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JJ’s Back at MomsCashBlog

Posted Saturday, July 25, 2009 by | 31 Comments so far

OK, I am back! I’ve had a lot of medical and legal things to deal with because of my hospital stay and I needed a little vacation. The good thing is that MCB makes money even when I’m not here and I actually made very good money while in a coma — but it’s not a good way to monetize a blog so I don’t recommend anyone try this at home! lol Now the first thing I want to do is thank everyone who wrote to me and let you know how I’m doing. Your prayers and good wishes were a big help to me. So, from the bottom of my heart, Thank You!

If you’ve read my last post, you know that I went into the hospital with kidney stones and ended up in an induced coma. What I didn’t say is that I was kicked out of the hospital after leaving the Critical Care Unit. When I say “kicked out”, I mean kicked out! I was told there was nothing wrong with me. I was in pain, very confused. I was being treated for pneumonia and could hardly talk after being intubated on a ventilator, but I managed to call my sister and tell her that a doctor/hospitalist told me I “wasn’t in a hotel and it was time for me to go!”

My sister called the Hospital Patient Advocate from the legal department and made arrangements to meet him in my room. A Patient Advocate is supposed to intervene in situations like this and legally should be on the side of the patient… but he clearly was there to represent the hospital/doctor and not me! At the same time, one of the nurses laid her job on the line and put a complaint in to the Legal Department about the doctor who was discharging me. So the Patient Advocate had 2 formal complaints, one from a nurse and one from my sister, but none of this mattered. He told us that if the doctor (hospitalist) said I was able to go home then I must go home. My sister said “I was told she had pneumonia and she clearly isn’t well, so I refuse to take her home!” He said “then we can have a van drop her off at her house.” She said “do you realize that just the other day she was in a coma?” He said, “yes, I’m aware of that, but she is fine now”. Sister: “then I will bring her right back down to the Emergency Room!”. Patient Advocate: “If you come to the ER we can refuse her.” They argued back and forth and his last words were “Sorry, but she has to leave.” So, I was given a dose of morphine for the pain and some discharge papers that said I had a “small bowel obstruction” (with no mention of kidney stones or anything else that happened) and sent home on one of the coldest nights of the year.

The second day at home the pain in my side and my chest kept getting worse so we called another hospital in a different city and they said if I was recently discharged from “Hospital X” then you are the responsibility of “Hospital X”. When my sister told them that we were told not to come back to Hospital X, these fine folks REALLY didn’t want me! (They must have assumed I was a menace to society if no one wanted me as a patient! lol) The whole thing was one big nightmare and I have never felt so confused and helpless as I did that night. When you are kicked out of a hospital and told nothing is wrong with you.. you begin to question your sanity!

On my 3rd day home, I felt I was dying and I could not take the pain. We went by ambulance back to Hospital X and my sister demanded they admit me. Luckily the doctor/hospitalist who discharged me was off duty so she could not make good on her promise to “kick me out” again. The attending ER doctor said something was definitely wrong and that I SHOULD be in a hospital but the hospital was full… so he sent me on another ambulance ride to a hospital an hour North. This hospital admitted me immediately. The doctor did some tests and asked why I didn’t come in sooner. I told him that I had been in Hospital X with kidney stones, was put into an induced coma, and was kicked out and told that all I had was a “small bowel obstruction”. He shook his head and told me that I had lost a lot of blood, was in severe kidney failure, had lung problems from being on a ventilator, also I was malnourished… and to top it all off, I still had kidney stones! So, for the second time in one month, I almost lost my life.

I had 3 days of blood transfusions and spent 10 more days in this second hospital where I passed a few more stones. I was in a constant state of panic, worried I would end up in a coma again, and/or be kicked out. The head of this hospital assured me he would never let that happen. He took all the right tests and did what he could to get my kidneys working. Before I left, he told me that kidney failure has 4 stages and mine was bad… the same as Stage 4 Cancer. But the good news was that my kidneys were now working… a little. They made arrangements for me to have Home Health Care and to see a specialist after my hospital stay and go from there. My last visit to the specialist showed that my kidneys were functioning at only 20%. I go back in a couple of weeks for another test and I am finally feeling somewhat normal and they say it could heal with time — however, because of all that happened, my kidney function will never be completely normal.

None of us could understand how a doctor could be so negligent or incompetent as to discharge me while I was in a near death situation. We also wondered how she (the hospitalist) could be so foolish as to discharge me with a diagnosis of “small bowel obstruction”. It was as if she didn’t even have a clue as to why I was there in the first place! But the nagging question was: Why would the legal department go along with it? We wondered if it was for insurance purposes, or because the hospital was full. But after talking to a family attorney, I learned that this could be a “dirty trick” sometimes used to cover up for an earlier incident of “incompetence and/or negligence”. Their reasoning is that if you are at home when you die… or in a different hospital, then it’s difficult to prove who’s fault it is. He said “the protocol is that the Patient Advocate would allow you to stay one more day and have a different doctor check you out before discharging you. They had a reason for wanting you out of the hospital — I’d check into the coma incident.”

It took a few months of investigating to get the real story of how I landed in a coma. Hospital X was not forthcoming with this information and wouldn’t release anything to the doctor at the second hospital even after he put in 3 requests. When my personal physician learned of what happened, he sent a formal request asking why I was intubated on a ventilator and got the same run around. My sister had taken meticulous notes of everything my family was told about the coma during my stay at Hospital X and there was a big difference between what the hospitalists said and what the Critical Care doctors said. (I was in the care of the hospitalists when I went into respiratory arrest, so they had reason to hide things. The Critical Care doctors saved my life after the incident, so they had no reason to hide anything.) At one point a hospitalist said I had a “weak heart” and that’s why I landed in a coma, but later the Critical Care doctors told her that I had a very strong heart and, in fact, that is probably what saved my life. The hospitalists told my sister that I “asked for too much pain medicine”. But when my sister asked the Critical Care doctors about the pain medicine they told her “No, No, that’s not what happened at all. She had kidney blockage from the stones and the fluid when into her lungs — now we have two critical issues — her kidneys and her lungs.”

Long story short, we got most of the records and this is what we found: There are three common procedures for kidney stones. The first is to use Calcium Channel Blockers (which come in pill form), the second is to use Shock Waves, and the third is to perform surgery and take the stones out. Instead, they decided to give me IVs of Potassium Chloride and flush the stones out. If this procedure is done, the patient should be monitored very closely as to how much fluid goes in and how much comes out, and they should be taking images to see if the stones are moving. They did none of this. The stones had all come together and blocked the tubes so the fluid being pumped into me through IVs for four days flooded my kidneys and with no place to go, it all went into my lungs which caused respiratory arrest and pulmonary edema. This is a very bad situation for a patient to be in because once the lungs get full the fluid can travel to the heart and then the brain and cause severe brain damage… or death.

Out of everything that happened, I was mostly upset that a doctor and a lawyer would kick me out of a hospital while I was in such a critical condition, and at a time when I was confused, too sick, and too tired to fight with them about it. But as time went by, the more I thought about it, I realize that “incident” saved my life. If I had not been kicked out of the first hospital, I’m sure there would have been a third act of incompetence and my chances of making it out of there alive would have been slim! After all, if they diagnosed me with small bowel obstruction, they never would have tested me for kidney failure. As my attorney pointed out, the alternative would be that they knew I was in kidney failure and they expected me to die… so they wanted me out of THEIR hospital when it happened. Either way, I’m glad they did not get a third chance to screw up.

I am taking legal action and plan to go before the Ethics Committee with charges against the doctor/hospitalist who misdiagnosed my condition and kicked me out, the doctor/hospitalist who caused me to go into Respiratory Arrest and the Patient Advocate who was involved in my discharge. There are times when we have to let doctors or hospitals know that they are not demigods and that they have to be held accountable for their actions. If this only goes as far as sitting across a table in front of the Ethics Committee with the hospitalist and the others involved and letting them know how they made me feel and how close I came to dying then that will be enough closure for me, but I will take it further if need be. I want the ones involved to be held accountable for their actions because I would never want ANYONE to go through what I experienced over a simple case of kidney stones!

I will be back to the blog as much as possible, but considering my health issues, I have learned not to sweat the small stuff… and as they say “it’s ALL small stuff”! lol

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Comments
plin July 25th, 2009 (9:29 pm)
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Welcome back!

Workplace On The Web July 26th, 2009 (3:48 am)
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Welcome back JJ! We missed you :)
by the way, thanks for the comment in my post.
Really I am having a hard time comprehending with Algebra too :)

Marly

Gerri July 26th, 2009 (4:22 am)
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You have really been through a lot and I hope you are able to put it all behind as quickly as possible. I like the last bit about not sweating the small stuff.

Taylor Blue July 26th, 2009 (1:44 pm)
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Welcome back JJ. I’ve missed you! I’m glad to hear you are okay. That’s not nice what you had to go through at all. :( I hate hospitals too when they finally diagnosed what was wrong with me after saying I had a week to live. (I am fine now…LOL)

Liquidation Closeouts July 26th, 2009 (6:25 pm)
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Welcome Back JJ – all was not the same without you!

Diggy - Upgradereality.com July 27th, 2009 (5:50 am)
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Hey JJ!
Welcome Back!

OMG, that makes me so angry, stupid no good doctors and lawyers.
You went through hell:( I hope you are better now and on your way to full recovery.

There are some people in this world who should be removed IMO like those doctors and lawyers you are talking about.

My grandfather was taken up in hospital for internal bleeding in his intestine a few weeks ago. He was there for 4 weeks until they figures out what to do, then they took him off his bloodthinning medicine which he needed for his heart, and then he had a stroke! Stupid doctors. He is recovering now but far from a good condition.

I think in medical situations you always need to get multiple opinions because some doctors are very questionable.

Anyhoo, hope things get better, good luck with the lagal action, sue them for everything theyve got!

Ciaociao JJ
Diggy

Mominator July 27th, 2009 (5:10 pm)
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I’m so glad you are fighting them. You’re right…they need to know this type of behavior is unacceptable and that there are real consequences to their actions. Welcome back….I missed reading your posts! Now I have to get off of my butt and post something. LOL

Holly - The Work at Home Woman July 28th, 2009 (2:22 pm)
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Welcome Back JJ!

I am so sorry you had to go through all of this! As a nurse myself, I can’t believe the incompetence and lack of ethics that the first hospital displayed, it is so wrong. I wish you the very best with your recovery and legal battle, hopefully honesty and integrity will prevail.

Looking forward to your future posts!

Holly

imDavidLee July 28th, 2009 (2:23 pm)
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its good to heard that u finally back, anyway try to make your good blog as it may help u to earn while u cannot working anymore

Roy Blacksail July 29th, 2009 (2:17 am)
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Glad your back into things. I was wondering when it was going to happen. Best of luck

Shafar July 29th, 2009 (1:03 pm)
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Hi JJ, great to see you back! Hope you come up with more and more stunning posts as usual! Take care! :)

Clara July 30th, 2009 (6:58 pm)
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hi, I’m new to all this, but welcome back to a speedy recovery.I just want to learn more about all this blogging so I can started making money from home.

Thanks

Lee Ka Hoong July 31st, 2009 (2:48 pm)
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JJ, great to see you back! Seems that you’ve done through a very tough experiences, don’t worry about anything, take more rest and hope you’re in good condition right now. Also, your blog is cool and your fans will be coming back to read more from you.

Take care JJ! :)

Regards,
Lee

Ridiculous blogger July 31st, 2009 (9:02 pm)
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Welcome back JJ!

The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet.com July 31st, 2009 (9:59 pm)
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Welcome back JJ. Sorry to hear about what has happened. There is always road bumps in life, and only the tough people make it through them — you are definitely one of those people. Looking forward to reading your future posts.

orangee August 2nd, 2009 (3:47 am)
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welcome back JJ

jj-Moms Cash Blog August 2nd, 2009 (5:16 pm)
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Thanks guys it’s great to be back with all my blogging buddies!!!

Liquidation Closeouts August 2nd, 2009 (6:16 pm)
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Ridiculous Blogger: Shoot an email to me at closeout.info@yahoo.com I love your template and photo-shopped a better logo for your blog. It is yours……No Charge.

JJ – Looking forward to your next post

Rob

Steve August 4th, 2009 (6:51 pm)
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Good to have you back, JJ. That is negligence and must be addressed or if not the pattern will continue and others will also be hurt. I wish you much luck. I am sending you an e-mail with good sources on kidney health. Ciao

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[...] JJ's Back at MomsCashBlog | Moms Cash BlogSo, I was given a dose of morphine for the pain and some discharge papers that said I had a “small bowel obstruction” (with no mention of kidney stones or anything else that happened) and sent home on one of the coldest nights of the … [...]

consultelaine August 8th, 2009 (8:13 am)
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What a story JJ. Welcome back! :)

jj-Moms Cash Blog August 9th, 2009 (10:51 pm)
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Thanks Steve, it’s good to be back and thanks for the email.

ConsultElaine, Good to hear from you Elaine it’s been awhile since hearing from you, will get an email off to you soon.

Laura August 10th, 2009 (4:02 pm)
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JJ! Its great to know that you are doing better and ready to charge! Looking forward to your words of wisdom :)

Cathy from Make Money Online August 11th, 2009 (10:00 am)
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I’m so glad coming here at your blog because not only I found several interesting posts to learn. The look and feel is cool.

oranee August 13th, 2009 (1:33 pm)
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An useful visit for me

belajar wordpress August 20th, 2009 (4:10 am)
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Keep posting to the blog again.

David

jj-Moms Cash Blog August 21st, 2009 (1:15 am)
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Hi David, I have a post in the works should be out late tonight or tomorrow. I wish your post was in English or rather I wish I knew different languages so I could read your blog… thanks jj

timethief September 10th, 2009 (2:26 am)
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OMG! I hope you will accept this belted comment and my sympathy for the nightmare you went through. If you hadn’t visited my BC profile Page I may not have come and located your great tutorial which I will refer to others. If you hadn’t visited I would not have known what you went through this summer. I sure hope you are well now and that you stay that way.

I read with interest what you said about the advocate. My husband who is a qualified paramedic but chooses not to do that work any more was mine. U too had a “hospital” summer. In my case the hospital is on the big island and I had to commute back and forth for weeks of IV therapy. All the while the doctors and I argued about admitting me. My advocate and I pointed out that hospitals are full of microbes and bacteria and I have a severely compromised immune system and multiple drug allergies, so hospitalization was contraindicated. It would have been easier for them to admit me but was a higher risk to my health so I felt home care was the way to go. They conceded and although there was an extra expense involved I was able to get a couple of weeks of IV therapy at home.

Stay well and happy and blog on.

ArJay | Pinoy Bisnis October 20th, 2009 (6:07 pm)
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Hi JJ! I stumbled upon your blog from pinoy rich jerk’s blog. That must have been very hard for you. Good thing you’re OK now, God is good and you’re back!

Moms Cash Blog October 20th, 2009 (7:51 pm)
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Hi Arjay, Thanks for commenting on my blog and yes the whole comma thing was very hard on me and I will admit at times it still kind of bothers me. It’s like I must be here to do something but I haven’t figured out what that is, blogging???lol I’m going over right now to check out your blog I’ve seen your name around on different blogs so now I know who you are and I’ll visit your blog. Have a great day and thanks again for visiting my blog. jj

new boats for sale November 26th, 2009 (5:25 am)
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I am sorry to here all about that you suffered a lot. But End is well that all is well and its nice to see you back. thanks for this nice post keep it up.

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