Steve's Father

Steve's dad had surgery Thursday morning to repair a hernia. Hernia surgery has been performed for decades, and has become routine, so much so that it has been perfected to the point that even new techniques have been developed. 

During the operation Thursday morning, for reasons unknown, the surgeon was caught off guard by the severity of Steven's father's hernia. Instead of a 45 minute operation, he was on the table for an hour and a half.

During the operation, Steven's father was intubated. Because he was anesthetized for a 45 minute operation, he began to wake before the surgeon was finished and panicked at the sensation of the tube down his throat. He bit the tube, severing it, resulting in aspiration.

In an effort to quickly anesthetize Steve's dad, the anesthesiologist overdosed him.

What is a routine, outpatient surgery has become a nightmare.

For the next 24 hours, Steven's father did not regain consciousness. When he finally did begin to wake, the hospital immediately released him. 

Steven's mother is 5' 2", 110 lbs. Steven's father is 6' 2" and 170 lbs. 

The drive from the hospital to Steve's parents house is about an hour. By the time they were home, Steve's dad had yet to fully regain consciousness - slipping in and out of a disoriented state of mind. Steven's mother looked at her husband - 170 lbs of dead weight - and knew that she would never be able to help him into the house. She tried anyway, and he toppled over onto her in the driveway. She was pinned underneath him.

I don't know how she did it, but she finally managed to get him indoors and into bed. He remained unconscious for all of last night. This morning, when he wouldn't stir, she called 911. Then she called us to keep us informed.

When Steve talked to her yesterday, he told her that he was flying up to help, but she refused. This morning after they spoke, she again said No when Steve told her that he wanted to be with them. I told Steve to go anyway.

Right now, he is enroute to Atlanta. From Atlanta, he'll drive 2 hours to his parent's home in South Carolina.

His father will likely be in the hospital for another few days. He is in bad shape.

Following protocol, the hospital is disavowing wrongdoing.

It is bad enough when medical professionals make mistakes, but when they adopt a smug demeanor, and look you straight in the eye and lie about everything, THAT is why people lawyer up.

I am sad. 

It is one thing to have a rarely performed, highly specialized surgery with great risks, and to suffer complications from that type of procedure, but a hernia operation? You're sore for a couple of weeks, but you don't DIE from a hernia.

I feel angry because this is pure negligence. I am sad because this is wrong.