The scar adds to my collection: medical malpractice in heart surgery

Blogger Espe’s story:

Dec. 7, 2007:
so, my heart surgery is just around the corner...damn...i've been waiting since june for my heart problem to have some closure and that day is almost here. i thought i'd be shitting it by now, but i'm not. i'm looking forward to the morphine and other prescription pain killers...and the scar....well, it adds to the collection. hopefully, i'll be out of the hospital before christmas. it would really suck having to spend the holiday in the hospital. i don't want to put my family through that again.

Feb. 16:
since today it has been two months since i've been in the hospital. i came in for a heart surgery that was supposed to last four hours, but i've been stuck here for a medical malpractice that occurred during the surgery. i basically ended up with my right leg cut on both sides by a vascular doctor by emergency during the surgery because my leg was swollen. the team who did my heart surgery did not notice my leg until the surgery was over. i've been through near amputations, various procedures including three leg debridements, and i've had to learn how to walk two times already using a walker (actually it's hopping on my left leg because i still can't use my right leg), but hopefully i will be having my skin grafts next week and if it all goes well i may be home two weeks from now.
there's a bunch of other stuff i want to get into about my stay here, but i'm way tired and it's hard to type. my ring and pinky finger have been numb since after my first surgery. i don’t know how long they will stay that way, but they make it a mission to type on the laptop.
i miss so many things, but i will hopefully get to do them all after i get out. i won't be the one driving, though, for God knows how long.

Advice: Have a patient advocate with you in the hospital.

Browse for related stories in the index at the very bottom of this page, or read another heart surgery story.

Thanks to espe for the source blog post.