#MedicalMistake #PacemakerComplications #HeartSurgery #MedicalError
Hey everyone, I wanted to share something that happened to my wife recently that has left us feeling shocked and unsure of what to do next. 🏥
– My wife went in for a pacemaker but ended up with a hole in her heart the size of a pencil and had to undergo open-heart surgery.
– The doctor mentioned that these things “happen”, but now we are left with a difficult situation to navigate.
– As we try to process this unexpected turn of events, I would love to hear your thoughts and insights on what steps we could potentially take moving forward.
– If anyone has experienced something similar or has any advice on how to handle medical mistakes, please share your thoughts.
I’m thinking about seeking a second opinion and possibly consulting with a medical malpractice lawyer to understand our options better. Any other suggestions that could help us through this tough time? Let me know your thoughts! 🤔
#MedicalMistake #SeekingAdvice #MedicalMalpractice #OpenHeartSurgery
I’m sorry you are having to deal with this. I imagine it’s scary and nerve wracking and a lot more. Your first priority is getting your wife healthy. 36bpm is too low even for an athlete, but that’s now been addressed. What follow up care is the cardiologist recommending? Are any other surgeries or procedures recommended? If there are any questions you or your wife have, feel free to ask them. If there are any uncertainties, feel free to pursue a second opinion.
As far as malpractice, as others have pointed out, incidents, accidents and mistakes happen. The idea behind a malpractice claim is to make someone “whole” . As an example, if the perforation delays your wife’s expected recovery by six weeks, her damage would be the six weeks. The cost of the follow-up surgery would be included as well. But if it’s paid for by insurance, insurance would be damaged party, not you or your wife.
Support your wife. Help her get better. Keep notes of what everyone tells you. Keep the paperwork you’re given at each step. Record her progress. If she has to have additional procedures I’d strongly suggest a second opinion. You can hang on to the idea of a malpractice suit, but work on getting your wife better first.
You want to sue the cardiology team who saved your wife because they didn’t accurately predict exactly what problems and interventions would be necessary to save her life? WHY? Sounds like they saved her life. Am I missing something?
A similar thing happened to my mom earlier this year. Maybe not common but it happens often enough that it’s not a surprise except to us lay people.
Being a lifelong 49er fan she was very disappointed to miss the Super Bowl during the week after when she was in cardiac intensive care. Doesn’t remember a thing.
Not a lawyer but health care professional. Perforations are a known complication of pacemaker implantations. Cardiologists do their best to prevent it from happening, but it does happen and is not as rare as one would hope. As you can imagine a hole in the heart is a big deal and often requires urgent open heart surgery. I am so sorry that this happened to your wife. The risks of the procedure including perforation and bleeding were likely included in the consent form that should have been signed before the procedure started. Unless there was true negligence in the case such as the doctor being drunk during the procedure then this will likely be seen as a complication and not malpractice.
I had to get a pacemaker a few years ago. My heart rate was similarly low; the lowest it measured was 21 bpm while I was getting an MRI.
It sucks that the procedure went poorly for her. As others are saying, though, it’s a known risk. The lead is literally a little corkscrew that gets twisted into the heart muscle.
Just a heads up. With her blood flow so diminished, her kidneys are probably under-performing. I had kidney stones for a couple years after my issue, and I personally believe it was due to a buildup of crystalization during that several month period.
I’m sorry that happened. You’ve received solid guidance on the medical/malpractice portion, but I wanted to mention something from the financial perspective since this episode and continued care will be expensive, as you’ve mentioned.
Most hospitals have financial assistance programs that are very thorough and not just for the indigent. I work on the financial side of healthcare so would recommend you reach out to either a financial counselor or patient advocate (they go by different names at different places) to see what options you may have. They specialize in getting patients qualified for Medicaid and your traditional financial assistance (charity care) but also should be knowledgeable in other areas, like internal programs and local organizations that assist patients facing huge bills. One system I work with has something called medical hardship where if a patient has outstanding medical bills that are a certain percentage of their yearly income, they can qualify for a substantial reduction. You didn’t mention insurance coverage, but those folks can also help you navigate that, help you keep bills up to date and (hopefully) provide assistance so that you and your wife can focus on getting her the care she needs. Best of luck.
We contacted a lawyer when our 19 year old son died. But after the lawyers received all the paperwork, they said there was no malpractice. Case closed. You can always sit down with an attorney for free.
NAL, am a physician, not your physician. This is a known complication of the procedure. It’s rare, but not so rare as to be one of those “never really happens” things. I’m sorry that it happened to your wife. The nature of medicine is imperfect people working on other imperfect people in an imperfect system. Lots of times when something goes wrong it’s not because someone messed up, it’s just bad luck. If you have reason to believe that gross negligence took place, or someone behaved outside of the standard of care, you should consult with a lawyer in your area.
NAL, I’d be grateful and thank your lucky stars that your wide is alive and walk away.
I would consult with a lawyer as others advised. I work alongside cardiologists in these procedures and recently experienced the same complication. For us, it was an unfortunate one of many negligent complications from that cardiologists and the hospital revoked the doctors privileges so that he couldn’t hurt anymore patients. I would imagine they aren’t an incompetent doctor, but it does happen, and is worth putting on record.