Holy shit, what a cluster. I don’t really have much to add except that it seems to me that since his brother’s a doctor affiliated with the hospital, he should be encouraged to become more involved. Does he know all that’s going on?
It’s a jaw dropper that they want to release him without knowing what’s causing the problems.
This is not uncommon with hospitals in the US and Canada today. Part of the problem is that experience doctors don’t want to work in ER these days but set up office,clinic or become a specialist.
So ER are training grounds for doctors out of med school and inexperienced doctors.
In my city we got only two doctors that work in ER but doctor’s office and medical clinics every where. Most of the doctors don’t speak English in the ER.
The hospital administration order doctors to release patients because of shortage of hospital beds. So if you not dying they don’t want you.
Mega hospitals are worse than small town or small city hospitals because they are used for training ground for people coming out of med school. The small town or small city hospitals cons are lack of specialists,cancer and rehab so on. But you get lot of older more experience doctors.
It is political problem not a doctor shortage. The government should give more incentive to get doctors working in the ER so they don’t run away and work in office or clinic.
Holy ****!
I wish you the best of luck, but don’t have a lot to add. I do agree that you (or your sister) need to be assertive, and ask questions, and insist on being kept in the loop and listened to.
As for keeping records, absolutely do this. I wouldn’t keep records with a chip on your shoulder, but quietly and carefully as a “backup” to make sure. Hospitals make mistakes. Especially when the regular staff is on vacation and a patchwork of vacation staff are covering.
My experiences to date with the medical profession have been much better than yours. I’ve generally found that good doctors appreciate it when I keep good records and ask hard questions. Be assertive, but act as if you expect them to appreciate your doing so, if that’s possible.
Again, good luck.
FWIW the doctors in most Emergency departments are trained specialists, boarded in Emergency Medicine. Most Emergency Medicine residency programs are three and some four years long. Same or longer than Internal Medicine or Family Practice residencies.
And most of what has been happening in this saga has not been in the ED. The balls that are being dropped here sound more like ones of crappy communication processes between members of the (apparently disjointed) healthcare team with each other and with the patient and his family, leading to poor decisions being made and the patient and the family being left out of the loop.
If this is indeed systemic then the hospital does need to hear about the negative aspects of the experience. It is only with documentation of what goes wrong that those in charge of making improvements can identify where things are going wrong and try to implement fixes.
Meanwhile, here’s hoping he continues to improve!
Please make sure your sis calls the PCP first thing in the morning and brings him/her up to date.
And let us know how things are. Many of us are biting our fingernails up to the elbow.
FWIW, my experience with a “mega” hospital was excellent (University of Washington Medical Center).
Hi again everyone. Thanks very very much for your concern and suggestions.
Well. So Sunday Kim went to the hospital as early as possible hoping to catch the attending on rounds. Of course, instead the attending didn’t show up until mid-afternoon. The doc, in fairness, did indeed answer all of their questions thoroughly and finally switched up Matthew’s meds to the dreaded Oxycodone and, for when the pain is peaking, Oxycontin. (I guess the differences between the two are like Klonopin vs. Xanax–one is slower to kick in but is extended/continual release and thus lasts longer; the second is faster-acting but shorter-lived. Medical folks, do I have that right?)
The doc also explained the reasons why she believes this is a herniated disk and why an MRI isn’t necessary. She also said that as long as Matthew is continuing to have the pain relatively controlled, he’ll be released on Monday (today). But she added that if Kim/Matthew didn’t feel comfortable with that, there’s an appeals process and they could probably get that extended another day or so. The idea is to get the pain under control until he can begin physical therapy.
Nevertheless, despite the increased confidence, Kim and her mother-in-law (who literally last week had hip surgery–I think I mentioned that earlier in this saga) were able to get a 2nd opinion in the form of the mom-in-law’s orthopedic surgeon. This new doctor–who of course is a specialist–was very helpful and thorough in the examination and explanation, and happily she agreed with the diagnosis and the treatment plan, except (and frankly I cannot believe the original doctor didn’t come up with this) she ordered an anti-inflammatory in addition to the pain meds. (I don’t know if it’s an NSAID or steroids.) The surgeon recommended a spinal expert at the other Columbia Pres. building.
(Frankly I wish he could go to someone much closer to us, particularly at Weill Cornell which is only 10 blocks away. Columbia Presbyterian is about 5 miles away. Why should he have to schlep so far for phys. therapy if he doesn’t have to?)
So that’s basically the update. Matthew was able to take a shower today, and he was definitely in less pain once they began the Oxycodone, although it took longer to kick in (obviously, that’s the point of an extended release). Later once Kim got home, Matthew contacted her and said he was up to watching some Netflix 
which Kim took as a good sign, because he does love him some Netflix! (He hasn’t been able to concentrate on anything but the pain since all this started.)
I know Kim’s been writing all this stuff down and I’m going to follow your recommendations to suggest that she write/contact the hospital’s ombudsman regarding the shabby treatment she & Matthew experienced. Holiday weekend or not, there’s no excuse for crap they went through at a hospital with this reputation and caliber.
Anyway. After getting the proper orthopedic surgeon’s diagnosis that yes, it is almost certainly a herniated disc, we’re all feeling a great deal of relief. I started crying just now realizing that as optimistic as I’ve been for Kim’s sake, there’s been a little voice recording in the back of my head whispering bone cancer, bone cancer that I’ve been ignoring because a) part of me knew it was far less likely, but especially b) I didn’t want that thought anywhere in my eyes or voice when I saw or spoke to Kim about this. Getting the second opinion from an expert finally shut down that recording and I didn’t even realize how much tension it’s been causing me all this time.
Helena330, like you, my experience with a large hospital (NY Weill Cornell, as I’ve mentioned) has been terrific, both in the ER as a patient and a family member when my father had his accident. Like DSeid said, it just seems there was some awful breakdown in communications (or lack thereof) and maybe just some super-bad luck regarding the personalities of the nurses/attendants on staff stuck working this weekend.
Sooooo, with a major exhale, I can hopefully avoid having any further rants or diatribes! I know it’ll probably be a long road of recovery ahead for Matthew, and a lot of pressure on Kim, and all I can do is be there for both of them. Luckily we live in the same building so that makes things convenient. 
I know I’m repeating myself but thank you, so incredibly much, to everyone here, particularly ThelmaLou and Helena330 and eclectic wench and all those who’ve stuck with me the longest. It’s been just sucky as hell, but I can’t even express how helpful it is to have such people offering your varied experiences and recommendations and, of course, your encouragement and good wishes.
Glad you had some good news to report. I have to say you certainly kept your wits about you while reporting. Don’t hold back on the ranting and diatribes should they become necessary. First if all, Dopers rather like them, and second, if you keep them in, your head might explode.
I also had an excellent experience recently at the big university hospital, but in the past definitely had a few weekends from hell with my late husband at another hospital.
Keep us posted. Best to all of you.