Stuff

Three outcomes from my January Hip Surgery:

1.  New left hip.
2.  New L4-5 annulus tear.
3.  End of my patient role relationship with anybody wielding a knife.

It now seems unlikely I will be  passing through the doors of a VA facility much ever again.  Maybe the occasional flu shot.  It is quite likely and my solemn intent, the next time a surgeon gets anywhere near me with a scalpel, will be too soon.

Study finds medical malpractice claims most often associated with orthopedic surgery.

They somehow managed to roll in all three top contenders on me:

Probably not the last word on this, but here’s the neurology wrap-up in a feedback survey returned to Front Range Orthopedics, at their request:

^{“Thanks for the update on how low back pain affects millions and there’s not much we can do about it. But I was only there about the L4-5 annulus tear. I understand how orthopedic surgery is the biggest malpractice generator in the business, so no need to cover for your buddies. Regardless, please document with the VA or Tricare, however that interface works, if at all, your specific diagnoses calling for conservative treatment only WRT the annulus tear. I will be following up in the coming weeks to ensure that communication is being properly conducted.”}

Then I find stuff like this.  Guess I’ll be on the quest for a 2nd opinion now…

…said the 20-something blue-jeans-clad office assistant, upon determining they did not have access to my imaging, rendering my appearance at the neurologists office yesterday morning moot.  Thanks for not wasting my money.  I think.  I was a bit surprised, since making a point to specifically ask about that, to which a VA staffer informed me “…sure, but they may want to do their own imaging.”  Apparently, a wasted appointment is needed to make that determination.  I bet they collect alot of copays that way.

What was all that nonsense I’ve been hearing about universal electronic healthcare records sharing?  Oh right – this is 2019 and the sharing part is still sneaker-net.  Oddly, a request for new imaging was denied, even with blanket insurance authorization and credit card in hand.  I’m taking bets on what the next obstacle blocking my quest for treatment will be.  I’m guessing their software will not read the CDROM handed to me by a VA staffer an hour later.  I’ve got to stop thinking it’s not possible to be jerked around any more than I already have been with this hip operation fiasco. 

It took waaaaay more time and effort to push this through the system than I’ve ever encountered before. The final tally was 2 IRIS complaints, 2 helpdesk complaints, 3 calls to the neurology scheduler, 3 calls to the nurses, confrontational appointments with a PA and 2 different orthopedic surgeons, and ultimately, a talk with Tom Martino on his radio talk show. I am dead fucking serious about all that. We could even include a couple of confrontational interactions with PT back in January-February if you want to go back that far. Not even mentioning the written communication. The last 3 paragraphs of a letter to Dr. Park are given below for your reading pleasure. I have no idea what one or combination of those things got this moving again, but here’s the latest entry from my symptoms log:

^{15 AUG 19: Managed to get an appointment with a spine doctor in Longmont next week. Been wondering how much worse PT made this from what they did to me back in Jan-Feb. It’s definitely getting worse, not better now. Rolling knots out of both glutes every night. Entire lower torso, hips and thighs in continuous, chronic strain. Any standing or walking causes increasing tightening in the erectors, glutes and obliques. Getting winded with minor exertion. Radiating ache from right side of L4-5 accompanied with sharp jabs on bending/twisting. Glutes are just about out of commission. Blood pressure still elevated – since January.}

^{The insomnia with this is different than earlier bouts, waking from pain or inability to fall asleep. Falling asleep is no problem. Lying prone is the only time the primary muscle tensing symptoms subside. Even just sitting is a bit uncomfortable. Then, if the dogs bark or I get up to pee at 4am, there’s no going back to sleep, because any meds are worn off and the dull ache from L4-5 I don’t notice much throughout the day becomes emergent.}

I clocked 180 over something the 2nd night in the hospital when they started withholding pain med, as usual. Of course I didn’t realize it at the time, but the burning sensation running up and down my spine had nothing to do with the new hip. That BP is just another clear symptom of the body’s auto-protect for an injury like this. Coming up on 8 months since they broke my back. Wonder if anybody besides Dr. Park has seen this letter sent to him in June, following the 1st formal complaint.

-snip –

Saw Dr. Brinkis, from the (now) 2-person surgical team, including Dr. Sylvestri as the current chief of ECHCS orthopedics and man who fixed my shoulder 3 years ago. Exactly what happened or why was not going to be discussed, except to say that Dr. Park no longer works there – not that he ever really did, as one of the contractors currently doing half the orthopedic surgery at the new hospital here.

As expected, apart from some tests, VA cannot accommodate any further treatment in a timely manner, so I’m being sent off into the civilian medical community to see a spine doctor. This was the last thing I needed, considering spinal issues already constituted the biggest problems in my disability situation. Now there’s a new problem there, and I just hope this new injury isn’t bad enough they need to go in and clean it up.

Still can’t believe I spent the last 6 months telling every VA staffer I encountered from the physical therapist, to the physician assistant to primary care to the surgeon himself, how badly I was doing in vivid detail, and every single one of them sent me away saying or implying there was nothing wrong with me. Perhaps disregarding Dr. Sluder’s April referral offer was unwise, but that was at the time I was still under the delusion of normality being instilled in me with comforting reassurances like “sometimes it just takes longer to get over an operation.” As it turns out, things eventually crystallize with an untreated back injury like this.