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Can confirm that basic details frequently get misrecorded (here in Toronto). At a recent visit, the surgical staff received such a broken telephone version of m

Can confirm that basic details frequently get misrecorded (here in Toronto). At a recent visit, the surgical staff received such a broken telephone version of my original reports and activity in the hospital, that when I overheard the surgeon discussing with the students prior to the procedure I literally burst out laughing (despite having an appendicitis waiting to be removed). This is just how records like this work, frequently contextually or globally incorrect, I don't think it's really a matter of malpractice, at least not in relative terms; though I guess they could do better, like recording that staff had witnessed me collapse (!) two times (one in the waiting room, one in the halls) before they left me sitting in some random chair in a hallway for a couple hours, during which time I passed out a third time, scaring the bejesus out of the others waiting there, none of whom were patients. Hospitals aren't really all that great at paying attention anywhere, as far as I can tell; the U.S. has the most discerning customers (and to some extent, some of the last remaining customers in the developed world). In the U.S. you might have some hope of complaining about service like I received, for example how the triage nurse spilled what looked like about 200ml of my blood all over my arm and the floor while drawing a sample at intake, or that when somebody finally called me to the the first room, she didn't even wait for me to get to the locked door (which I failed to do, because I collapsed half way there and needed to be wheeled in, mostly helped by random bystanders) before turning and walking back to sit down behind the desk (not at the desk), where I saw her playing on her phone.

creep 9y ago
I was at the hospital with a kidney infection last month. I get these regularly. I knew it was a kidney infection. I described my symptoms and the intake nurse agreed it sounded like a kidney infection. I told them my heart rate was faster than normal-- it's usually at 73, but it was now at 100. They took my vitals, which showed a fast heart rate (110) but I watched the nurse record a normal heart rate. Okay, whatever, maybe they think I'm anxious. They take my urine, and three hours later they tell me my urine sample was "pristine". They were amazed at how clean it looked. Not even a single protein-- and as a female with a vagina that often discharges a proteinous substance, this was surprising! (And very good news! Doctor was astounded). The doctor concluded my kidney pain was "mechanical", that the muscle in that area had been bruised somehow I told her this was not the case, but she discharged me. 16 hours later (at home now) I'm running a fever of 104. My resting heart rate is an astounding 132 bpm. I'm scared of sepsis (infection of the blood) since I have experienced that before from kidney infections. I go to the hospital preparing for another 5 hour waiting time, but luckily they get me in an intake bed right away. I'm covering myself with a heavy blanket in my fever state-- something one shouldn't do, but nobody took it off me until I was about to be discharged. They come back with the results from another urine sample, and surprise, I have a kidney infection! I asked the doctor why my urine was "pristine" the day before and he said, "the lab tech probably didn't keep the dip stick in long enough" (which is why the test didn't register any protein in my urine whatsoever...) He acted like it was no big deal, like it happened all the time. They gave me 1/4 dose of morphine for the headache because I "look to be about 100 pounds" (I'm 5'10". That would put me at a BMI of 14.5-- ie. severely underweight, and cause for medical concern in and of itself! I'm 135 pounds, with a BMI of 19.4 Honestly, what the hell.) which doesn't help the pain at all, and I'm still wrapped in what amounts to a sweat lodge-- once again, nobody told me to take the blanket off. This is very common knowledge, but in my state of high fever and pain I did not think that it could be a bad idea. I would expect the doctors and nurses to be aware. An hour later they suddenly tell me to get out of bed and they will move me to the waiting room with a chair and a goddamn television that I can already hear thumping through the walls, because this is an intake bed and "other patients need it". I'm sure they do, but I literally can't walk right now. Long story short, the next time I get a kidney infection I'm staying home to die. The lack of care in that situation was astounding. To top it off, they treated me like a bad patient after I protested being moved to the waiting room. edit: I also forgot to mention that they were going to give me pill antibiotics at discharge. I suggested they give me an IV instead, and set me up at an IV clinic. I'm not kidding, they said, "oh! That's actually a great idea". Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
- ScottBurson 9y ago
  My wife has also experienced having a kidney infection with a clean urine sample. It happens.
  - creep 9y ago
    Do you know why she had a clean urine sample? Mistakes happen, but my experience as a whole in the hospital that night lends emphasis to the mistake. It is not just that the infection was missed accidentally, it was that the management of my diagnosis and my stay seemed so ill-informed and counter-intuitive to my needs.
    - ScottBurson 9y ago
      She had been drinking a lot of cranberry juice -- the folk remedy for a UTI. That may have had something to do with her clean sample, though this is just speculation. Most of the times that she's had these infections, her samples have had detectable bacteria, so this was an unusual case even for her. BTW, she had so many of these infections that her doctor eventually referred her to a urologist, who put her on a daily antibiotic (cephalexin, aka Keflex) as a preventative. She hasn't had another once since starting that, though there have been a couple of times that she felt like she might be getting one, and took an extra cephalexin, which was sufficient. I wish we had known about this option sooner. Also: my pointing out that UTIs can sometimes fail to show up in the urine test was not intended as a defense of the way the hospital treated you. Quite the contrary: doctors should know that that can happen. My wife and I were not happy with the way she was treated on this occasion as well — it took hours to convince them to start the antibiotics, and she was in a lot of pain.
      - creep 9y ago
        The cranberry juice thing is inconclusive, but I still drink a lot of it as well! >Quite the contrary: doctors should know that that can happen. Okay, thanks for clarifying. This is how I felt. It was silly to me that I could have all the symptoms of a UTI, only to have everything written off because of a clean urine sample. I think it was hopeful thinking on the doctor's part-- she just wanted me out of the bed so she could clear the waiting room. How recurrent were your wife's UTIs, if you don't mind?

creep 9y ago

I was at the hospital with a kidney infection last month. I get these regularly. I knew it was a kidney infection. I described my symptoms and the intake nurse agreed it sounded like a kidney infection. I told them my heart rate was faster than normal-- it's usually at 73, but it was now at 100. They took my vitals, which showed a fast heart rate (110) but I watched the nurse record a normal heart rate. Okay, whatever, maybe they think I'm anxious. They take my urine, and three hours later they tell me my urine sample was "pristine". They were amazed at how clean it looked. Not even a single protein-- and as a female with a vagina that often discharges a proteinous substance, this was surprising! (And very good news! Doctor was astounded). The doctor concluded my kidney pain was "mechanical", that the muscle in that area had been bruised somehow I told her this was not the case, but she discharged me. 16 hours later (at home now) I'm running a fever of 104. My resting heart rate is an astounding 132 bpm. I'm scared of sepsis (infection of the blood) since I have experienced that before from kidney infections. I go to the hospital preparing for another 5 hour waiting time, but luckily they get me in an intake bed right away. I'm covering myself with a heavy blanket in my fever state-- something one shouldn't do, but nobody took it off me until I was about to be discharged. They come back with the results from another urine sample, and surprise, I have a kidney infection! I asked the doctor why my urine was "pristine" the day before and he said, "the lab tech probably didn't keep the dip stick in long enough" (which is why the test didn't register any protein in my urine whatsoever...) He acted like it was no big deal, like it happened all the time. They gave me 1/4 dose of morphine for the headache because I "look to be about 100 pounds" (I'm 5'10". That would put me at a BMI of 14.5-- ie. severely underweight, and cause for medical concern in and of itself! I'm 135 pounds, with a BMI of 19.4 Honestly, what the hell.) which doesn't help the pain at all, and I'm still wrapped in what amounts to a sweat lodge-- once again, nobody told me to take the blanket off. This is very common knowledge, but in my state of high fever and pain I did not think that it could be a bad idea. I would expect the doctors and nurses to be aware. An hour later they suddenly tell me to get out of bed and they will move me to the waiting room with a chair and a goddamn television that I can already hear thumping through the walls, because this is an intake bed and "other patients need it". I'm sure they do, but I literally can't walk right now. Long story short, the next time I get a kidney infection I'm staying home to die. The lack of care in that situation was astounding. To top it off, they treated me like a bad patient after I protested being moved to the waiting room. edit: I also forgot to mention that they were going to give me pill antibiotics at discharge. I suggested they give me an IV instead, and set me up at an IV clinic. I'm not kidding, they said, "oh! That's actually a great idea". Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

ScottBurson 9y ago
My wife has also experienced having a kidney infection with a clean urine sample. It happens.
- creep 9y ago
  Do you know why she had a clean urine sample? Mistakes happen, but my experience as a whole in the hospital that night lends emphasis to the mistake. It is not just that the infection was missed accidentally, it was that the management of my diagnosis and my stay seemed so ill-informed and counter-intuitive to my needs.
  - ScottBurson 9y ago
    She had been drinking a lot of cranberry juice -- the folk remedy for a UTI. That may have had something to do with her clean sample, though this is just speculation. Most of the times that she's had these infections, her samples have had detectable bacteria, so this was an unusual case even for her. BTW, she had so many of these infections that her doctor eventually referred her to a urologist, who put her on a daily antibiotic (cephalexin, aka Keflex) as a preventative. She hasn't had another once since starting that, though there have been a couple of times that she felt like she might be getting one, and took an extra cephalexin, which was sufficient. I wish we had known about this option sooner. Also: my pointing out that UTIs can sometimes fail to show up in the urine test was not intended as a defense of the way the hospital treated you. Quite the contrary: doctors should know that that can happen. My wife and I were not happy with the way she was treated on this occasion as well — it took hours to convince them to start the antibiotics, and she was in a lot of pain.
    - creep 9y ago
      The cranberry juice thing is inconclusive, but I still drink a lot of it as well! >Quite the contrary: doctors should know that that can happen. Okay, thanks for clarifying. This is how I felt. It was silly to me that I could have all the symptoms of a UTI, only to have everything written off because of a clean urine sample. I think it was hopeful thinking on the doctor's part-- she just wanted me out of the bed so she could clear the waiting room. How recurrent were your wife's UTIs, if you don't mind?