Medical Mistakes

In my last post I negated to explain that because of Brandon’s critical condition they weren’t able to do any of the surgeries necessary to fix the lacerated liver, his jaw or his hand, they had to wait until he was stable. None of us knew when that would be, and I know it may sound stupid but I was so worried about the other injuries being fixed. The doctors waited 10 days to take him to surgery for the jaw, liver, tracheotomy, and J-tube. He ended up developing abscesses in his teeth because when the trauma team was working on him they neglected to call in an oral surgeon to evaluate inside his mouth. Since his lower jaw/mandible was fractured so severely one would think that his teeth would have been broken/fractured as well. Now don’t get me wrong I understand that they were concerned with getting his airway clear and on life support but their jobs are to evaluate the entire body and treat each patient like they will live or at least they should! The trauma doctors evaluate the patient and then they call in the specialists in each field to stabilize. So why wasn’t an oral surgeon called in? Doctors are human they aren’t Gods and they make mistakes, the problem is this is why there is so much malpractice and negligence. Had the doctors done what they were supposed to do, Brandon wouldn’t have had to go through all the infections, misdiagnosis, and extra surgeries that he went through. There were 3 months of suffering and procedures that were done that didn’t need to be done had he been properly diagnosed.  

After the surgeons repaired his liver and jaw and put in the tracheotomy and J-tube they had to wait until he was stable again before they could operate on his left hand and wrist.  We waited another week before they did the first surgery on his hand, by the time they operated the bones were already starting to heal so again it was very complicated and took multiple surgeries to fix the hand, which by the way has been permanently impaired. Brandon was finally weaned off the ventilator after 3 weeks, however complications arose once again and they ended up having to put a shunt in his right ventricle because he had hydrocephalus.  I had been complaining to the neuro surgeon that his cognition and his ability to follow commands had decreased, the doctors just kept saying it’s because the brain injury is so severe. This is why it is so important to be an advocate and never be afraid to tell the doctors what you think. I demanded more tests more CT scans MRI’s whatever it took. Like I said in my earlier paragraph doctors aren’t Gods and they aren’t there 24/7 like I was, which is why they don’t see the ups and downs.

I fought to keep Brandon in the hospital however he was discharged way before he should have been. We ended up back in the emergency room 3 times before they finally admitted him again; this is when the nightmare started again.

I will continue with the story in my next post. I want to sum up how important it is to be by your loved ones side or at least have someone there that knows him or her well. When someone is in as critical state as Brandon it is so important to watch for signs of responsiveness because you know what to look for. The nurses don’t know your loved one like you do. Fight for your loved one; don’t be afraid to speak up because it could make the difference of how they come out of this or if they do!