I AM SO STEAMING MAD!

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
I AM SO STEAMING MAD!
17
Thu, 10-14-2004 - 2:23pm

This past Saturday, I noticed Matt(my 7 year old) had a swollen eye. He had a football game that morning so I figured some freak thing had happened and he somehow injured it although he said he didn't remember getting hurt.


Later that day was his little brothers b-day party and he semmed fine and was playing and running around. That same night he was laying on the couch and rolled over and said he had a bump by his ear. When I checked him he did indeed have a huge bump so I thought well maybe he HAD been hurt at the football game.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Thu, 10-14-2004 - 10:11pm

You don't need money to sue.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Thu, 10-14-2004 - 11:43pm

Thanks for your words. We do not have medicaid...we have insurance through my husbands company. Really good insurance to! I think someone messed up though and they thought we did. When my mother called to complain someone in the admissions office made a comment that led us to beleive they thought we were on medicaid.


I am not sure we would have a case against them because all of the tests they ran were legitimate. It was the small unessessary treatments that I have a complaint about. They thought we were on medicaid and decided to milk it for all it's worth. I think they had a clue about what he had. Cat scratch fever can only be diagnosed with a blood test which takes 5 days to come back. They kept asking me if we had a cat but I did not catch on because I was so tired. I think they thought they would just keep him in there for 5 days until the test came back positive then say...well, we know for sure what he has! You can go home, he will be fine. They were going to let my dh and I sit there worrying all over their greed!


I am still so angry so they better hope I don't run into any of them in the grocery store...lol.

boo4.gif





Trick or Treat

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-20-2004
Fri, 10-15-2004 - 9:34am
I am so sorry you had to go through that scary process! What a relief it must be to finally have some good care. I am confused though, administration said that you were under "family practice" so only certain docs could see him. How does that mean they thought you had medicaid? Maybe that's what it is called where you live. Where I work, if the patient does not have a doc that can practice there or does not have a doc at all, the patient gets the doc on call for those situations and then anyone in his group can see the patient during rounds during the patient's hospitalization. Do you think that's what the administration meant when they said he is under "family practice?"
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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Fri, 10-15-2004 - 10:50am

Thank you for your kind words.


What happened was, while Matthew was having the leg cramps I kept asking and asking for a doctor. The nurse left the room twice to call for the doctor and after 10 minutes I had, had enough. So I called in the big guns..lol. My mom can be relentless so I called her and she could hear Matthew screaming in pain so she called admissions and said they were ignoring us and that her grandson was in pain and screaming and they had been calling the doctor for 15 minutes. They lady over the phone said "Well who is his doctor?" My mother told her she did not know because since he had been admitted no doctor had seen him. The lady on the phone said "Well, they are under the care of family practice." My mom said "What does that mean." And the lady said "Well since they are on medicaid then they have to see the family practice doctor." That is when my mom told them no we have insurance...and maybe by coincidence but then suddenly the doctor showed up a few minutes later.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-20-2004
Fri, 10-15-2004 - 11:15am
I think either the lady in admissions was completely wrong/confused or that hospital is practicing discrimination, not medicine!! No one should be treated like that, regardless of what kind of insurance they have. I have NEVER heard of only certain docs assigned because of insurance reasons. The nurses should have addressed his pain right away, we call pain the "fifth vital sign". Also, you should demand to see the hospital's policy on sedation and make certain that they followed their own guidelines. We have a very strict policy that if anyone receives sedation, they must be closely monitored until they have returned to their normal state of consciousness. Every hospital differs, but we monitor patients with constant vitals and the nurse cannot leave to patients side until they are awake and talking, walking, drinking sips of fluid, etc. I would seriously check into that. It sounds like they were not watching him very close. If you find that you have a valid complaint, check with your state board of health to see what steps you can take. Sueing may not be the answer, but a formal complaint should get something started as far as making the health care providers responsible for their actions. Also, it sounds like there was a medication error if he got a treatment without an order. I would check and make sure a report was written up for that...that is a serious deal! Good luck and keep us updated!!
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 10-15-2004 - 11:35am
oh that is just terrible, I am so sorry that your son and you had to go through all that. Good for you for leaving that place. I know my last dd was in the hospital for 5 days and I had several problems with lack of care, I never left her side.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Fri, 10-15-2004 - 12:06pm

Thank you,


My mom said everything you just said! I still cannot believe all that happened to him there. You know the first time I called and said he was having some cramping...well they just ignored it or forgot! He did not complain again until 30 minutes later so I called again and said listen he is having a really tough time managing this pain...

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