I Got a Response From the Assholes at Mayo Clinic

Here is the letter I received from the "Patient Experience" Department:

Dear Miss Harpel:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share your concern with leadership about your post operative care from 12/4/2019 -- 12/8/2019 following a routine kidney stone procedure.  You described feeling there were lapses in memory and feeling upset and confused.  You were told by staff that you had been feeling suicidal and staff reacted immediately to ensure your safety.  While you did not describe feeling aware of making these statements during this time, the staff made the decision to provide safety measures such as one-to-one observation in your room and having you speak with our psychiatry team.  This, of course, was upsetting and felt nearly surreal as you have not ever experienced such a reaction after surgery.  It's left you feeling afraid, unsure, and cautious about scheduling additional procedures that require full sedation.  Please know that our staff takes these concerns very seriously and reviewed all available information to provide you as definitive answer as possible about "why" this occurred.  

Your concern was shared with the urology team, anesthesia, nursing, and psychiatry.  All share their deepest apologies that you experienced such a frightening post operative event.  The careful review was done with your medical records and medications given for your sedation.  The team explained that there are predisposing risk factors that may make certain patients more susceptible to mental status changes/delirium such as:  age, diabetes, type of sedation, history of depression, surgical stress/inflamation that causes a rise in white blood counts.  The team describes the reason for this occuring as "multifactorial," which means it is quite difficult to isolate which of these factors definitively caused your particular event.   Dr. Ortiz Orendain shares he also called you to further discuss your experience. The team strongly encourages you to share this experience with our anesthesia team for any upcoming procedures so they may avoid or minimize sedating medications going forward.

Your feedback is incredibly important so we can continue to care for you in the best way possible.  This allows us to have more detailed conversations about your sedation care in the future as well as greater awareness in general for others' sensitivities to anesthesia or other sedation medications.  We are very sorry that this experience felt so upsetting for you and hope that with this information now illuminated, you may feel more trusting with your surgical care at Mayo Clinic.

Sincerely,

Elisabeth Blazing
Office of Patient Experience
Mayo Clinic.

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My angry response:

Dear Elisabeth Blazing:

Thank you for your letter regarding my experiences at Methodist Hospital from December 4 to December 8.  

While I appreciate your efforts on my behalf, I do not believe that my horrific experience was a result of "multi-factorial" issues.  In March and April, I spent about five weeks in St. Mary's Hospital where I endured multiple trips to the OR for a burst appendix, an abscess, and multiple removals of infection from those issues.  At that time, my blood sugar was obscenely high; my blood pressure was obscenely low (I was told many times that they were amazed that I was even conscious); my heart rate was obscenely rapid (150-160 beats per minute); I was so full of infection that I was actually septic, and I was so physically weak that I could not lift my foot high enough to climb up one single step.  I was also extremely depressed.  Despite all of these factors and others less extreme, I NEVER experienced post-surgical amnesia for any of these procedures.  I remember being in the OR, talking to the doctor and the surgical staff, and having them wish me well before I was put under.   I remember being in the recovery room, joking with the staff there, throwing up on a couple of occasions, and being wheeled back up to my room.    

During my post surgical stay in Methodist Hospital, my blood sugar was almost within the normal range; my heart rate was controlled by medication; the raging infection that had caused me to be septic did not exist any more, and I had been physically strong enough to take care of all my own needs for weeks--including climbing the stairs into my house and driving my car to shop for my own groceries and supplies.  It does not make any sense that this much improved physical state would result in delirium and a complete loss of several hours worth of memory after the relatively minor kidney stone surgery.  As Judge Judy often says, "If it doesn't make sense, it isn't true."  There is no logical way that "multi-factorial" issues caused this event to occur.  The ONLY thing that makes sense is that I was given either an anesthetizing medication which I had a severe reaction to OR I was given an excessive amount of anesthesia which caused this to happen.  

Your letter has done nothing to alleviate the feelings of fear, betrayal, and violation I am experiencing as a result of my treatment at the hands of the medical "professionals" who treated me with extreme disrespect and lack of compassion.  It does not even address the fact that not one person in charge of my care told me specifically what I had said or done that convinced them that I was a danger to myself or others--even though I repeatedly asked for that information.  Also, I do not understand why they were so determined to put me in the psychiatric hospital, again, without giving me the slightest indication of WHY beyond, "we are concerned for your safety."  That tells me absolutely nothing.  Surely they should have been able to tell that I was not behaving in a suicidal or homicidal way in the several days they had me under 24 hour supervision AFTER the delirium passed.  Were they that incompetent that they couldn't tell I was not attempting to harm myself or anyone else during that time?

The letter also does not address the fact that I was given no information about the nature of my kidney stone after the surgery--before my mother left the ER, she was told what her kidney stone was composed of and given a prescription for a medication that would help prevent future kidney stones from forming as well as pain medication.  I was told nothing about the kidney stone nor was I given any information about how to avoid future stones from forming.  The only thing that I was told was to refrain from showering until the wound no longer "oozed" and to avoid lifting anything "heavy."  I was given no pain control advice at all, even though I had been told by Dr. Yang that I would be sent home with a prescription for post surgical pain when we first discussed the surgery.  

In addition, I have repeatedly asked for printed copies of all of the medical records associated with this experience, including any notes by anyone associated with my care and a list of the medications used to sedate me so that I can research their side effects and possible long-term effects.  I discussed this at length with Dr. Ortiz Orendain when he called me on the phone, and he assured me that he would see to it that I got these records.  It has been weeks, and I have received nothing.  

None of the information in your letter "illuminated" me in the least.  In fact, I feel additionally suspicious that I am having smoke blown up my skirt instead of having my concerns addressed in a way that makes sense to me.  I have been suffering from all the symptoms of PTSD, including nightmares, anxiety attacks, and constant emotional distress.  I feel NO trust whatsoever in Mayo Clinic at this time.  I feel like information is being hidden and/or misrepresented to me.  No one has shown any real concern about the trauma and emotional pain I am going through at this time.  I feel I have been deeply damaged psychologically because of my treatment at the hands of people who should have been taking care of me--the WHOLE me--physical and emotional.  Instead I am being shushed and patted on the head and told that I should just trust you.

How am I supposed to trust people who do not tell me what I need to know--instead telling me over and over again that you are "sorry that I FEEL/FELT this way."  Never an apology for the disrespectful way I was scolded for being concerned about the excessive amount of Tylenol I was being dosed with, kept in the dark about my own condition, and threatened with indefinite imprisonment in a mental hospital.  This is not the way to treat a "member of the team," as I SHOULD have been treated.  

In addition, I was billed for "Physical" and "Occupational" therapy to the tune of around $600.  I experienced both physical and occupational therapy during my stay in St. Mary's and the Waseca facility--I received NOTHING OF THE KIND while I was in Methodist.  They never even provided me with one of those breathing devices that are supposed to strengthen lung function, which is something that is always given to a person immediately after having surgery.  

Believe me, I am telling everyone I know about the way I was treated at Methodist Hospital.  

Sincerely,

Cheryl Harpel