Posted on 05/07/2010 6:49:11 AM PDT by smokingfrog
Sylvie Deslongchamps is dying of cervical cancer and wonders if things would have been different if someone had just made a phone call.
In early 2007, Deslongchamps, 46, went to Charles-Lemoyne Hospital, in Longeuil Que. for a check-up and Pap smear with her new gynecologist.
"I had a little concern," says Deslongchamps. "I have a family history of cervical cancer, which I told him about."
Her doctor never called back, so she assumed her tests turned up nothing. But a year and a half later, she began to have uncontrolled bleeding, so she went back to her doctor.
"After he looked at my file, he kept repeating 'Didn't someone call you last year?'" Deslongchamps remembers. "Then he told me I had cancer."
Despite undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments, the cancer could not be stopped. She now has been told she has six months to live.
Quebec's college of physicians says it has no guidelines for how doctors should manage patients' files. It says it is up to doctors to set up a system that works for them.
Deslongchamps and her caregiver, Celine Champagne, are now suing the doctor involved for $760,000 for negligence.
Lawyer Jean-Pierre Menard alleges steps were missed in Delongchamps' care.
"A doctor orders a test, he has the duty -- a legal duty -- to see the result and act accordingly," he says.
Patients' rights activist Paul Brunet agrees, adding that there should be follow-up visits after all important tests, regardless of the results.
"Especially for these grave illnesses, there should be a follow-up," says Brunet. "There should be a call back from the doctor or his medical team."
Champagne says people need to take their health matters into their own hands.
"Il faut rappeler, il faut deranger," says Celine Champagne...
(Excerpt) Read more at ctv.ca ...
Not that it absolves the doctor of any responsibility but the woman should not have assumed she was fine.
I have heard so many health care professionals get upset that someone calls for lab results before they are ready. “We will call you when they are in”, they say.
Well, think I’m going to cut out this story and send it to any Doctor who says that to my Mom again. She is making sure she gets the results from any medical test and that means this would not happen to her.
Sad, cautionary tale.
The doctor’s office should have followed up with her but if she has a family history and “concerns”, why did she wait 1.5yrs before her next visit and only when she started having problems? Pap smears are usually done annually.
Sad story, but I agree. You have to take some personal responsibility. She says she was worried about it, but didn’t check back?
There are several things people should know when dealing with medical problems that may save their life.
Rule number one is Never assume the test is negative. If someone does not call you, call them. It does take time to get results, so ask for a target time. If no one calls you within a couple of days after that, call yourself.
Nothing is terminal until you’re dead, that’s BS, she should try alternative things, never give up, never accept a terminal diagnoses, ever.
If Canada’s health service is run similarly to Britain’s, pap smears are not done annually until something like 35. Before that it’s a fight to get one and you have to say you’re having issues.
Paperwork, file costs, patient quality, insurance....all are expensive. How come this isn't researched, a program funded and then passed on to physicians? Duh. What industry doesn't' use data mining to identify costs, trends, opportunities? Pretty pathetic when your local discount auto parts store handles information processing better than your medical system.
I wonder who this someone is who her physician was thinking of?
If you have ANY test in a doctor’s office and don’t have the result in one week — CALL or go to the office to get the result!! Some tests may take longer than a week - if special testing done ASK when you should expect the result and contact them if you don’t hear from them by that date. Some offices tell the patient they will call only if abnormal... BS - results get lost, misfiled, or dropped by the lab! No news is not always good news!!! Be vigilant!
Your health is your responsibility. Find out when results are expected, give them an extra day or so, and call back if you don't hear anything.
The Socialized medical system worked!
I started going to a gyn several years ago who said no news is good news. No need to call. I felt so uncomfortable with that that this year I went back to my former doctor whose practice I didn’t like but which at least gave patients test results.
Good advice Froggie. :)
“Rule number one is Never assume the test is negative. If someone does not call you, call them”
I always call my doctor. A couple of years ago, there was something wrong with my results but I received no call and ended up calling them. They weren’t negligent, I just didn’t update my phone number when I moved. You never know what may be preventing you from contact.
Oh, no! I’ve had annual exams since I was 19-20. I went 2yrs between once and got scolded. lol
My dr sends a letter regardless.
All doctors should. This doctor just lost my business.
Agree but if you don’t get it ... don’t always blame the docs office. Lots of things can go wrong... Patients sometimes don’t update their address - or may have put the wrong zip code - or the nurse may have transposed the zip code numbers — lost in mail — or my favorite when patients complain they didn’t get it —— yea, I got something from your office but I thought it was a bill so I threw it away without opening it!! And sometimes a clerical screw up happens and the nurse/office person never really mailed it! Your phone call is the fail-safe.
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