good job chicklet!

I'm an engineer and have high expectations of doctors who treat me, including residents. I ask a lot of questions and I don't stop until I understand everything I they're saying. I make this very clear when I meet a new doctor. Sometimes it is obvious from the first meeting that we are not going to work well together and I go somewhere else. With a resident, you aren't given a choice and it can often be unpleasant. I spent the whole duration of active labor with my 2nd daughter completely pissed off at the OB resident for his rude and wrong-headed behavior. Lot of good that did me, LOL!

Anyway, you did it all right. You made your expectations clear, even when you had to repeat them. Sorry that you lost those several minutes of your life that you will never get back, but chalk it up to a gift to the Refusing Resident in Lessons Learned. We hope.

Chicklet -

I have only been in teaching hospitals. EVER.

The 1st hospitalization I had, I was in the ICU for 7 weeks. There was one resident who insisted on coming in at 6am, turning on the brightest light possible and in the most booming voice say "HOW are we FEELING today Mrs. So and so". After a few days of this treatment I said: "I know you are just trying to make sure that I am alert so we can communicate effectively, but it would be great if you could turn on the dim light first, quietly wake me up and THEN start asking me your questions. It's hard enough to fall asleep or get any sleep in a hospital, so I would really appreciate some consideration." He changed his approach and I like to think I taught him something about patient relationships :)

During that 99 day stay, I learned alot about the resident system. I was always told to avoid July if possible, because that's when all the new residents come on board. Not trying to scare you, just warn you.

But you have already shown that you want to know who is actually taking part in your care, so as long as you make clear you want to meet everyone before your surgery, and that the surgeon will be "doing the dirty work", you should be fine...

Best wishes, and keep them on their toes!

Sudsmom