Caring For Herself
Trust. We have that when faced by medical professionals at the top of their form. Take, for example, a veteran radiologist, working out of one of the premier cancer hospitals in North America, reading an X-ray and providing her diagnosis. Under the circumstances - a seasoned and well-respected health professional doing her important work at an elite, specialized hospital, you trust that what they say is correct.
Often, it is. Sometimes it is not. It does happen. It's hard to feel particularly philosophical about human error producing a truly dreadful outcome, when it happens to you, personally. You want to know how it could possibly happen. Why it would happen. And why, of all people, to you? It just isn't fair, isn't reasonable, isn't acceptable, and does not represent good medical practise. Having left you truly victimized, incapacitated.
In fact, you don't even know how incapacitated, nor that you are. Because your brain has been so destroyed that you have reverted to behaving like an infant. You cannot recall much. You cannot read. You do not understand that you are no longer what and who you were. You are a shell of the person you once were. A grandmother, mother, wife and loving companion, now wholly physically dependent.
Jessie Kay, 66 years of age, had suffered a seizure and was taken to hospital in Barrie. Doctors there saw lesions in her lungs and brain, and dispatched her to Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, which specializes in cancer surgery and treatment. Which is where Dr. Marilyn Anne Keller reviewed MRI images of her brain, coming to the conclusion it was full of malignant tumours.
Doctors were convinced she had brain cancer, and had no option but to respond speedily. Setting aside other tests that seemed to indicate the masses in her lungs were caused by infection. She was submitted to whole-brain radiation therapy. Very shortly after the treatment oncologists informed her family an error had been made; another radiologist had scanned the MRI and it was his opinion Ms. Kay did not have cancer.
But the therapy she had received - act in haste, repent at leisure - had created an immense problem. Severe headache led to fluid seeping from her nose, vomiting and incontinence. She was taken to Toronto Western Hospital, and there neurosurgeons opened her skull and drained abscesses to prevent additional damage and relieve brain swelling. There she spent four months of recovery.
Her husband is now tasked with looking after his once-competent, energetic wife. The family has decided to launch a $6-million lawsuit against the hospital, the radiologist, oncologist and oncology resident who treated her there. Misdiagnoses appear to be the most common issue in malpractise lawsuits, according to an article in the Journal of Family Practise.
The hospital has since taken steps to ensure that a second radiologist confirms a first diagnosis before proceeding.
Dr. Marilyn Keller, the radiologist who had interpreted the X-ray of Ms. Kay's brain, when first hearing of the lawsuit, was surprised. She had no recollection of the patient or the events. All in a confident day's work.
Often, it is. Sometimes it is not. It does happen. It's hard to feel particularly philosophical about human error producing a truly dreadful outcome, when it happens to you, personally. You want to know how it could possibly happen. Why it would happen. And why, of all people, to you? It just isn't fair, isn't reasonable, isn't acceptable, and does not represent good medical practise. Having left you truly victimized, incapacitated.
In fact, you don't even know how incapacitated, nor that you are. Because your brain has been so destroyed that you have reverted to behaving like an infant. You cannot recall much. You cannot read. You do not understand that you are no longer what and who you were. You are a shell of the person you once were. A grandmother, mother, wife and loving companion, now wholly physically dependent.
Jessie Kay, 66 years of age, had suffered a seizure and was taken to hospital in Barrie. Doctors there saw lesions in her lungs and brain, and dispatched her to Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, which specializes in cancer surgery and treatment. Which is where Dr. Marilyn Anne Keller reviewed MRI images of her brain, coming to the conclusion it was full of malignant tumours.
Doctors were convinced she had brain cancer, and had no option but to respond speedily. Setting aside other tests that seemed to indicate the masses in her lungs were caused by infection. She was submitted to whole-brain radiation therapy. Very shortly after the treatment oncologists informed her family an error had been made; another radiologist had scanned the MRI and it was his opinion Ms. Kay did not have cancer.
But the therapy she had received - act in haste, repent at leisure - had created an immense problem. Severe headache led to fluid seeping from her nose, vomiting and incontinence. She was taken to Toronto Western Hospital, and there neurosurgeons opened her skull and drained abscesses to prevent additional damage and relieve brain swelling. There she spent four months of recovery.
Her husband is now tasked with looking after his once-competent, energetic wife. The family has decided to launch a $6-million lawsuit against the hospital, the radiologist, oncologist and oncology resident who treated her there. Misdiagnoses appear to be the most common issue in malpractise lawsuits, according to an article in the Journal of Family Practise.
The hospital has since taken steps to ensure that a second radiologist confirms a first diagnosis before proceeding.
Dr. Marilyn Keller, the radiologist who had interpreted the X-ray of Ms. Kay's brain, when first hearing of the lawsuit, was surprised. She had no recollection of the patient or the events. All in a confident day's work.
Labels: Canada, Health, Human Fallibility
posted by Pieface | 7:51 PM
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