Some of you may remember that I had a muscle biopsy 3 wks ago (no results yet.) Pre-operatively, I had filled out the form about what drugs I could NOT take. Compazine and Reglan were 2 of those drugs.
Got my medical records today from the hospital and GUESS WHAT????
Yep, they gave me Reglan b4 surgery.....I knew it immediately cause it makes me extremely nervous and restless. After it was given, I sat up on the gurney. The nurse anesthetist asked me how I was feeling & of course, I told him "worse." Then, he gave me the Versed and I was ok.
I KNEW HE GAVE ME THE WRONG MED!!! That horrific feeling of jumping out of my skin is unmistakeable!! No harm done, I'm ok. But mistakes DO happen ...even if the info is on the bracelet. I had asked for the versed, and I think he got mixed up and gave me the wrong drug. They gave me zofran for nausea anyway.....don't know why he gave reglan in the first place.
Another shocker: Cost for this 30 min. procedure: $16,678.95. Thank God for insurance. Tinker
From now on, I'm going to discuss meds with each person giving me meds.
Holy cow. that is exspensive.
Sucks they gave ya the wrong med. Evil. I'm glad they gave you the right med after anyways.
Good Grief!
Tink, you make a real good point. We should be talking/asking questions of ANYONE who comes near us with medicine in their hands.
I can only imagine what that anesthesiologist charges per hour...good thing his "expert" services didn't kill you.
Yikes, that is expensive!!!
I have leaned to to ask questions when people are coming at me with meds or things for what ever procedure I am having done. I have woken up during surgery, had a nurse blow out the vein in my arm because she shoved glucose through my I.V. as fast as she could ; my whole arm was black and blue. Have been given antibiotics I am allergic to. I think that is why it is called practicing medicine, they keep practicing till they get it right.
Glad to hear you were able to get something to make you feel more relaxed.
Collie
It is always wise to check your meds especially if you have allergies or sensitivites. Even thought many drug checks are made in the process of dispensing them, mistakes do happen.
Pud
I don't know how I could have avoided this situation. I asked for the Versed, he said ok, and came back with Reglan. I guess I'll have to ask a second time time.
My husband wants me to make a formal complaint with the hospital. Thank goodness I only had side effects and not a real anaphylactic reaction. I dunno.....I'm not much for confrontation. Too sick, too old, too tired.
I agree with your husband, any med error is dangerous, you are not creating a confertation, you are reporting an error that could have had a horrible outcome. The next time the end result might not be so good, if this error is not reported.
Collie
Hi :)
The last time I had surgery I had to be on the ball with meds too. It wasn' the ones on the day of the op - it was my usual ones in the following days. I had to tell them that antacids are not to be taken within 4 hrs of Plaquenil and they were giving some of the pain killers too close together because it suited their ward rounds best.
Too many people go into hospital and happily assumes everyone knows what they're doing. WRONG!
Totally agree it's important to question everything!
Take care - Scottie. :)
Scottietottie,
A few yrs back I had emergency surgery. It's a good thing I took all my regular meds with me cause they never got it right. I asked for the meds, but when they didn't come, I just took my own. I never got any pain meds ...they were ordered but the pharmacy never sent them up. The surgeon forgot I was in the hospital and the infectious disease dr. had to discharge me. The nurses were really nice and came immediately when summoned but the problems didn't seem to rest with them. Scary , isn't it?
My sister is allergic to penicillin and always wears a Medic Alert bracelet. This might help, but then again if no one bothered to look at it................Lucy
Tinker, That charge is ridiculous! I had a muscle biopsy under anesthesia--which is the only way they can do it. A person needs to be very relaxed muscle wise when they have this done. I had mine done in 2004 and I think it was around 4-5,000 dollars.
Are you on medicare? They always bill the patients an exorbitant amount in order to get paid the "adjusted rate" or whatever they call it. I am old enough that I was working as a RN when the darn medicare came out and it has been nothing but a red flag that makes people overbill and rake up the money from the government.
I don't mind people making enough to pay the bills and make a profit, but it is ridiculous the way the country has declined in their moral money values.
Also, if you don't have the energy to deal with the med error try calling and talking with a patient advocate. I can understand your not wanting to deal with this, but it does help to report these things. The nurse that made the error will be spoken to and a copy of the complaint and med error will be put in their file. People do make mistakes, but there are also times that the containers are so close in design, color, size, etc that a mistake can be made. Sometimes just moving a drug to a different part of the storage shelf can make a world of difference. The hospital needs the input to help them make things safer. I am a nurse and I have complained about a lot of things. There are also times when I just report things to the charge nurse or nurse manager and let them know what happened and decline filling out a formal complaint. With a med error like that I think I would choose to fill out the report. Just do what you feel comfortable with.
Hope you are recovering nicely. Irish ;D
Have your husband file the complaint,, and what they charged is insane,, when i was getting IVIG it was something like 24,000 each time,, got a bill for that,, freaked out and called insurance company,, oh were sorry,,, you had pre authorization for that,, talk about lossing your mind..
And its been three weeks since the procedure and no word,, ,, they have the results,, you need to call them,, I dont tink they sent the sample to Tibet .sorry for all the typos,, just got up,, mucos is so thick i cant clear it,, and its affecting my thought process a little, dam disease
Tinker, I hope you are feeling better today.
Just wanted to let you know I had this happen to me when I had my ankle fused. I made very sure that doctor's and nurses knew that I was highly allergic to any type of narcotic pain medication.
When I woke up in my room my face and neck looked like mottled, raw hamburger. The anesth. came in to check on me and the first thing out of his mouth was "My God, she wasn't kidding". Didn't take him long to get me off of the morphine drip and on something non-narcotic. But not until after I started heaving. If I could have reached him, I would have knocked him upside his head.
Take care and keep a record of this mishap and the name of that doctor who gave you the wrong pre-op. Make sure you repeat it if you ever need surgery again.
Pooh
Tinker, It takes a really long time for the results of a muscle biopsy to come back. It is complicated to do I guess. Irish ;D
Hi Guys,
The results were due Thursday. I started calling Wed. Called the surgeon, did not return my call. Called him again Thurs., and said they had the report, but the doc wanted the ordering physician to talk to me about it even though he said he would tell me the results.
They agreed to fax the report to the neuro, and mail the colored pictured reports. So, I called the neuro on Fri to see if they'd gotten the fax and of course, they said they had not rec'd it.
Oh, &*(*(*&&^^%%%^, I'll just have to wait til the middle of next Christmas, so I give up. :)
Tinker,
I am really frustrated just reading about it!
GGGrrrrrrr! Sometimes I wish I could walk in with an electric tazer and give the office folks and the doc.'s a little zap when needed....just to keep the flow of information moving.
I've been waiting on pins and needles for the results of a bone scan I had on Wednesday. It was apparent the technician knew the results and (of course) wouldn't tell me. Who knows when they will get around to sending the report over to the rheumy and then how long it will take him to look at it and then dictate a letter to me or call me....sigh...