Hello, I am going to quickly give you an example of my story. I was brought to the ER in Dec 2010 and was having terrible headache and vision issues. The ran a scan withou and then with dye and were prepping for a spinal tap to test for blood from brain maybe. So while I was in room with IV fluid and pain meds these 2 docs came in and told me they scan with dye showed an aneurysm in what I remember left communicating in Brain. Then they said they wanted to admit me to hospital. So anyway 2 days later the had someone bring me for an angiogram where they went through groin area and up to brain to dye and take loads of pics while I was out.
So anyway hours later the Doc who did angiogram came in and handed me three color pictures of my now 2 two small aneurysms and said that because of where they were they could not be coiled they needed clipped. I was released the next day and sent to see a Surgeon 3 days later, I met with him and ended up having surgery for 2 clippings in Feb, a few weeks ago and was in ICU for 2 days and then room for a few days then released. But during the ICU days and room days I was told by the Surgeon that I never had any aneurysms!! That the angiogram was wrong!! so now Im at home LOST, dont understand how this happened. my 3 hour surgery ended up being 7 1/2 hours because the surgeon was lost! he ended up paging in the doctor who did the angiogram who was in the operating room for last 4 1/2 hours of surgery. So now Im very confused, LOST, and a BIT upset... I look at myself with this scar and feeling the pain and just get more mad. This story is so much longer but Im just talking and needed some help making it through this and since alot of people have gone through this surgery maybe you can help me make it past this.
Please remember, this is my personal opinion, that you set up another appointment with the md specialists to be sure you understand what they explained...Ask family/ friend /caregiver to accompany you as advocate. List your questions and have your advocate note the responses...ask again and again if you have difficulty understanding...
Also, order your med records including the clinical data that supports the formal written records...
You may call the Rad or Neuroscience Unit and ask for CDs/DVDs of the various scans/angios... ask them if they include the DICOM data... Many facilities charge a fee for med records...
Wishing you the best recovery...highly promote you visit w/neuro w/an advocate to be sure you are understanding what is being explained to you...
I don't know what to think or say...but God Bless...how could they have done this to you...if you had no annie's...I hope you get some good advice from this site...I wouldn't know what to say to all of this, but saying a prayer for you...Cyber~hugs Colleen
couldnt imagine this happening to anyone,horrible,if they said you never had an anny what were the pics of that they brought to you ta look at? was it someone elses angiogram? this is just plain ridculous…get in touch with a malpractice lawyer,tragic,praying for a full recovery and for to recv some answers immediately…be sure to let your body n brain recover so you can think clearly when dealing with the hospital…good luck and God bless
That is a really shocking story. I have never heard of anything like it. In most cases when doctors misdiagnose, they say there is no aneurysm or they fail to order the appropriate screening, when there is one. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
I had 2 rupture aneurysms and they cut my head open and put in a clip and did a angiogram a few days later to put in stent and coils, They said there was more bleeding but they could not find where it was coming from,
When I went back to the doctor he said that the one they clamp was not an anurysm, but they clip it anyhow He's very nice, I just pray that they know what they are doing. I don't trust any of them but have no choice
Your headache and vision issues that took you to ER had to be due to something. This is an incredible experience, Ed. Definitely request your records. Speak with your insurance agent as well.
Just an update, I was reading thriugh some of the Surgeons report written after the surgery and one of the lines that say just about enough is " Surgery was based on faulty angiogram"
For the record I requested an appointment at another hospital today and will get my date tomorrow.
you need to contact an attorney ASAP! This is negligence and malpractice at its worst! I am so sorry Ed that this happened to you. I am trying to figure out how this happened at all. What hospital and who were your doctors? Is this what they specialize in or what? Something sounds fishy with that hospital. You have legal rights in this and the fact that they didn’t triple check the results first before they opened your head is just out of control!
This is not a comment on your case but I am going to share an experience of mine. In 2004 I was experiencing severe pain in my right lower quadrant. I had a CT scan which showed a tumor. My surgeon rearranged his schedule and brought me in his OR in a week. Let me tell you that I thank God everyday for some of my physicians. Well without going into all the details of my medical history, I did not have a tumor. Thank God. Another organ had migrated and was wrapped in my bowel. Organ was freed (can't think of a better word) and things were put back in place and I recovered. The point of me sharing this with you Ed is that scans are not perfect. I know this is a little different than your story. Whether it was a tumor or another organ, I still needed surgery to free things. In your case if there was no aneurysm then you did not need surgery. I thought that angiograms were more sophisticated than CT scans or MRA's. There is one bright side to your story. It is better to not have an aneurysm than to have an aneurysm that was missed which later ruptured and left you with deficits. I would like to post your name on our prayer group on this site if that is okay with you. Please keep us updated. Take care. God Bless.
What were my doc's intentions when he brought me in that OR? His intentions were to remove an aneurysm and help you, save you from a rupture not to operate on you when you did not need surgery. This is just another thought. I know it won't change your situation but I hope this helps you feel better. Take care.
Angiograms are the gold standard; with 3D rotational, and more...there's much more that needs to be shared...and, likely, the BAF will expand their glossary.
It would take strong ethics and courage for any neurosurgeon/interventinalist to explain any error, failure, mis-diagnosis, etc... to immediately explain the status...quite exceptional.
I have to say that there is a chance that what they actually saw are more or less twisted arteries. They can be misstaken for aneurysms. I know this only because of the fact that I have had to have a clipping of my own aneurysm and since this is something that seems to run in my family my own children have had to be checked. My oldest daughter had two areas of concern which could have been aneurysm's but turned out to be the best way decribed as twisted arteries. Both have a size of under 2mm but are not aneurysm's. Ask your specialist if this is something of that nature.
I am so sorry that you have had to go through this horrible precedure. I know it's very hard and can not be described. I wish you all the luck in the word and I hope that you get the answers you need.
wow oh wow, you have had more than your fair share. I support the suggestions for seeing another surgeon to see what triggered your early symptoms. After you catch your breath I'd file complaints with med. board and talk with a lawyer. (I don't say the later quickly but this is not right!!!) Remember we are here for support.
I really want to thank everyone for the kind words and suggestions, I am supposed to find out Monday what day I will goto the other hospital to have everything gone over and me checked out. In the back of my mind I feel I need to have things checked because if they made this mistake I just want to be sure there is nothing there.
Just a question, does anybody get headaches out of the blue fast after having ther surgery? Also did anyone have trouble eating, it hurts the left side of my jaw muscle when I open my mouth to much (weird). And one last question on the same side my jaw hurts while eating my ear feels clogged a bit and I cant hear as good, just wondering if it means it still all needs to heal.
Good Morning Ed. I think that the muscle may have been cut and sutured or pulled back during your surgery. If this is the case, I think that it takes about 6 weeks to heal. I am not 100% sure that this is what was done but this is a possibility. With regards to headaches, I had constant headaches after my craniotomy without relief. Hope this helps.