Two vivid episodes of dreadful (and homophobic, or at the very least intensely clue-free) bedside manner.
Over 4 years ago my 92-year-old mother was in the hospital. She had fallen, and after 3 days there were major complications. Then her heart stopped.
This guy came over to me and showed me a “DNR” form that my mother had signed years ago. His job was to make sure the patient’s wishes are respected. I explained to him that my mother and I had discussed this issue several times, and her wish was that she wouldn’t be kept alive in a vegetative state; but if there was a chance of recovery she wanted that chance. I also told him that I was her executor.
My mother was not in a vegetative state. She had been awake and lucid all day. The only problem was that her heart had stopped.
The guy just kept showing me the form and her signature, and I kept trying to explain to him what my mother’s wishes were.
At one point he said to me, “This may be our only opportunity to let her go. Considering her age, we could bring her back and she might linger for years. We shouldn’t pass up this opportunity to let her go. Just think how expensive the alternative may be.”
I screamed at him, "An OPPORTUNITY??? This is an opportunity to let her die, so we won’t have to be bothered taking care of her? So we’ll save money by just killing her now???"
I guess I got my point across. They re-started her heart, but she never regained consciousness. She passed away the following morning.
I will never forget or forgive that bastard. I wrote a letter to the hospital administrators, and they sent a letter that they were “looking into the matter.”
Let’s see, when I was @ 5, My Mom and Dad were told I had Cystic Fibrosis. The Doctor looked at me for 3 or 4 seconds no exam. BTW I will be 42 this year. They got a second opinion and it turns out I was/am allergic to just about anything.
The (I hesitate to use the term Dr.) that diagnosed me with diabetes said I only had it because I was fat and lazy.
I have been diagnosed as “stupid”.
Eye exam. Firstly I have had two infections in my right eye, many years before this exam, and after that time I have had a serious aversion to anything touching my eye. I warned him in advance that every time they did the little puffer test it was easy to do the left eye, but the right eye would pose a problem.
He called me a pussy when I jerked away. I didn’t catch what he said while he was getting the stuff to numb the eye. In my defense it is psychological but I can’t suppress it any more than I can stop my heart beating, or prevent my reflexes.
My father cannot vomit, he has for 10 years or more been on fentanyl for pain. You should never let Jack the ripper do an ulcer repair. Three other doctors, two specialists, have done imaging etc. and have stated they could not believe the amount of damage done. One asked him if he had sued for malpractice and was shocked that he didn’t. (Dr. Jack the Ripper ran away from his malpractice suits in our state by moving away to another state where he proceeded to lose his license, then moved to another country.) His problems extend to his intestines are twisted and looped, when things get stuck he swells up like the Good Year blimp. He has very little control over bowel movements and is pretty much in constant pain.