Taiga - I remember you telling us about this. I am so sorry to hear about your cousin. I share your anger and frustration. This happened to my mother. She was chronically ill and they kept telling her it was all in her head. When my family forced the issue, the doctors finally did exploratory surgery. They took one look and closed her up. There was nothing they could do. She had terminal cancer and died a few months later at age 45. Granted, this was in 1972 but you would think we've made enough advances in medicine since then to prevent this sort of thing from happening. It's heartbreaking to hear stories like this. And it's hard to know where in the chain of command to point the finger. Is it the doctors? Is it someone misfiling test results? Did someone not do the proper follow up? Anyway you look at it, its horrible and the result is that someone lost their life and it might have been preventable. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Are we related, fiddy? The exact same thing happened to another relative of mine! That was 1978, though. How terrible, did your family pursue action against the doctor?

G-d, I hate that we have this experience in common, Taiga. I wouldn't wish this sort of thing on anyone. No, no lawsuits. I was a kid, so I'm not sure if it that option was discussed. I only know the outcome.

It's horrible when the doctors think nothing is wrong and they're mistaken (as in Fiddy's mom's case). That's human error and it's tragic. But to me the fact that they found the nodes and just didn't bother to tell Taiga's aunt or to do anything about them isn't just tragic, it's enraging. That was pure negligence on the part of her doctors. (And the only reason why I wish her family would sue would be to keep other innocent people from being exposed to those quacks.)

That happened to a cousin of mine in the 90s. The HMO lab repeatedly screwed up the test for cervical cancer for over a year. When she was finally diagnosed, there was nothing they could do for her, except to deny her coverage to buy a wig because of the intense chemo she was on. Before she died she argued in front of Congress for better health care or fewer powers for HMOs, she even met Hillary Clinton. In that case, the doctor acknowledged something was wrong, tested for it, but the mix up was at the lab where under-paid over-worked techs were running everything.

Exactly, Poeia. A "Whoops! My bad." Isn't going to do it in this case. And believe me, I'm not a litigious person by nature, but sometimes, you have to demand that someone be held accountable. It's not going to bring Taiga's aunt back, but perhaps it will make those involved a bit more careful. I just want to reiterate that I'm not saying "doctors = bad" just that this kind of ball dropping risks/loses lives and people have to be extremely diligent. Geege - that is horrible. :-( It's the double edged sword, isn't it? Here, someone could die for lack of health care. There (and other places that have national health care), it could be waiting lists. It's sad to realize that this experience isn't uncommon and that the problem is in so many countries. I almost hesitate to mention the fact that I lost my father to a post-surgical staph infection in the hospital (again, this was over 40 years ago) Y'all are going to think I'm a complete hater on the medical profession, I'm not. In that case, the doctor acknowledged something was wrong, tested for it, but the mix up was at the lab where under-paid over-worked techs were running everything. See? That's what I mean about chain of command. I've had argument after argument with people with people in doctor's offices across NYC for losing track of things, confusing the dates, not sorting out insurance issues, etc. I check, double check and check again (probably driving everyone nuts). There are too many places where things can be lost. And frankly, I'm not sure some of the people staffing the offices are very qualified. Yes, the techs and whatnot, but some of the people working at the front desk, etc. I've been given incorrect information on more than one occasion. Ooh, here's a doozy (and one that should never have happened): I had surgery this summer (Warning: you are now entering the TMI Zone!) to remove a complex cyst from my left ovary. Day of surgery arrives, we go through the whole drill of me being repeatedly being asked what I'm having done that day and then we go into the OR. I awake to find my furious doctor at my bedside. Apparently, the diagnostic radiology report was wrong. I didn't have a complex cyst on my left ovary, I had *two cysts on my right ovary* They found this out when I was on the table. Nice. Granted, the cysts were close enough together to possibly be mistaken for a complex one, but since it was an ultrasound, how the hell do you make that mistake? Medical folks, help me out, it's not like you could have flipped the films or anything, right? So who screwed up? The tech? The doctor writing the report? I'm glad it was something that was easily accessible that they could quickly get at. What would have happened if they had opened the wrong leg or something? They would have to close me up and start from square one again. Reminds me of Chase xraying the wrong leg because his mind was...elsewhere. My doctor was so angry. Me, I was on drugs at the time, so I was like "Oy. I'll be furious later. Yummy drugs. Nice." or something to that effect. ;-)

The nature of health care really is that you will lose someone sometime, and it's horrible when it happens. People like Silja probably have better examples, but even as a nursing assistant, you fight hard to keep those people alive - you do everything in your power possible, and when it won't work, you're angry because you lost the fight. As for that mistake Fiddy, I don't know where to begin. It's possible there was a problem on the ultrasound, the film could have been flipped (look at Chase when he echoed the same leg twice), the radiologist reading it could have dictated the wrong side, the surgeon could have flipped it when reading the report, the surgeon could have dictated the wrong side, the nurse could have flipped something at some point, anything really. At least you had a good outlook on it while on drugs. Mistakes happen, and the problem with medicine is that when they do happen, it often costs a life. Everyone in the health care industry is told this on day one. You either accept this and work your butt off to keep from making mistakes or you go into a different field. I'm not trying to be pro-healthcare, because we've all seen what happens when a mistake is made. I'm just more or less reiterating the words that are repeated to health care workers on a regular basis: Don't Screw Up.

In my case, there were 3 weeks between the ultrasound and the surgery. There was a written report from the radiologist that my doctor/surgeon was going on. I read it too. It's pretty obvious that the mistake was made on the radiology end, just not sure *who* made it. I completely understand how difficult the medical profession is, absolutely. What scares me is the people who might not be as dedicated to their field or concerned with patient welfare. That can sometimes be the people who transcribe, file or what have you. My former doctor had a legendarily hostile assistant who was constantly losing and misplacing people's records, test results, not forwarding reports to other doctors, etc. We often mused that she must be a relative to get away with being so slack in her duties. When I finally changed doctors, it took me 4 months to get copies of my medical records forwarded to my new doctor. I finally had to make a call to the state department of health before I got any action. That's the kinda people who make me nervous.

I think the difference is between someone trying their best but they're human and made a mistake and someone who just can't be bothered to get it right. In my family's horror story, the cardiologist said post operatively that my nephew could resume his regular activities but that they'd have to monitor his new heart murmur. My sister and b-i-l asked if he realized that regular activites meant skateboarding, roller blading, etc. He said yes. Turns out that you monitor chronic murmurs. You operate on acute ones. And we still could have accepted it as human error (even though he was the head of pediatric cardiology at a major teaching hospital in NYC) except that he wrote a letter to my nephew's regular cardiologist in Philadelphia saying that he had told them to severely curtail his activities. Could my sister and b-i-l have mis-remembered? Possibly, although my sister takes detailed notes and I'll match my b-i-l's memory against anyone's. But Dr. Charming backdated the letter and miscalculated -- it was still dated about 2 weeks after my nephew's death. Eight years later and I still fantasize about meeting this doctor somehow and spitting on him.

My medical horror story starts with a bug bite of some kind on my calf. It itched like crazy so I scratched and it got infected. I knew it wasn't getting better so I went to my doctor's same day clinic where I was seen by some new young guy. He looked at the dime sized sore and said, "don't worry. It's nothing, just keep it clean and you'll be fine" A week later, the sore had grown to the size of my calf, and I got back into see my doctor who had a massive rage attack when she found out I had been seen a week before. Long story made a little shorter, I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and was in ICU with cellulitis (which really doesn't sound too bad, except aesthetically, but I guess is) and hooked up to antibiotics. One good thing: When my doctor found out I had been sent home by one of her doctors, she left the examining room and I could hear her through the closed door tell the nurse to call Dr. XXX and tell him to get his ass in her office in 15 minutes. I was waiting for the ambulance when I saw him come in another door and saw the beginning of his ass being kicked. It wasn't pretty.

You were lucky Houserocket. She caught it in time. I'll assume it was a staph infection then? Nasty. And, I have to say that I've had problems with male doctors, many problems. But, I've never had a problem with female practitioners - nurse, physician, or specialist. Why is that? And everyone I've talked to is the same. Only had the problems with the men. ETA - And if I may change the subject for a moment: I really, really hate E. coli O157:H7. Oh!!!! I'll give you a new pair for what you've been through. Consider it a reward for hard work. Could my sister and b-i-l have mis-remembered? Possibly, although my sister takes detailed notes and I'll match my b-i-l's memory against anyone's. But Dr. Charming backdated the letter and miscalculated -- it was still dated about 2 weeks after my nephew's death. I'm sorry. There was a doctor in an area group that didn't dictate office notes for over a year, even stat notes. No one is really sure what happened, but we know he was in trouble for not dictating the notes. At the end, he made up a year's worth, and you know that he couldn't have remembered all of those details. And, as his notes were what built the computer database, there was nothing he could refer back to either. And another common thing the doctors do is not tell a patient when to return - but they put it in their dictations. Poeia, is it too late to sue on a malpractice suit? Because that would definitely be a case that would warrant it.

And, I have to say that I've had problems with male doctors, many problems. But, I've never had a problem with female practitioners - nurse, physician, or specialist. Sadly, not me. I've had great doctors of both genders (and bad of both gender too), but my last two female doctors (gyn & GP) gave me major agita. I suffered with a couple of conditions that they kept pooh-poohing and saying were normal because I'm getting older. It was a male gyn (my current one) who paid attention, took me seriously and diagnosed the problem and gave me the first real relief I've had in over 4 years. My GP is now a man as well and I've had a great experience with him too. It comes down to the rapport you have with your doctor, I guess. ETA: I had a brilliant female surgeon 4 years ago and she was a g-dsend. I still do my annual follow ups through her office which is primarily staffed with women doctors/technicians and the experience has been fantastic. But that's a once a year, specific thing. My GP & Gyn I see on a more regular basis.