I was admitted into the hospital on October 15, 2007 for a scheduled in-patient hernia surgery. The surgeon actually found three ventral hernias and used mesh for the repair. I was then put in a non-private room, but no other patient was in the room at the time, so I was there alone.
The night after my surgery, a gentleman was admitted and was put in the bed next to mine, in the same room. Overhearing what they were doing with this patient, I found out that they were draining fluid from his leg. The following afternoon, that gentleman's doctor came in the room to see him. I can't remember the exact words that this doctor said to the patient, but I remember him basically telling the patient that he had MRSA. As soon as I heard that, and after that doctor was finished speaking to the patient, I called him over to my side of the room and stated these exact words: "Doctor, do I need to be worried about this?" I was referring to the MRSA issue that his patient had. The doctor answered by simply saying "No."
After my surgery I had two drain tubes inserted, one on the right side of the incision and one on the left side of the incision, to allow fluid to drain from the surgical cavity, and along the incision line. The next day a resident doctor came in to look at my incision. As he was cutting my bandages away he accidentally cut into one of the drain tubes, close to where it entered the skin. He then put a small piece of tape around it to try to stop it from leaking. It didn't work. When one of my doctors came in later, he had them take both drain tubes out. This allowed swelling to occur because fluid was building up and there was no longer any method of drainage.
I was discharged on October 19, 2007. The first few days at home, I felt that I was making progress recovering from the surgery. Toward the latter part of the following week, I started to feel very tired and felt progressively worse every day. On Friday October 26th, I became ill with fever, chills, a major increase in pain along the incision, as well as major pain in the left side lower back. The swelling on the lower right side of the incision was now very large and created a lot of pain and pressure where it was located.
That same evening, I called the on-call doctor and explained the situation. The doctor explained to me that there was not much they could do for me, and said that it is not uncommon to have a low-grade fever when recovering from surgery. He then told me to call my doctor on Monday to follow up on this. I called my doctor's office on Monday October 29, 2007 first thing in the morning and the nurse scheduled an appointment for me to come in the next day.
I went in to see the doctor per my scheduled appointment on Tuesday October 30th. In her office, she saw the swelling and proceeded to take some type of surgical knife and cut an opening in my incision. The goal was to try to force some of the fluid located where the swelling was out of the newly opened incision. She tried pressing on the swollen area very hard and ultimately could not get any fluid to start flowing out. She re-admitted me to the hospital on the spot, telling me that I probably had an abscess.
In the hospital, they did put me on some type of IV antibiotic (not sure of the name). The next day I had a CT scan. They told me that the CT scan results showed a lot of fluid in the surgical cavity where the mesh used for the hernia repair is located.
The day after that they took me down to the Ultrasound Department and inserted a drain tube through the skin into my abdomen. This allows fluid to drain into a plastic bag attached to the end of the tube. They drained 250cc of yellowish colored fluid in the process. They also took a culture. This culture would tell the doctor(s) what type of infection I had.
On November 2, 2007 a doctor came into my hospital room and stated that they had lost my culture and that they needed to take a second one. He said they were going to send me home with a prescription for the antibiotic Amoxycillin, and that they would call me if they needed to change the antibiotic once the second culture came back. I was discharged at 2:15 PM that day. On The Patient Discharge Instructions, on the "Diagnosis" line, they have "drain placement" written in.
Here's what really upset me: on Thursday November 15, 2007, almost two weeks after I was discharged, I went to see the doctor for my scheduled routine follow up visit. She came into the room to ask me how I felt, then left the room. A few minutes later she came back in and said these exact words: "I just went and looked up your culture and do you know that MRSA that has been in the newspapers? That's what it came back as." It's amazing how your life can change in a split second! The doctor presented it to me, obviously trying to minimize the seriousness of it.
My wife and I were both stunned and didn't know what to say. The doctor then said that she was changing my antibiotic to Bactrim and told us that we need to make sure to wash our hands a lot at home.
Here I sit at home now. I still have the drain tube in and it's still draining yellow fluid. In addition, fluid also started to drain out the incision that the doctor reopened in her office.
Now that I had time for all of this to sink in, I am not happy about this at all. I have a wife and sixteen-year-old daughter who; if they don't have MRSA colonized by now, would be a miracle. I also have to stay home from work for an undetermined amount of time.
For over two weeks at home I had no idea that it could be, or was MRSA. That wouldn't have even crossed my mind. During those two weeks, of course, I changed lots of contaminated bandages that were soaked with the yellowish fluid that we found out contained the MRSA infection, touched everything in the house, shared several meals with my family, and had intimate relations with my wife. Had I known that I had HA-MRSA before I was discharged from the hospital, I would have been following stringent sanitary procedures at home. This certainly was not the case. Myself, my wife, and our daughter (though they don't show symptoms yet) may have MRSA for life.
I do like my doctor and the team of surgeons that she is a part of , but I feel that there were major instances of gross negligence that could have and should have been prevented with a modicum of common sense.
The first, and possibly the most damaging, instance of negligence is that fact that they had me share a room with a MRSA infected patient. They were actually draining fluid from him only feet from my bed. I had an open surgical wound. This is almost unbelievable to me.
Hospital protocol should at least state that anyone having, or suspected of having MRSA of any type, be isolated from other patients – especially other patients who have open wounds.
During my follow-up visit with the doctor on Thursday November 15th, after she told my wife and I that I had MRSA, my wife asked the doctor "isn't that what the guy they put in the bed next to Brian's had?" The doctor's reply was "I was upset about that, but it turns out that he didn't have MRSA". Frankly I do not believe that based on the conversation that I heard between that patient and his doctor. I feel that my doctor knew that a major mistake had been made and was trying to minimize the damage. She also told me that any time I need hospitalized in the future, I will be isolated in a room by myself.
Another instance of negligence, was when the resident doctor accidentally cut a hole in my post-surgery drain tube, which they then had to remove as it was irreparable. Had the drain tubes been left in place, the fluid would not have been able to collect and cause the major swelling.
Another major instance was the fact that they lost the first culture that they took from me, and then sent me home without knowing what the infection was, stating that they would call me to let me know if they needed to change my antibiotic after the second culture came back. They never called me!
Another major instance of negligence was the fact that because they actually did send me home without waiting for the second culture results to come back - I sat at home for two weeks on the wrong antibiotic, probably spreading MRSA all over the house. The hospital and/or doctor's office had to have had the results of the second culture for almost two weeks and didn't bother to look at the results until I came in for a routine follow-up two weeks after the culture was taken. They should have called me at home immediately to change my medication, explain the dangers of this infection, as well as explain to me what sanitary precautions to take to help prevent the spread of the infection in our home. A culture only takes around 48 hours to produce final results – not two weeks!
I think that they should have kept me in the hospital until the second culture results came back just in case it was HA-MRSA. They could have then put me on the correct antibiotic intravenously. This was irresponsible.
I am in no way shape or form an "ambulance chaser" and have always hated people who are "sue-happy". I have never done this before. But this is not just an "oops, we overlooked some things" error. THIS IS FOR LIFE. And on top of it all, my innocent wife and daughter stand a good chance of contracting the MRSA infection.
I know this post is long. Thanks anyone taking the time to read it.
Brian
The night after my surgery, a gentleman was admitted and was put in the bed next to mine, in the same room. Overhearing what they were doing with this patient, I found out that they were draining fluid from his leg. The following afternoon, that gentleman's doctor came in the room to see him. I can't remember the exact words that this doctor said to the patient, but I remember him basically telling the patient that he had MRSA. As soon as I heard that, and after that doctor was finished speaking to the patient, I called him over to my side of the room and stated these exact words: "Doctor, do I need to be worried about this?" I was referring to the MRSA issue that his patient had. The doctor answered by simply saying "No."
After my surgery I had two drain tubes inserted, one on the right side of the incision and one on the left side of the incision, to allow fluid to drain from the surgical cavity, and along the incision line. The next day a resident doctor came in to look at my incision. As he was cutting my bandages away he accidentally cut into one of the drain tubes, close to where it entered the skin. He then put a small piece of tape around it to try to stop it from leaking. It didn't work. When one of my doctors came in later, he had them take both drain tubes out. This allowed swelling to occur because fluid was building up and there was no longer any method of drainage.
I was discharged on October 19, 2007. The first few days at home, I felt that I was making progress recovering from the surgery. Toward the latter part of the following week, I started to feel very tired and felt progressively worse every day. On Friday October 26th, I became ill with fever, chills, a major increase in pain along the incision, as well as major pain in the left side lower back. The swelling on the lower right side of the incision was now very large and created a lot of pain and pressure where it was located.
That same evening, I called the on-call doctor and explained the situation. The doctor explained to me that there was not much they could do for me, and said that it is not uncommon to have a low-grade fever when recovering from surgery. He then told me to call my doctor on Monday to follow up on this. I called my doctor's office on Monday October 29, 2007 first thing in the morning and the nurse scheduled an appointment for me to come in the next day.
I went in to see the doctor per my scheduled appointment on Tuesday October 30th. In her office, she saw the swelling and proceeded to take some type of surgical knife and cut an opening in my incision. The goal was to try to force some of the fluid located where the swelling was out of the newly opened incision. She tried pressing on the swollen area very hard and ultimately could not get any fluid to start flowing out. She re-admitted me to the hospital on the spot, telling me that I probably had an abscess.
In the hospital, they did put me on some type of IV antibiotic (not sure of the name). The next day I had a CT scan. They told me that the CT scan results showed a lot of fluid in the surgical cavity where the mesh used for the hernia repair is located.
The day after that they took me down to the Ultrasound Department and inserted a drain tube through the skin into my abdomen. This allows fluid to drain into a plastic bag attached to the end of the tube. They drained 250cc of yellowish colored fluid in the process. They also took a culture. This culture would tell the doctor(s) what type of infection I had.
On November 2, 2007 a doctor came into my hospital room and stated that they had lost my culture and that they needed to take a second one. He said they were going to send me home with a prescription for the antibiotic Amoxycillin, and that they would call me if they needed to change the antibiotic once the second culture came back. I was discharged at 2:15 PM that day. On The Patient Discharge Instructions, on the "Diagnosis" line, they have "drain placement" written in.
Here's what really upset me: on Thursday November 15, 2007, almost two weeks after I was discharged, I went to see the doctor for my scheduled routine follow up visit. She came into the room to ask me how I felt, then left the room. A few minutes later she came back in and said these exact words: "I just went and looked up your culture and do you know that MRSA that has been in the newspapers? That's what it came back as." It's amazing how your life can change in a split second! The doctor presented it to me, obviously trying to minimize the seriousness of it.
My wife and I were both stunned and didn't know what to say. The doctor then said that she was changing my antibiotic to Bactrim and told us that we need to make sure to wash our hands a lot at home.
Here I sit at home now. I still have the drain tube in and it's still draining yellow fluid. In addition, fluid also started to drain out the incision that the doctor reopened in her office.
Now that I had time for all of this to sink in, I am not happy about this at all. I have a wife and sixteen-year-old daughter who; if they don't have MRSA colonized by now, would be a miracle. I also have to stay home from work for an undetermined amount of time.
For over two weeks at home I had no idea that it could be, or was MRSA. That wouldn't have even crossed my mind. During those two weeks, of course, I changed lots of contaminated bandages that were soaked with the yellowish fluid that we found out contained the MRSA infection, touched everything in the house, shared several meals with my family, and had intimate relations with my wife. Had I known that I had HA-MRSA before I was discharged from the hospital, I would have been following stringent sanitary procedures at home. This certainly was not the case. Myself, my wife, and our daughter (though they don't show symptoms yet) may have MRSA for life.
I do like my doctor and the team of surgeons that she is a part of , but I feel that there were major instances of gross negligence that could have and should have been prevented with a modicum of common sense.
The first, and possibly the most damaging, instance of negligence is that fact that they had me share a room with a MRSA infected patient. They were actually draining fluid from him only feet from my bed. I had an open surgical wound. This is almost unbelievable to me.
Hospital protocol should at least state that anyone having, or suspected of having MRSA of any type, be isolated from other patients – especially other patients who have open wounds.
During my follow-up visit with the doctor on Thursday November 15th, after she told my wife and I that I had MRSA, my wife asked the doctor "isn't that what the guy they put in the bed next to Brian's had?" The doctor's reply was "I was upset about that, but it turns out that he didn't have MRSA". Frankly I do not believe that based on the conversation that I heard between that patient and his doctor. I feel that my doctor knew that a major mistake had been made and was trying to minimize the damage. She also told me that any time I need hospitalized in the future, I will be isolated in a room by myself.
Another instance of negligence, was when the resident doctor accidentally cut a hole in my post-surgery drain tube, which they then had to remove as it was irreparable. Had the drain tubes been left in place, the fluid would not have been able to collect and cause the major swelling.
Another major instance was the fact that they lost the first culture that they took from me, and then sent me home without knowing what the infection was, stating that they would call me to let me know if they needed to change my antibiotic after the second culture came back. They never called me!
Another major instance of negligence was the fact that because they actually did send me home without waiting for the second culture results to come back - I sat at home for two weeks on the wrong antibiotic, probably spreading MRSA all over the house. The hospital and/or doctor's office had to have had the results of the second culture for almost two weeks and didn't bother to look at the results until I came in for a routine follow-up two weeks after the culture was taken. They should have called me at home immediately to change my medication, explain the dangers of this infection, as well as explain to me what sanitary precautions to take to help prevent the spread of the infection in our home. A culture only takes around 48 hours to produce final results – not two weeks!
I think that they should have kept me in the hospital until the second culture results came back just in case it was HA-MRSA. They could have then put me on the correct antibiotic intravenously. This was irresponsible.
I am in no way shape or form an "ambulance chaser" and have always hated people who are "sue-happy". I have never done this before. But this is not just an "oops, we overlooked some things" error. THIS IS FOR LIFE. And on top of it all, my innocent wife and daughter stand a good chance of contracting the MRSA infection.
I know this post is long. Thanks anyone taking the time to read it.
Brian
