well, it was too good to true...every thing was going well, plans set..hotel and flight booked...dr.c packed..;then I went to see the anasthesiologist today!
Begining was fine, took my history etc but then I mentioned the need for a pic line and that Dr. C thought it was a good idea!
Well....boom!
"Your doctor is no one here! I am the boss! I do what I want! No one can tell me what to do! I know my job......etc..." until i was in tears.
I ltterally jumped back a step and nearly fell over. The man was screaming at me! Just yell for 5 full minutes. You'd think that I had stepped on his privates or something!
I tried to explain that the 3 previous surgeries it took the anasthesiologist 2 full hours to find an I.V line only to have them burst each time...with Dr. C ready and waiting in the back and grow more stressed by the minute!
My I.Vs have to be changed two or Three times a day or more and then it is usually 7 -10 tries before they get a pitiful vein.
They ended up putting it in my neck the last time after trying both ankles 5 or six times each!
Even the pic line took 2 hours and a dozen tries! but once it was in I was free of the stress and pain of bad i.v.s
NO! he will not do it! I am being taken in the night before but he refuses to even try in advance..I am going to have a surgeon arrive after an 8 hour international flight with just enough time to shower and grab a bite and then show up for a pre-op meeting and go into o.r and find me stuck with no I.V!!!!!
I left the clinic in near tears!
I was calm until then.
Then I went to confirm my hotel reservation and it all started again!
Refuse to let him into the room at 10:30am. I have to pay for the night before and €175.00 for the night! Just so that they can garentee him the room!
And they want me there because I am paying! I told them that I will be in a clinic awaiting surgery! theytold me to drop in anyway!!!!! Are they nuts?
1 hour at the hotel plus a dead cell phone and being unable to put the tube in all day!
Being unconscience feels like a dream right about now!!!!!
Is Murphy's law out to get me??????
Andmy best friend's mother just broke her arm so I don't know if she can now come to take care of me!
Let it all be over soon....
Tomorrow is another day
sharon

Sharon.... I cannot believe the bad luck streak you are having. I feel so bad, and wish I was there to help you with anything!
The only good thing about bad luck is that it makes you due for some good luck soon. Hopefully this theory will ring true and things will turn around just in time.
I'm hoping for better times for you, you deserve them! Cheryl

Hang in there Sharon! Things will work out. I doubt Dr C will come all this way and not do what needs to be done even if you don't have an IV yet. He sounds like the type that will step in and take control. Just try to relax (ha! I know that won't really happen.) Just hang in there the best you can!

The anesthesiologist may feel free to rant and rave at you,,,,,With A world renowned surgeon flying in for a case, I'm thinking he'll back-off. One thing to take it out on the helpless, I'm thinking he's NOT gonna want to step on Dr. C's toes...if he wants to keep any kind of reputation , that is. My guess, you'll get your pic line. Let Dr. C handle it. Prob with just a raised eyebrow. Keep use posted. I'm praying it will go ok!
LoriP

My gosh, what a nightmare! I can understand a doctor feeling threatened by an "outsider" coming in and calling the shots, but his behavior really makes no sense at all. This should be a learning experience for all and regardless of who and where you were treated in the past, your history should have been important to the anesthesiologist. Plus, a PICC line is not the only central line they can do. They can do a subclavian faster and with the same result.

I certainly hope things have calmed down by now and that your procedure is proceeding as planned.

Fingers crossed!

Jan

Thanks all for your support..at least I have a voice of sanity in a world of fools!
I recieved a lovely call from the French surgeon who is as kind as can be (how wonderful !).
after speaking for a moment I mentioned that there seemed to have been a little problem with the anasthesiologist ( lord my spelling is bad today! ) and that I may have ruffled some feathers!
I recieved a kind word and an apology from him! Not to worry, he shall have a word with him and take care of it.
It only goes to prove that when you truely have a heart you have nothing to prove!
As for the hotel saga...as of 4pm today they still wanted me to come down Friday morning with dr. C!!!!!
I managed to get the manager on the phone and he wants me to pay a higher fee for an empty room the night before to guarentee the the room for the next day Isn't that why I made a reservation? Which I am forced to do if I want Dr. C to get some rest and a shower before OR!!!!
So 175.00€ out the window for nothing! But I am getting him a free breakfast ( upon his arrival!?!@!?) I doubt that he will be hungry!
Some things never cease to amaze me.
He then asked me to fax him my credit card and i.d! (isn't that why I went there yesterday?) only they refused to take it yesterday. I do not have a fax machine here.
"So, why don't I JUST GO DOWN THERE? THEY CAN NOT CHECK HIM IN WITHOUT MY CREDIT CARD AND MY SIGNITURE! "(I live 2 hours away by public transport!!!) Isn't that why I went down there and spent 2 hours yesterday?????
Emailed me a doc to fax back...what don't they understand about the fact that I do not have a fax machine! I offered to drop in hooked up to a pic line ( if someone wants to put one in!) and capped and gowned! He refused.
Does this all appear unnecessisarily difficult to even the most synical of you all? Were are talking a 5 star hotel here, not a hole in the wall!
I am starting to look forward to being sedated for a while...
Got the tube in this afternoon on the first try!
I have no idea why it works or doesn't but I consider myself blessed every time it does!
So...the beat goes on...let us pray for no turbulents and a really nice pilot!
More news tomorrow...the hotel has to call me back!
Sharon

Hotels! It seems the fancier they are, the more they stick it to you. Most anywhere with a chain (Marriott, Hilton, etc.) you can reserve online or with a phone call and give your credit card by phone or online booking. I just did that for my brother and sister-in-law who are coming to town next month. Is that the only hotel around? I guess it's a bit late to reserve elsewhere now? And I certainly cannot see reserving the night before. The usual thing if you want an early check-in is an extra fee at most.

Jan

I did! I booked via Booking.com online....it is the Le Meridian Etoile in Paris....big hotel, no one knows what the other guy is doing...no fee...full night to pay for...they call it prebooking, I call it highway robbery! Forcing me to pay an extra night to get in before 10:30 (or later, who knows with flights from Canada...Snow?)
But I can not risk a sleepy, tired, dirty doctor...if I am paying for everything else...what's 175.00€ (groceries for a week!)
let it all work out..let me be healthy and I can go back to work....don't start me on the cell phone fiasco on the same day....dead phone...no service...the usual...is this really my life?
Where is the supposed glamour of Paris...Lovely fashion...I leak down my leg and drop my tube down public toilets...with pee covered seats and no paper...please remind me of the glamourous life I am living here!
Sharon

Those online hotel bookings are not as bulletproof as booking online directly through the hotel website. Plus, 10:30 is pretty early. Early check-in usually means around noon. But, if you prepay, you should not have to show up to save the room, especially since it was arranged in advance that he was not to show up until the morning. I also would not be surprised if the breakfast was over by the time he got there. Most places I've been, its over by 9 or 10, and the later time is the weekend days.

Most hospitals have a place for a doc to take a shower and lie down for a while. Generally, its for the on call doc, but I'd think they would find a way to accommodate him. But, what do I know about foreign facilities???? Nothing...

I have a feeling things will work out. It seems that you have a great surgeon there and he won't let anything seriously go wrong.

Jan

Thanks Jan,
On my dad's wedding band I discovered the words..."Trust in Love". My husband now wears it.
I trust in both love and Dr. C and his ability to help me although I am sure that he will do his best, I am terrified that my body will not heal well again and distroy his work...It is now my own body that I do not trust.
How can I when it keeps inventing new complications?
I am praying that this time it is the pouch that has slipped off of the wall and fallen into the pelvis..therefore pulling the valve down with it....that would explainthe fact that the fuller it gets the harder to get the tube in and the leakage....Nice senario if ever there was one!
It is easier to fix than rebuilding a valve or recreating the whole pouch and valve....Miracles now take totally different forms for me and my prayers are more like ' Dear Lord, Let it only have fallen, no valve slippage...no damage..
I don..'t know what my chances are anymore I only know that I will do my best to heal and be good.
I will not have access to internet while in the clinique I think but I will try to get a message out to someone....
Dear Lord, give me the courage not to bite the hand of the anasthesiologist when he *****s me for the 27th time in O.R trying to get a line in
...the serinity to trust my surgeon and the team and the intelligence to know the difference between the two of them...and please Lord, make sure that the translator does not get the hiccups in the middle of the procedure
Sharon

Ah Sharon,
What a saga you have going on! I hope everything works out for the best in the end. Please coordinate with someone that has internet access so they could post something in your stead; we'd love to hear how you're doing.
All the best,
Lori

Thanks Olive...I will try to get someone to email out a memeber to let them know how I am...in the meantime 4 more phone calls from the hotel today...each one asking me if I plan to pay for the room with my credit card!!!! and could I please fax out a copy etc...I finally blew my top at 4pm...it had to happen sometime..I was really, really rude without the 4 letter words...just angry at all the wasted time on the phone for the last 4 days when I could be doing somehting else..anything else...like relaxing...or reading or cleanning my house!!
I also had to run way across tomwn (1.5 hours!) to change my brand new cell phone because it didn't work either...the old one doesn't pick up or send calls ( really usefull but the camera is nice!! ) Makes for easy contact with the doctor!
Nothing is going easy just more and more difficulty for the small stuff...let the big stuff be well then...
Bad news...I did not win the lottery but will perservere.
I will be sure to inform you when I do ( all sums above 1 million shall be declared! over 10 million and I endow something in Dr. C's name!)Anything over 15 and we are all going to have one major party here in Paris!!!!
I will be waiting! It will be BYOT (that is bring your own tube!)
So, I will go make dindin, the last for a long while and pray that the reservation is ok.
sharon

Sharon,

Did you get me e-mail? Please check and let me know. Thanks, JW

Yes I did and thank you for the kind wishes and advice. I answered you directly.
Sharon

I just sent you a new e-mail.