Medical Rant

[JudyJB]

I am supposed to have surgery tomorrow afternoon to remove a kidney stone.

Now the urology anesthesia team, after a phone call where they took my history and meds over the phone, is telling me I cannot have the surgery unless I have a friend pick me up after the surgery. They said they will not allow me to go home by cab. I explained I was from out-of-town and had no friends locally. They did refer me to a "medical transportation" company that turned out to be for Medicaid and low-income people only. They are speaking to the surgeon, but I have no idea what will happen. Originally, I was maybe supposed to spend the night in the hospital. They promised to call me back this afternoon, but did not.

I suppose I could fly out to Cleveland and have it done at Cleveland Clinic near my younger son's house, At a cost of at least $826 for a flight and shuttle to get to airport. Or I could drive 500 miles to Napa, CA, to have it done in the small hospital there with a urologist I do not like, so I can have my older son take me back to my motorhome after the surgery! And of course, either son would have to take a day off work. Both of these options involve starting over finding a new urologist and getting a new cat scan, etc.

And this "medical transportation" by the way was a public bus for handicapped people, but you have to be on Medicaid or be screened for low income to see if you qualified, which takes two weeks. No medical attendants. I drive a 32' vehicle to the grocery store and have never had an accident. (That tree in New York does NOT count because I was backing up!) So why do I need wheelchair transportation??

OK, I know it is going to take a while for the anesthesia to wear off, but I was planning on taking Uber home and climbing into bed, not riding my bike around the campground!

Plus, they sent me a several page document that explains about my hospital stay and where my family can wait for me during my surgery and how they can visit when I am checked into my room, etc. And how they should be prepared to take notes on my care at home when they pick me up after the surgery. Suggests I have someone stay with me during my "recovery" at home and a bunch of other garbage!

This whole setup is designed for slightly demented elderly people who have large (apparently unemployed) families to take them to the hospital, wait all day for them, and then take them home and stay with them for several days.

Last time i had something like this done, they called my daughter-in-law when I was ready to go home, she picked me up, and dropped me off at my motorhome, then went back to work.

Maybe I will find a homeless person who will escort me to the edge of the parking lot so I can catch a cab.

[Cougarfan]

Judy, do they have Uber or Lyft in Eugene?

[JudyJB]

Yes, and I had planned to take Uber. No taxis, no Lyft, no Uber allowed. Must bring a verified "friend" or a family member. Uber does not qualify because their rules say I need a friend to bring me home or use "medical transportation."

When I asked what that was and what it cost, they gave me a name of a company and phone number. Turned out to be a public handicap bus, for which you must qualify and open an account to receive services. https://www.ltd.org/ridesource/ Must be on Medicaid or a member of Oregon Health Plan, which is basically their Medicaid health plan--https://www.ltd.org/ridesource/

I did a Google search on "surgery without a friend" and found this article from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog ... o-us-wrong

I also found a posting on a forum where a nurse responded about how one lady had not brought a friend and wanted to take a taxi home, so she made her sit in the lobby for four hours. Just exactly where you want to spend four hours when you just got out of surgery!

Grrrr!

[Bethers]

Judy, I've run into this for things like my colonoscopy... They had to see the person. It's ridiculous that they won't allow a taxi or Uber. Years ago a doctor did a procedure in office, not planned.. Then wouldn't let me leave. Luckily I was able to call someone, but my car stayed on their lot overnight and I had to arrange to go back the next day to get it. They don't think!

[JudyJB]

And it is discriminatory! Take a look at that article. They think it is the 50s with extra people staying home with the kids and available to wait all day in a hospital for the sick person.

Reminds me of about 20 years ago when I applied for a doctoral program. U of Michigan wanted only full-time students in their program. You could start out part-time, but had to quickly become full time. Like what was I supposed to do with my two teenagers, mortgage, and job??? Basically, they assumed all students were under 30 and single, and this eliminated anyone over 35 with a life and family. I transferred to Michigan State because they offered programs during evenings and weekends. Actually, I transferred on the advice of my advisor, but I never squealed on him!

And the booklet they sent me was obnoxious. Told me about diet, cleanliness, and safety, like put away any throw rugs and wipe up spills promptly. They also suggested that when I showered, I use a clean towel to dry off. Do they think I am an idiot? And they assumed you have a group of family members waiting in the lobby because a lot of it was about what the family could do while waiting, etc.

[monik7]

I’ve run into the same problem just today. Two weeks ago I saw my OB/GYN for an issue. Finding nothing, I was sent to my primary care doctor. Had to have an EKG and chest X-ray. Finding nothing, then a CT scan. Found nothing so had to have an MRI. Checking other things I now have to have an endoscopic ultrasound which will require sedation. Because it’s such a specialized procedure, there are only three Advanced Endoscopists in Kaiser Northern California and they’re in San Francisco. They will require I have a driver. I have no one locally to drive me so have to impose on a friend from my old neighborhood in San Jose who will have to take a day off work. Even though she says it’s OK, I feel awful about it but don’t know what else to do. It will be a 66-mile drive from her house one way and with total driving time and the procedure, it will amount to at least 6-7 hours total. I don’t mind spending that amount of time, but inconveniencing someone else really bothers me.

I tried to tell them I would wait as long as they wanted in recovery, but they said “absolutely not” and that they could be held responsible if I got into an accident driving myself home. I truly sympathize with you Judy. I hope you can find a solution that doesn’t require you to fly to Ohio. Wish I was closer to Oregon so I could help you out. I know you don’t like your Napa doctor, but if you decide to have it done there, I could come up and drive you so your son wouldn’t have to take time off.
Sandi

[JudyJB]

Thanks Sandi but if I am lucky my DIL can skip out and pick me up. She is middle school principal. That hospital will call your person when you are ready rather than have them wait. But I’d really rather not have to drive to Napa to get surgery

My son would drive up here but that would be 2-3 days off work as teacher which is really hard

I am hoping surgeons will not want to cancel and will just keep me overnight. There has to be a solution that is reasonable. One reason for keeping me overnight is that I gave low platelets and could bleed. Will hear tomorrow morning.

[MelissaD]

It's all CYA (Cover your A$$) to prevent lawsuits. The procedure is written to protect the doctor and the hospital and has nothing to do with real life.


Sounds like a new small business. Outpatient escort.

[JudyJB]

Melissa, I was thinking the same thing about the small business!!

Surgeon’s nurse just called and said to ignore what anesthesia person said. They will keep me overnight and go ahead with surgery. Can take cab home tomorrow. Whew. At last, someone with sense.

[Queen]

Great news, Judy!

There is a small business like that in Florida, it works similar to Uber but offers the option of having the driver wait, as well as making pharmacy runs and being available for return appointments. It was in its infancy when we were moving home, but it seemed like an excellent business model.

[Bethers]

Surgeon’s nurse just called and said to ignore what anesthesia person said. They will keep me overnight and go ahead with surgery. Can take cab home tomorrow. Whew. At last, someone with sense.

good news. But they still need to address the driver issue everywhere. And how is a taxi or Uber going to give them liability issues? Total nonsense.

[JudyJB]

Little sleep in last two nights, but I am ready to go. Got lots of food, propane, and water in my tanks. Will dump sewage and take trash out at last minute. Even made some iced tea for tomorrow.

Yes, there does need to be a solution to all of this. I would be more than happy to do this for anyone if I were in the area. It is easy for people like me who are retired, but what about people whose friends are all working or have kids, and what about people with a spouse or family member who cannot drive?

They are always so eager to get you dressed and out of the recovery room that you are barely awake. So they need a recovery from recovery room where you could stay for a few hours and then drive yourself off. Maybe those Japanese-type pods?? With someone to check on you every few hours??

[Queen]

Best of luck, Judy!!

[Queen]

Surgeon’s nurse just called and said to ignore what anesthesia person said. They will keep me overnight and go ahead with surgery. Can take cab home tomorrow. Whew. At last, someone with sense.

good news. But they still need to address the driver issue everywhere. And how is a taxi or Uber going to give them liability issues? Total nonsense.

Beth, it’s the medical establishments over the top response to loads of lawsuits based on poor discharge planning, discharging people to bus stops or simply discharging to the street. When I ran a homeless shelter we had a man who had his chest tube pulled in the morning and he showed up in a taxi by noon. Treat em and street em model of discharge planning. Now they’re putting the onus on the backs of the patients because of their past mistakes.

[Rufflesgurl]

Judy when you posted that you were having this procedure, I wondered about how you would get back to your RV. I had a procedure a couple months ago where I was admitted to hospital - had to be there at 7:00 AM and would only be released
afterward to my daughter because she was the authorized person and I was told that she should stay with me all day
after the surgery because of the recovery. My son-in-law needed to take off work to get the kids
to school that morning because my daughter was helping me. Took 3 of us to get this medical thing taken care of. I get so ticked off about these rules but it is what it is and nothing I have tried to say will change the situation .

Good luck!
Linda