Posted 8/26/2014 10:51 AM (GMT 0)
Some of you may remember my frequent hospital stays in the last year due to infection. I kept having abscesses, in the same location, apparently next to my reanastomosis (where two resected ends of intestine were connected). My surgeon refused to consider a leak or exploratory surgery, even though I said I was worried about a perforation. I was near death several times, or at least I felt like it. I was in horrible pain and he and other physicians refused to treat that pain or pay attention to what it meant. They would not even order blood tests to check to see if I had a possible infection at various times; instead, I had to constantly go into the ER where I was treated there and admitted every time except once. I must have been admitted to the hospital at least 8 times, and had at least 10 CT scans.
During the last hospital stay, I finally asked for a second opinion (and the surgeon made it awkwardly difficult to get one). This new surgeon immediately said he felt almost certain I had an anastomotic leak due to all of the past findings and my history. He said it appeared the abscess formed at the staple line of the reanastomosis, and this was even before the surgery. During the surgery, he felt the same way, and seemed very certain that this was the cause all along. He also said I had a very large Meckel's diverticulum that the first surgeon missed, and he removed it. Unfortunately, due to the two surgeries, I have lost a significant amount of ileum.
It has been nearly two months since that last surgery, and I feel much better and have no sign of infection. I am very upset by my past treatment and feel many people were negligent in my care. I am considering a malpractice lawsuit. What do you think of this? For more info, I think you can check out my profile and see my past posts. I also posted a blog during this ordeal, and I'll go ahead and put it on my website link.