Posted 5/23/2007 12:08 AM (GMT 0)
I don't know where to begin with this posting. I had every intention of coming on the site and typing rave reviews of my experience at the Cleveland Clinic. I just cannot make it so. It's been a pretty bad experience overall. Here's the short of it:
My prep was Fleets Phos and it cleaned me to a wretched squeaky clean. I had fevers/chills in the AM and thought there was no way they would proceed with surgery because of how bad I was in just one night. I was "first on the surgery list" but was herded down the corridor with about 50 other sick people (although, curiously, no one was slumped over looking pale like me) I laid in the gurney probably 45 minutes before the nurse came in to take vitals. Temp >103, HR 130's, BP 90's/50's Anesthesia was called to evaluate, Dr. was paged. It was determined that the inc. temp was due to the colon trauma of prep rather than an infectious process and we decided to proceed w/ surgery.
Surgery went as planned, laproscopic and lasted 5.5 hours. Dr. Stocchi was great about pre-surgical teachings and keeping my family updated during my case.
Arrived to the recovery room where I experience 10 out of 10 pain for what seemed like forever. The nurse kept telling me to "press your button!" I did! It still as taking the edge off. They changed the med from Morphine to Dilaudid and I continued to lay on the gurney for 7 hours because they did not have a room for me to go to. Odd isn't it, that I would be scheduled for surgery for over two weeks and no post-surgical room?
Transferred me to my new room which ended up being the "short stay" floor, but I have another name for it....ghetto nursing, third world floor, among others.
Still have pain and can't move, can't take big breaths because of the pain--sharp stabbing pain at the incision right above the pubic bone. I tell the Dr. every morning when he wakes me up (around 5-6am) but he says, "this surgery was done laporoscopically, you shouldn't be having this much pain" I request fentanyl pca for pain control which he reluctantly concedes. Because I'm on the short stay unit, I share a room w/ people who only will be there a couple of hours and aren't really that sick. The nurses didn't know jack about ostomies or post-surgical patients. Let's just say I was miserable in pain and getting sicker.
In the morning, the fentanyl pca had worked sufficiently through the night and therefore, Dr. Stocchi ordered it to be dc'd and that "from a surgical stand-point, there was no reason to keep me for any further observation, I was free to go" I was very apprehensive, since I live hundreds of miles away and would be traveling by plane. He was once again, reluctant to keep me but ordered me a room on the colorectal floor. I was so happy to be going to the floor where expert nurses would be caring for my needs and the ostomy nurses would also be available.
Since Dr. Stocchi left for the weekend, his Fellow resumed my care in the morning. I was miserable in the morning, told the Fellow that my pain was still out of control-he repeated the words of the Dr. and advised that they would plan for discharge that day. I didn't know what to do, I was too weak to fight.
My 7am vitals were Temp of 104.4, HR 140's, BP 90's/50's, I had sweating dripping off of me and soaking the bed and the pain was excrutiating. Things then started to pick up a bit. A few different doctors came in to see me and were alarmed at my steady decline. It was decided that an incision would be made at the bedside in order to open the wound to allow any infection, or drainage to release. I asked to be sedated but he said they don't sedate pt's for this procedure. He said he could give me morphine, I asked for Fentanyl, I ended up with 25mcg Fentanyl and he cut a two inch long incision that went two inches deep. Yes sir, it hurt. But that was the source of infection and the reason for all my pain. The discomfort eased up a bit when put on a morphine pca. Not that great for pain control overall. Now I'm on the road to recovery, antibiotic therapy, oral pain pills, walking alot, eating, getting education on this new stoma life. They had to put a separate little stoma on the new incision site which freaks me out to have yet another bag.
My biggest beef of all is just that the Dr.'s did not take the time to listen to my honest and true assessment of my pain and how I was feeling, they discredited it for some reason, and then found myself in real trouble.
I will hopefully will be discharged tomorrow, spend a night in the hotel, and then fly back West.
I have a not happy feeling about the Cleveland Clinic and I wish it wasn't so.