I had a gastric bypass 20 months ago, and a repair 10 months ago. I’ve gone from 411 lbs to 170 and now I am 6 months pregnant. I’ve lost 40+lbs since the start of this pregnancy. I get dehydrated easily, cannot eat by mouth much, and have regular IV therapy as a result, to protect the baby.
Yesterday I went in for the IV therapy, in which they usually give me at least glucose saline, two bags to help me with hydration since I can keep so little down. My doctor sent me in, and it should have been an in and out kinda thing. But this particular female resident (I can’t say the name I have for her in polite company!) refused to believe me and gave me a big hard time, actually had the NERVE to put a dinner tray in front of me after I TOLD her I cannot eat by mouth without severe pain!! Well I got so upset that she was refusing me the IV and claiming I wasn’t dehydrated (later my own doctor came to my rescue after I called him crying and confirmed that indeed keytones were found in my very concentrated urine and that yes, I was QUITE dehydrated!) she fought with me for a full 4 hours before I could finally get 3 bags of IV fluids and leave!
Situations like those are unbelievably frustrating. Patient relations came to see me and told me that she had accused me of throwing food at her???? I did NOT do any such thing! After nobody was in the room, and in a moment of extreme upset, I swept the tray onto the floor. But now I feel like I shoudl have thrown a brick at this woman.
I generally don’t have all that much trouble with the attending physicians, but for some reason the residents almost invariably give me nothing but trouble. Any suggestions on dealing with things of this nature? I just don’t know why they do it!
My doc assured me that next time they would give me the IV, and get me right back out the door without such trouble. But I’m still traumatized!
If this happens again, tell whomever is giving you a problem you want to see the orders that your doctor has written and then you want to know WHY they are questioning those orders. The other thing is – can your doctor arrange for you to have this done at home, by a home care agency, to avoid this scenario? It sounds to me like there is a big, big problem with the residents’ attitude toward people who have had gastric bypass and then get pregnant. Sort of "Well, she did this to herself, so too bad for her." There may be a HUGE knowledge deficeit on the part of the residents. There are plenty of pregnant women who can’t eat and drink enough during pregnancy for various reasons, none of whom have had gastric bypass, so they should not treat you any different than them, and respect you. You should also ask to talk with the charge nurse and let her sort things out.
I would keep a note with me at all times signed by the doctor to show anyone giving you a hard time.
Or ask the doctor to give you the name of one person that will assist you when you go in.
You really need to say something to the hospital administration. There’s no excuse for that behavior and that is really not good, especially since it’s concerning your health. There’s no need to toss the tray on the floor, even though I know you’re upset, but that’s uncalled for. If I were in that situation, I’d probably have requested the head nurse or anyone else if I could, and failing that, a letter of very detialed OBJECTIVE complaint along with a written concern for the behavior of the nurses to their patients.
I would also put down the name of the nurse who failed to get you what you needed and calmly, factually explain exactly what went on (think like you’re writing a witness statement, very factual, no emotion or you wont’ get taken seriously). Keep a copy for yourself and send one to the hospital administration and the doctor you normally visit.
Suggest that the person who is doubting you Simply FOLLOW YOUR DOCTORS ORDERS…
No need to let it upset your or even Bother you…
just Say "please check with my doctor, Hi name is "….." and Here is his number."
OR…
"Please Go Check Your Records, My name is "…..", I’ll wait Here, thank you."
So the attending physicians given all of the information you posted here think your current treatment plan is acceptable. But this Resident seems to have a different point of view. I’d be very concerned about the divergent thinking here. Maybe she knows something they don’t? Maybe she thinks their treatment plan is wrong?
It depends, the doctors orders may not be clearly enough written from the get go, he may not even be relaying his orders to his residents in an appropriate manner. Charts could be switched… tons of things that should not go wrong in a hospital go wrong. If you want to be polite about it, remember that residents are just learning. If not there are tons of things you COULD do, but probably shouldn’t. A lot of times, your best bet is to actually call for a nurse to help you. Often times the nurses actually have a lot more experience in the field than the residents do. And the nurses know who is the best bet of helping you out when they can’t, whereas the resident is struggling to be independant, and sometimes just doesn’t want to call out for help, as they are supposed to be proving that they can handle situations on their own.
REPORT THE woman. (your making a paper trail) and keep any letters or notes on what happend.
in the future when something like this happens… ask for a supervisor or other person in charge…
(DO IT RIGHT AWAY … don’t wait HOURS and become upset)
If your Dr Assured you then he probably took care of it with them.