Ok here's the deal (sorry, it's a long one)...
I was admitted to Duncan Regional Hospital around midnight Wednesday morning for lower abdominal pain. We figured it was my appendix. Filled out paper work, was put into a room quickly. Blood drawn, urine sample, all that. Taken back to a CAT Scan around 12:45. Found out around 1:30 it was appendicitis. Asked when I would be having surgery, they told me it was up to the on-call surgeon Dr. M. Was taken to a regular room and asked when the doctor would be by. They said they didn't know, but it was up to Dr. M to set his surgery schedule and he should be by to see me shortly. Didn't sleep all night waiting for the dr. Dr. M finally comes to see me at 10:30 Wednesday morning and says that the OR schedule is full and he will have to work me in, that he didn't want to do it last night because he wanted to wait for a new crew (but isn't that the point of the ER?). I was told my surgery was scheduled for 12:45. I am picked up by the OR nurse at 12:20 and taken to holding outside of the OR. Anesthesiologist tells me he is just waiting on Dr. M to give him the ok to sedate me. My family's cell number is taken so they can be notified via text when my surgery begins and when I am finished. I sit in holding waiting, finally falling asleep. I wake up sometime later and the nurse says "We aren't sure where Dr. M is at the moment". I don't know what time it is, but I know its been awhile. A bit later I hear someone else call him, and then they tell me "Oh, he's in a meeting and will be here shortly." I know its at least 1:30 by now. A few minutes later the anesthesiologist comes and gets me and takes me in. I wake up after my surgery and I'm in holding again. I ask the nurse what time it is and she said it is 2:49. They told me my surgery wouldn't last 30 minutes, so I can deduct that a surgery that was supposed to be over at 1:15 didn't start until at least 1:45.
I am taken back to my room and told the doctor will be by sometime this evening to see me. He never shows up. I wake up today, Thursday, around 7:30. They bring me an IV of sugar water and a stool softener. Throughout the morning financial aid comes by, hospital chaplain, and patient advocate all come by before 11 AM. I think I'm probably getting ready to be discharged because I feel fine and they aren't giving me any meds anymore. I ask my nurse and she says they haven't heard from or seen Dr. M today. I am brought another sugar water IV and stool softener pill. This IV is on an extremely slow drip and finally finishes around 4:00. The nurse comes in and gets it and tells me she will bring me another one. I ask if I have to have one because I'm ready to leave. She tells me yes, the doctor's orders were for continuous IV as long as I'm there. I tell her I want to be discharged because I feel fine and she says they have to wait for the doctor to come by, that he has an office downstairs and will probably come after he closes. My sister calls a friend who is the secretary for another surgeon in Duncan and is told that they have been seeing a few of Dr. M's patients today, but she isn't sure why. So I call Dr. M's office and ask his secretary if he is in the office today, to which she replies "No, he is out of town at a conference and won't be back until Monday." WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!! So this guy performs surgery on me, never checks on me afterwards, and then leaves town without so much as leaving any instructions for my discharge from the hospital with another doctor. The secretary for the other surgeon says that they had no idea he was leaving, and that they usually get a heads up because they cover for one another when one of them can't be there. She tells the other surgeon and he is out the door to the hospital to sign my discharge papers. Says if he had known, he would have been there at 8 AM to get me released, but there were given nothing.
So after all of that, I want to know what I can do to fight the charges that are sure to come from the hospital for my extended stay that was completely unnecessary. We spoke to another family friend who also had an appendectomy and was released from the hospital 3 hours later. According to the nurses assigned to me during my stay, this doctor is notorious for showing up late or not at all and giving no heads up about it. I do not have health insurance currently, as I lost my job in March before starting up my own small business in April. I am aware that I can apply for financial assistance from the hospital, but I would really like to know what my options are in regards to the entire ordeal and the billing that is sure to come. Any help would be very much appreciated!!!
I was admitted to Duncan Regional Hospital around midnight Wednesday morning for lower abdominal pain. We figured it was my appendix. Filled out paper work, was put into a room quickly. Blood drawn, urine sample, all that. Taken back to a CAT Scan around 12:45. Found out around 1:30 it was appendicitis. Asked when I would be having surgery, they told me it was up to the on-call surgeon Dr. M. Was taken to a regular room and asked when the doctor would be by. They said they didn't know, but it was up to Dr. M to set his surgery schedule and he should be by to see me shortly. Didn't sleep all night waiting for the dr. Dr. M finally comes to see me at 10:30 Wednesday morning and says that the OR schedule is full and he will have to work me in, that he didn't want to do it last night because he wanted to wait for a new crew (but isn't that the point of the ER?). I was told my surgery was scheduled for 12:45. I am picked up by the OR nurse at 12:20 and taken to holding outside of the OR. Anesthesiologist tells me he is just waiting on Dr. M to give him the ok to sedate me. My family's cell number is taken so they can be notified via text when my surgery begins and when I am finished. I sit in holding waiting, finally falling asleep. I wake up sometime later and the nurse says "We aren't sure where Dr. M is at the moment". I don't know what time it is, but I know its been awhile. A bit later I hear someone else call him, and then they tell me "Oh, he's in a meeting and will be here shortly." I know its at least 1:30 by now. A few minutes later the anesthesiologist comes and gets me and takes me in. I wake up after my surgery and I'm in holding again. I ask the nurse what time it is and she said it is 2:49. They told me my surgery wouldn't last 30 minutes, so I can deduct that a surgery that was supposed to be over at 1:15 didn't start until at least 1:45.
I am taken back to my room and told the doctor will be by sometime this evening to see me. He never shows up. I wake up today, Thursday, around 7:30. They bring me an IV of sugar water and a stool softener. Throughout the morning financial aid comes by, hospital chaplain, and patient advocate all come by before 11 AM. I think I'm probably getting ready to be discharged because I feel fine and they aren't giving me any meds anymore. I ask my nurse and she says they haven't heard from or seen Dr. M today. I am brought another sugar water IV and stool softener pill. This IV is on an extremely slow drip and finally finishes around 4:00. The nurse comes in and gets it and tells me she will bring me another one. I ask if I have to have one because I'm ready to leave. She tells me yes, the doctor's orders were for continuous IV as long as I'm there. I tell her I want to be discharged because I feel fine and she says they have to wait for the doctor to come by, that he has an office downstairs and will probably come after he closes. My sister calls a friend who is the secretary for another surgeon in Duncan and is told that they have been seeing a few of Dr. M's patients today, but she isn't sure why. So I call Dr. M's office and ask his secretary if he is in the office today, to which she replies "No, he is out of town at a conference and won't be back until Monday." WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!! So this guy performs surgery on me, never checks on me afterwards, and then leaves town without so much as leaving any instructions for my discharge from the hospital with another doctor. The secretary for the other surgeon says that they had no idea he was leaving, and that they usually get a heads up because they cover for one another when one of them can't be there. She tells the other surgeon and he is out the door to the hospital to sign my discharge papers. Says if he had known, he would have been there at 8 AM to get me released, but there were given nothing.
So after all of that, I want to know what I can do to fight the charges that are sure to come from the hospital for my extended stay that was completely unnecessary. We spoke to another family friend who also had an appendectomy and was released from the hospital 3 hours later. According to the nurses assigned to me during my stay, this doctor is notorious for showing up late or not at all and giving no heads up about it. I do not have health insurance currently, as I lost my job in March before starting up my own small business in April. I am aware that I can apply for financial assistance from the hospital, but I would really like to know what my options are in regards to the entire ordeal and the billing that is sure to come. Any help would be very much appreciated!!!
