Chapter 19: Survived the Surgery

      I was surprised when I woke up after the surgery.  Knowing I had survived the operation, my family was smiling with tears of joy.  I knew I had a chance.  The whole panel of doctors visited me in the hospital and the room was full.  I felt like I was on the television series, House, because I was getting so much attention, and all of the doctors were communicating with each other, all knowledgeable about my case.  I learned that even though Dr. Gloviczki had trouble getting the artery inserted on my left side due to the mess left behind by my second back surgery, he did succeed.  I was lucky he succeeded, but if it hadn’t been for repeated misdiagnoses, this drastic surgery would not have been necessary.
      When I returned home on 5/27/2007, I had a lot of healing to do before I would be able to walk enough to see if the surgery had made a difference.  The weeks went by and I became stronger.  The patient advocates at the UW visited me several times during these weeks.  There had been no response from the Dean Administration regarding my written complaint in May of 2006.  The advocacy staff at the Center for Patient Partnerships felt that my original complaint to the Dean Administration was too passive and should be resubmitted.  They filled out another complaint form for me and they submitted it with my approval.  The complaint requested that Dean send pertinent meeting minutes and outcomes.  After two weeks, there was no response.  The advocacy staff called the Dean Administration to inquire, and they were told the letter must have been lost.  I re-delivered the complaint form again and then received a letter, 4 months later, on Sept. 19, 2007 (and over a year since my original complaint), stating that the request would not be honored.  I was to trust the administration to look into the matter.
     This was devastating for me to accept.  I had been through so much and suffered for so many years, and yet I still did not have a voice in the system.  If I had been violated in any other respect in our society, I would have had other avenues to pursue or other options to recover my rights, but when it came to the system of doctors and administrators who were responsible for my care, I had reached a dead end.  The Patient Advocate staff felt maybe I should seek out a counselor to give me support and guidance regarding the emotional trauma and the feeling of having been physically violated so many times over the years.  I had so many questions – was it the doctors who didn’t pay attention, or didn’t they care?  Was it for the insurance money?  Was I just given unnecessary tests and surgeries because I was healthy and could possibly survive – or if I didn’t survive, would there be consequences for these doctors anyway?