Question - quality of care - sort of long

[sweetdreamz]

hello all. I havent posted in a while and just wanted a general opinion. Please forgive the length but i wanted to give you a background on what has been going on.

I go in to hospital two days ago at 1pm, since i was scheduled for an NST anyway because of the high blood pressure, but i had called earlier and let whoever answered know about my symptoms (contractions,some spotting, headaches getting worse) and they said theyd check it out. So i get there, and i get intercepted by the nurse who does my NST. I tell her im going first to L&D and she asks me why so i explain. She proceeds to tell me not to go and "take up a bed and waste their time" because unless i have heavy bleeding like a period, that its not labor. I tell her "yeah but what about the pain" she says baby probably dropped. I say No...he dropped like 2 weeks ago, so she says he must have dropped more.
!?!??!?!?
Long story short, she calls a resident, NOT my doc or the high risk doc i see, and I tell him that Ive not had any internal exams at all, so i dont know if im dilated or not. He tells me that they "dont do" internals until 40w. I tell him "but i thought after 35 or so weeks you check every appt?" He says no, thats some old 1970's and 1980's stuff and "medical science has changed"
Then he proceeds to tell me that he doesnt really think i have gestational hypertension, that my doctor just sends people for testing for no reason. I tell him that i gained 30lbs in 3 weeks, then 10 more the following week. He tells me that i must be eating too much. [:(!]
WHAT?? so with bleeding and pain, no one bothered to check me out, and they wouldnt let me go to the L&D area since i would have seen the same resident anyway (they are short of staff because of holiday schedule) So i didnt even get looked at at all! Then they did an NST and proceed to tell me there are some dips in my baby's heart rate, but they STILL dont find it necessary to check me out. Couldnt they have taken two mins to do so?

Does this sound right to you all?

What happened yesterday/early today -
I went home from that appt. annoyed and not really wanting to go back to that doctor. My friend calls me last night to ask me how im feeling. She just had her son 3 months ago, so weve been sort of helping each other out the whole time. I tell her that i still have the abdominal pain and what feels like cramps, plus i think my BP is acting up because i had a blurry left side field of vision and nasty headaches plus my eyes hurt and legs were really stiff and swollen. I didnt really want to go to the hospital because of the day before, but she insists and takes me in.

I go in and get to talk to this awesome nurse who i liked from other visits. She asks me lots of questions, takes some blood tests and really is helpful and pleasant. She takes my BP several times, about 10 mins apart each time and it had topped out at 154/102. My normal is 110/70. So she says all signs point to them keeping me, and not to worry because my doctor was there that night. Its about 11:30 at that point. She hooks me to the monitor and then leaves because another patient was ready to deliver. I then wait about 2 hours for a doctor to come in, and guess what, its not my doctor. So she says shes going to examine me but first she needs to do a catheter (sp?) to get a clean urine sample (didnt want too much protein due to spotting) She does it and does the roughest job of it. I know its not suposed to feel good, but im still bleeding as we speak! Then she does an internal and takes all kinds of swabs, and does an equally rough job of it, and says im not dilated, but didnt say anything about effacement or anything. I come to find out later as im leaving that she forgot all the swabs she took on the table in the room! they didnt ever make it to the lab.

As far as blood pressure, she gives me some explanation that didnt really make sense to me. She says since i have high blood pressure in pregnancy that they EXPECT it to be high, (???) and to go home. Im still elevated, plus still have headaches, but she tells me that if i get more headaches or blurry vision to come back in. I STILL had the headache. And from 11pm to 3:30 am, my own doctor didnt even take 30seconds to even poke her head in and say something to me. Not even hello.

Im so frustrated with this hospital. All the nurses are really nice and helpful, but the doctors treat you like they are too busy for you. And when i talk it feels like they arent hearing what im saying. Should i seek another doctor or just deal with it because im so far along. Im now 36w4d. I dont know if another doctor would even take me, but im just so frustrated by this place.

Sorry for the length. I appreciate any and all thoughts and opinions on this.

Diana

[mada]

DO NOT just deal with it!! That bp was very high and the pain and bleeding isn't normal....(at least not very normal). I would call my doc immedialtey and tell him/her everything that's been happening and that you want to have all the tests done again. It doesn't matter how far along you are, PE is dangerous no matter what!! I am so sorry you are being treated like this. It's unbelievable to me that there are medical people out there that think this is normal[}:)]. Please do what you have to do..even if it means you have to consult another doc and do it now. I hope all works its way out and i will be praying that someone really hears you. Let us know...

Mada Harpster

Sam 6-29-00 36weeks P.E.
Ben 11-03-01 No P.E.

[taras mom]

Grrrrr![}:)] I'm with Mada; there's no excuse for this kind of treatment. (Holiday schedule? Babies don't take holidays, and diseases don't take holidays.) Since you didn't get to see your usual doctor, it might be worth another try, but if you don't get the attention you need you should go to L&D, either there or at another hospital. I'm glad your friend is there to look after you. Good luck!

Carol (38)
DH Bill (40)
Tara Mairichi
12/7-12/9, 2002
The Mightiest Little Angel

[paljane8]

ACCKKK!!!

Are you taking your bp at home? Did they tell you what your protein was at the hospital? Also, did they get the results of the blood draw before you were released? NO-this does NOT sound right and you are right in being concerned. Headaches and visual disturbances are symptoms of worsening PE. Bleeding can be a number of things 1 of which is placental abruption. Are you doing kick counts and how is baby scoring on NST's? Call your doc and make him/her understand how bad you feel. Trust your feelings. Your description of how you feel is frightening to me-please take care and be extra, extra cautious!

Nancy-35
dh-34
ds-8yrs
dd-7yrs
Scott-born 05-14-99 @38 weeks-PE
Janie-born 05-12-03 @37 weeks-PIH, small for gestational age (oligo and low blood flow)
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/4/4lbs/

[maxs mom]

Hi Diana,
Stories like this make me so ANGRY! I have had numerous people tell me similar stories about the care they got while pregnant and NOBODY bother to think it might be PE or they probably didn't even know what PE was.

I 100% agree with everyone else. It concerns me that you have the headache, along with the HBP. That is definitely a sign of Pre-eclampsia. PE can be a deadly disease, to both baby and mommy, so there is no excuses for you being treated like this! You need to be monitored more closely by a doctor who is good. I would recommend that you call your doctor and talk to her, but I am not so sure she is the right one, even if you have had good experience with her before. I would call her and tell them it is urgent, explain your symptoms, especially the headache, HBP, fuzzy vision, bleeding, the baby's heart dips, etc. I would demand a time when she will call you OR when she would meet you at hospital for assesment (and it has to be THAT day, not 24 hours later). Trust me when I say, PE can go from bad to worse in a matter of hours, it happened to me! A second option, if your insurance will cover it, call a Perinatologist in your area and explain to them the mistreatment you have been getting and that you realy want to be checked out by a specialist. Hopefully because they are specialists, they will get you in right away because they have seen this way too many times.

Please be persistent. You need a thourough examination, period! Don't brush this off, I don't want you to be sorry in the long run because you weren't persistent. Also, you have nothing to apologize for. You are a pregnant Mommy. You have every right to good medical care, not what you are getting

And DEFINITELY, if you are having headaches you need to get to hospital ASAP as they had mentioned the last time you were in. This is definitely a sign the PE is getting worse.

I pray everything goes well for you. Keep us updated.

Kara (33)
DH, John (35)
Max, 1/20/03, 25 wks, 534g. (IUGR), severe PE
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/m/mightymax/

[laura]

I agree with all the others-- your treatment was unacceptable. Nurses hold a wealth of information, but it is unusual and abnormal for a nurse to tell you that you don't deserve for whatever reason to be evaluated. The docs should be the ones to decide that. And don't let anyone discourage you from getting the treatment you and your baby deserve!

Unless they did neurological tests, they have no way of knowing if the visual disturbances are from cerebral edema or anything else AND I would want to make certain they ruled out abruption before they sent you home. Make sure you do your kick counts! My instructions were 10 movements in two hours, but I've heard 10 movements in one hour being the norm as well.

Also- my baby had decelerations as my amniotic fluid dropped and her cord got compressed with movement- a frequent complication of hypertension. I would ask for a ultrasound or Biophysical profile to rule out oligohydramnios as soon as possible.

how is your relationship with your peri? Do you trust their judgment? I'd bypass the peanut gallery and make an appointment as soon as possible with the peri, and make sure to highlight the visual disturbances you're having! best wishes, and let us know how you're doing!

Laura-28
DH Jack-30
Allie 5-13-98 (35 weeks-pre-e)
Baby Camille 4-17-03 (36 weeks- htn and oligo)
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/c/camilleandallie/

[sweetdreamz]

thanks very much for the replies all.
As to my relationship with the peri, to be honest ive only met her once. My doctor will simply go ask her some questions and i get the shortened version i guess of what they have discussed.
Wed will be the first time i will actually have the opportunity to be seen by her, as she is supposed to be performing my ultrasound, which i assume will be my last since i will be 37 weeks.

I read the article that someone had posted a link to on here that was titled "how to get your doctor to take you seriously" or something along those lines, and i found it very helpful. Im actually taking a family member's advice and bringing a printout of it with me tomorrow morning to see my doctor.

Ive been still having headaches, and my BP at home has been consistently around 140/90, give or take a few points on both sides depending on time of day. For whatever reason, its lower in the afternoons but higher first thing in morn and late night. Im trying to be diligent about it, even if the doc isnt. I can always go to a different hospital emergency room if worse comes to worse.Once again all, thanks for the replies both now and when i first came here, and ill update you all on what happens tomorrow morning and at the ultrasound.

Diana