Forum Discussion
AllyJay
8 years agoMember
Should I take this further?
Hi there everybody, I would like your opinions please. A bit of a back story first, then the event in question. I have finished chemo and had a bilateral mastectomy. I also have other preexisting medical conditions, the total result of all, is that I now use a wheelie walker for stability and (ha ha) safety. I was getting physio and also hydrotherapy for a very stiff left shoulder where the pectoral muscle had shortened and tightened. In the process of having this therapy, my right shoulder went apeshit. Turns out to be the painful stage of adhesive capsulitis, also known as frozen shoulder. So now, therapy for both stuffed up shoulders...yayyy!!!. Off I go for my physio last Tuesday. Finish physio, now headed to the car. my husband ended up parking elsewhere than prearranged, so he had come to the physio department looking for me, but I had already finished so he was walking some distance behind me and saw it all. There was me...tootling along....down a slight slope..and at the bottom was a tank trap!!! The wheel of my walker got trapped in the drain (set into the concrete). Walker stopped, I kept going...right over the top. My hubby said it was like the Grand National...all he saw was my bum and my legs in mid air. Then he heard the crunch and the howls from me. Rushed to emergency...yippee... Because I.m on Clexane (blood thinners), twice daily for the past year, and will be for the rest of my life, they had to do a head ct to make sure I didn't have a brain bleed. (Wrong place to check, would have needed a proctoscope for that, but I digress as usual). Brain (ostensibly) all good. Five stitches in my head, landed of the worst of the two bad shoulders and did a rib on the right side too (thanks to osteoporosis). Kept the other broken ribs company which I already had. Was kept in hospital from the Tuesday and discharged on the Sunday. Missed my Herceptin and oncologist appointment which I was supposed to have on that Wednesday. So, Herceptin late by five days, which had me more hopping mad, (well twitching mad was the best I could do). Am I being unreasonable in my expectations that I should be able to use my walker on hospital property, on an approved walkway, in a responsible manner? I was not taking a shortcut across the car park. or doing a cross country walk over uneven ground. Evidently to make any sort of claim, I would have to prove negligence on the part of the hospital. I do not believe for one minute, that in the forty so (or thereabout) years that this drain has been there, that someone else pushing a sweety trolley for the Pink Ladies, or a trolley with some medical equipment, linen trolley, theatre trolley, wheelchair or walker has not been caught in this drain before. I did actually see the drain, I just did not see the slots in in until it was too late. The pictures show the grate the evening of the event, and the ones sprayed yellow were afterwards, when the hospital sprayed them. The other photo shows the slope and position of the drain. I had no option but to go over it.
30 Replies
- iserbrownMember@AllyJay your sanity if more important as you rightly say the lawyers would be the big winners!
- June1952MemberHi @AllyJay
I am pleased to hear you have let it go - as you say, the emotional toll it would take is simply not worth it sometimes. To challenge the might of these hospitals would take years, no doubt.
Concentrating on your future health sounds like a good idea.
Oh, by the way, I love your sense of humour in some of your responses to posts. I get a giggle.
Keep well.
Summer :) - AllyJayMemberHi there @Summerhill38, hospital sent a "We're sorry for your unfortunate fall...etc...etc..." A follow up telephone call was basically a "We'll pay for any out of pocket expenses, (receipts required), otherwise, essentially, we'll see you in court. After much discussion with my family, I decided that my somewhat depleted physical and emotional reserves were better spent on my future health, and not on persuing the matter further. The lawyers would be big winners, and it would drag on for years. I have bigger fish to fry.
- June1952MemberHey @AllyJay
Any news from the hospital or legal people on your claim ?
Summer :) - June1952MemberHello @AllyJay
I was thinking of you today as I took my hubby to a local public hospital.
Wondering how you are getting on and how the legal eagles are doing with your specific case ?
Hope you are feeling well and have recuperated.
Summer :) - ZoffielMemberPS. From an investigators perspective, what has happened to other people at that hospital, apart from others who may have face planted on that particular grate, is irrelevant. You are not to deviate from your own case. Please. :)
- ZoffielMemberWell, indeed. Pursue away, if you have the energy. A word of warning though, don't do it if you haven't got the headspace for a head fuck.
It's very likely given the latest response that you will find a no win no fee parasite willing to take up your case. Which doesn't mean you will win. If, in your capacity as domestic goddess, you have the time and feel inclined to play a tricky game of chess without taking any of the outcome too seriously, it could be hugely entertaining. Making yourself sick and having someone else waltz off with the majority of your payout is not a good plan. This stuff is much tougher on the client than it is on their legal representative. Know what you are getting into and if you don't like the flavour, walk away. Mx - AllyJayMemberWell well well. Finally got my famous letter, which basically says so sorry this happened, then waxes lyrical about the fact that they sprayed it bright yellow, before having it replaced....took four weeks for that to happen. Even told me the make and model of the new cover....aren't they clever!!!. Referred to me as a consumer, as if I'd been there to buy a chocolate ice cream and not attending a medical appointment!!. Spoke to the head honcho on the phone and told him in no uncertain terms how I felt. Was then told that they would magnanimously refund any out of pocket expenses, none medical as I'm a public patient (receipts needed and no loss of earnings as I'm a Domestic Goddess, other than that, quote, pursue the matter through legal channels. Great, so now I have to tell my Oncologist, Rheumatologist, Nephrologist, Cardiologist, and Surgeon (my Chopologist), as well as my physiotherapist (on land) and physiotherapist (in water) and even my podiatrist and Dracula's Bride who takes my routine bloods to all shift their bums over a bit, while I now find the time and energy to find a lawyer, and jump through all the legal hoops, before they do the right thing? Shame on them. I told him this and then ended off by saying to him that ***Hospital was not only dangerous to small boys, but that they had now added frail, middle aged cancer fighters to their hit list, and then slammed the phone down on him. A few weeks ago a five year old boy was seen and discharged from their emergency department and subsequently died five hours later in a different hospital.
- viking1Memberso sorry to hear of this ... as @onemargie says, from working in education and gov I know that you need to fill in an incident report form...they should have presented you with that as in my prior work arenas it is mandatory. Good luck and sorry for your 'accident' ... looks like it was waiting to happen!
- AllyJayMember@wendy55, yes indeed, a case packed by your significant other tends to have eleven pairs of panties, six singlets one nightie and an assortment of disreputable long winter jimjam pants that you only wear around the house. Dressing gowns don't get even a sniff in. Mine do however get packed with love, so this is said very much tongue in cheek. The next visit, my Bearded One has all the missing items with the help of a dictated note. I'll let you know when I hear further news, but yes, it has all been recorded and photographs taken, and legal advice has been sought.