The right thing to do when a person feels unwell is to get to the hospital and the rightful thing for a doctor to do is to perform routine activities that will help find a diagnosis after which a treatment, cure or management procedure will be done on the patient. In the case of a surgery, the patient will be informed of the reason for the surgery, the type of surgery, the risk of the surgery, how long the surgery will take, when the surgery will be done, and the consent of the patient or anyone that can stand in for the patient.
This was the case of Donald Church who was diagnosed with abdominal cancer in the year 2000, and the doctors decided to do a surgery which he was promptly notified of. The surgery according to the doctor's diagnosis was a necessary one in other to save his life but he never expected was he experienced next.
Told that he had a malignant tumor in his abdomen, he was required to undergo a surgery on the 6th of June of the same year. The surgery was to remove the tumor, part of his intestine, and his appendix. I cannot imagine the pain in his face to know that he had cancer but more painfully is the fact that he would have to let go of two organs in the body with one being vestigial and the other a part of his colon.
The surgery was a success, the doctors sewed him up, and he was allowed to stay in the hospital for about a week when he was better and he was discharged to go home. But 20 minutes home from the hospital, he began to experience serious pain in his chest and abdominal region. After a surgery, he expected that something like this would happen and the surgeons assured him that it was normal and everything would be fine.
As days went by, the pain became severe that he couldn't bend, stand straight, use the toilet, or even walk. All this was just as a result of the pain he was feeling. There were days when he would just go to the bathroom and lay flat on the ground crying as the pain was serious. He expected post-operational pain but he expected that the pain would reduced as the wound heal up but his was completely different. He resumed work when the wound healed since the surgeon assured him but at work, he was unable to do anything tedious or carry any heavy substance as he would be in severe pain so most time he couldn't do anything.
30 days after his operation, he had post operation check ups and he was really glad that he could go to the hospital to see his doctors so he can complain about what he has been going through and possibly have an answer for what he had been going through. After explaining to the doctors, they went on to tell him that all he is experiencing is just normal and is expected after a major surgery. As weeks went by and the pain became worse, he family members advised that he go see another physician who was the family physician.
After 2 month of excruciating pain, he went on to see his doctor who did regular checks on him after his complain but noticed a lump in the chest and abdominal region of his patient. He decided to request for a CAT scan as this would help him to identify what was wrong. Upon viewing his CAT scan result, he saw a metal rod running down his chest and it was at this point that Donald knew that the surgeons left a 13-inch metal retractor rod in his chest and abdominal region. This meant that when the surgeons were removing his tumor, they left the rod in his chest and abdomen.
he had to go back for another surgery to remove the metal in his body and this time he had to travel to the Swedish Medical Center Providence to get this done. He had the surgery done and the metal was removed without any complications. The hospital took responsibility for the mistake and paid Donald 97 thousand USD in settlement. While Donald was lucky, a lot of people haven't been lucky with similar cases and some have suffered permanent damage or even led to death. Caution is important when dealing with patients and we also need to be quick to report to the doctor when we notice something strange as well as seek a second opinion if needed.
Post Reference
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20011204/malpractice04m0/uw-settles-suit-over-tool-left-in-patient
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1693970.stm
https://www.reliasmedia.com/articles/115882-found-13-inch-retractor-was-left-inside-a-patient
https://www.dwbrlaw.com/blog/2024/03/when-surgeons-forget-items-during-an-operation-patients-suffer/
https://psnet.ahrq.gov/web-mm/did-we-forget-something
https://www.citizen.org/news/objects-left-in-the-body-after-surgery/
Image Reference
Image 1 || freemalaysiatoday || Combine best of both worlds to train cardiothoracic surgeons
Image 2 || Wikimedia || Innie Belly Button