My horrible Botox experience

[catlover2 ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close catlover2]

I had the Botox injections on Wednesday morning. The surgery was a complete disaster. I was supposed to have an epidural but I ended with a spinal because the anesthesiologist was late and she didn’t have time to do an epidural. The epidural was for pain control, it was supposed to be left in until Thursday afternoon. The spinal wore off about an hour after the surgery and I was in soo much pain. My doctor ordered 2mg of morphine every two hours. There was no way that 2mg of morphine was going to touch my pain. As the spinal was wearing off, I apparently had a pseudoseizure. I have never seen someone have a seizure so how could I fake one? My doc then ordered a psychiatry consult. WHAT! The nurses in the recovery room claim that I threatened them and that I was a danger to myself and others. I should have known that my doc never believed me. He was just using me so that he could learn how to do the Botox injections. I also woke up with an ice pack condom in my vagina. I had to beg for over an hour to get it taken out. The ice pack did help with the burning but it also caused horrible cramps. I couldn’t pee and I asked the nurses to cath me to help relieve some of the pressure. The nurses said my doc didn’t order a straight cath or a Foley cath so I was going to have to wait until I could pee on my own. I took a LoFric out of my bag and cathed myself. I never thought that I would appreciate having a catheter inserted seeing how they normally hurt to insert. After a room on the pediatrics ward was ready for me, I was transferred upstairs. I was escorted by a security guard the entire way. The security guard was ordered to stay outside of my room for over an hour after I arrived on the ward. I also had a nurse technician in my room at all times. I was not allowed to leave the room, open up the drapes to look outside, or try to use the bathroom by myself. I was so humiliated. My doctor ordered Lortab 5’s for pain control once I got to my room. I take stronger pain meds than that on a regular basis. Once I asked for pain meds, it was over three hours before I was offered the first dose of Lortab. I went to use the bathroom and when I looked at my lower abdomen and vagina, I had black and purple bruises in the shape of a handprint all over down there. I don’t know how they got there, but bruises were not there before the surgery. As soon as I got back to my bed, I just started to cry. I have been through hell the past year and a half and now my doc thinks I’m crazy and I’m being denied pain meds. I also think I might have been raped while I was in the hospital. I’m bruised and swollen and I have weird discharge coming from my vagina.
My birthday is on Sunday but I’m not in the mood to celebrate. I thought that the Botox would give me some relief from my symptoms but now I feel like I have been brutally raped and beaten. My regular pain meds are not helping with the pain. I tried calling my regular doc today and her office staff said she didn’t have time to see me. I don’t want to go to the ER because I would have to wait for hours just to be told there is nothing they can do for me.

[petrie86 ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close petrie86]

OMG I WAS HORRIFIED READING YOUR STORY!!!! I really dont know what to think other than you are not crazy!!! I dont know much about botox but something about your story doesnt make sense to me. If I were you I would get a lawyer immediatly. There shouldnt be bruses down by your vagina. I just dont get it. I feel so bad for you I want to cry! I will be praying for you. I hope you get taken care of soon!!!!!! I would go to the hospital if I were you.

((HUGS))
Rachel

[humpieumpumkin IC Friend Find all posts View Profile Close humpieumpumkin]

Ditto to everything Petrie said! Get a Lawyer! Mal practice!!!!!!!!! Also, I know you are still in shock, but I would consider going to the ER to get a rape kit done. The material they collect is time sensitive. I'm not trying to be rude or unsympothetic, but if that did happen to you, there is a better chance of catching the person. I am saying prayers for you. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. You story made me cry. Try to be strong. We are all here for you.

Erika

[Sarojini Support Leader Find all posts View Profile Close Sarojini]

Oh, God, that is HORRIBLE... something strange happened if you have bruises in the shape of a hand print around your pubic area. Do you have bruises anywhere else or just down there? I would see a doctor about these bruises and symptoms, and yes, perhaps even discuss the situation with a lawyer. You certainly were mistreated when you were forced to have security watch you for no good reason and when you were forced to endure a distended bladder for a long time without a cath.... and if you were raped, oh, I don't even know what to say

[catlover2 ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close catlover2]

I have bruises from my belly button down to my vagina. Some of them are still black and purple. I just got back from the walk in clinic at my doctor's office. My regular doc didn't have time to see me today so I had to see the doc on call. He thought I was lying about having surgery done. He said he had never heard of a doctor not managing post-op pain. I had to reason with him for almost an hour before he would write for some pain meds. I wasn't asking for a month's supply. I was only asking for 6 tablets. I have an appointment with my regular doc on Monday afternoon. I ended up with an Rx for Methadone. I just looked up the drug interactions and the Methadone interacts with several of my other meds. I will probably end up going to the ER to get an Rx for something else. I'm just so angry right now I don't feel like dealing with the doc in the ER.

[Babs RN Angel watching over us Find all posts View Profile Close Babs RN]

Jeepers! I am horrified as a health care professional reading this. I am so sorry. You shouldn't have bruises in that area. The security guard and "sitter thing" --oh, I don't think so. If you were coming out of anesthesia of any sort, how can you fake anything???? Not only that, the overdistended bladder thing is a violation of the Nurse Practice Act as well as a bunch of other things. I take Methadone with pretty good success. I also wanted to say that you can certainly make anonymous complaints to your state's health department, board of nursing and medical quality assurance. Not knowing all the details, I know you can most certainly do that and share everything that happened without giving your name. Many prayers headed your way. Stay strong, sweetie.

Hugs,
Barb

[sacausa ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close sacausa]

Wow that is horrible! I would go and file charges at your local police department or better yet... go to a hospital ER (a different hospital from where you were treated) and tell them that you think you may have been sexually assaulted and they will take it from there... you NEED to do something so that doesn't happen to someone else.

[ICNDonna ICN Staff Find all posts View Profile Close ICNDonna]

I also think you should go to an ER at a different hospital so they can examine you. I know you have been through a nightmare, but there are some instances when people go berserk from anesthesia. My father had to be physically restrained when he was waking up from anesthesia --- he was actually trying to attack everyone in sight, including my mother. We could hear him screaming; he thought they were all trying to kill him. He was fine once he was fully awake, but they did have a guard for him until then.

When he finally was awake and rational, he didn't recall any of it and wondered why "that guy" was standing at his door watching him.

I hope you feel better very soon.

Sending gentle hugs,
Donna

[Sarojini Support Leader Find all posts View Profile Close Sarojini]

Just wanted to let you know that Donna is right -- it's less likely to go beserk from a spinal anesthetic than a general, but it can happen if you have a reaction to the anesthetic because some has flowed up to the brain during the infusion.

It's because there are stages of anesthesia -- stage one is when you're just going to sleep, stage two is when your nerves actually turn off, stage three is surgical anesthesia (where they try to keep you during the operation), and stage four is danger zone, where death can occur (they try to avoid this one, obviously). Stage two is the most dangerous period, because as your nerves turn off, the inhibitory mechanisms shut off -- this can lead to vomiting, thrashing around, shouting out, choking on the breathing tube, etc -- and most anesthesiologists use drugs to speed you through this stage.

However, when you wake up, if the anesthesiologist has miscalculated dosages even slightly, you go through the stages backwards (from three to two to one to awake). So, when you hit stage two in recovery, you can shout out, flail around, swing at nurses, and the like -- but you won't usually remember it because you'll fall asleep again to pass through stage one and then wake up for good. Recovery rooms are full of this stuff, and your nurses should have known what was going on.

I have vague memories of a quick stage two passage after my last surgery -- I didn't thrash, but I have vague recollections of shouting out some unintelligible things before sleeping for a while.

So, it seems what you had was a fairly normal, if extreme, reaction to something they gave you in the OR. If that happened, it is possible you don't remember slots of time during your surgery as well... which is when the bruising incident could have occured.



Definitely see a doc at another hospital...

[jen74 ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close jen74]

OH My Gosh is all I can say. I am in shock. Did you have any of your family members with you? If you dont mind me asking, how old are you? They have absolutely NO RIGHT to treat you like a prisoner in a hospital. I would take that idiot doctor to court and sue him.
I think if they did that to me, my hubby would have brought a lawyer to the hospital right then and there, then you would be treated with respect real quick because they dont like lawyers.
I am not understanding how things got out of hand like that. If I were you, I would demand that a family member be with you at all times at that hospital, especially if you think someone sexually abused you. That is serious. I would contact a lawyer ASAP. I am so sorry you had to go through that.
Jen

[Moonheart ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close Moonheart]

What Sarojini was saying, very true. I found that lying about your weight because you are embarassed is never a good thing.

I had a procedure, can't remember which one, and they didn't weight me just asked my weight. Well I weighed more than that. So obviously the anesthesiologist didn't give me enough meds. I was in this semi-awake state the whole time and felt like I was screaming at them to stop, felt like the doctor was on top of me (felt like rape), and I could still feel all the pain from the procedure. (Oral)

I hope they find out what happened to you and you get justice.

[Kara29 ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kara29]

Catlover,

I'm so sorry to hear what happened to you! I hope that with the love and support of friends and family you can find out what happened.

Sending you some strength!

Kara

[deborah bush ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close deborah bush]

Hi! Catlover
I just can not believe the way you got treated by your doctor,anes,and people in recovery room. How many times has your doctor done the botox and where did he put the botox injections into you? I have had the botox injections done in the last 3 1/2 years. I go to I doctor in Miami, FL and is name is Dr. Anglio Gousse. I hope that you do report it to propt places. I hope you feel better soon. Will be thinking about you!!!

Deborah Bush

[cia ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close cia]

I freaked out on Morphine after an ectopic pregnacy, I had been told just to ask for Demerol from that day forward. My daughter went through a bunch of surgeries when she was 3. She was always ornary in the recovery room, The recovery room staff are supposed to be professionally trained to deal with this kind of circumstance, I am so sorry for what you have been through, It is so horrible, out of all the people you must have passed by on your way from recovery to your room I can't believe noone showed compassion and tried to help, hopefully you will feel well enough to deal with it soon.

[tigger_gal ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close tigger_gal]

OMG I am so sorry this has happened, I would do what Donna said, go to another er and document everything, have them take pictures, you take pictures, get copies of the er report before you leave. Then seek an atty.