Webpage is at
http://snyder.Sitesled.Com/ouch
/
richard a. Snyder (45 years old)
ras1us@n
etscape.Net
hernia documentation page:
surgery performed at summa medical
akron city hospital
i guess I should start by telling how this
whole mess started, then let people make
up their own minds. All I wanted was
fixed, but now no doctor wants to talk
with me and no attorney will return my
calls.
It was the first part of november in 2003,
and I purchased a shop press that weighed
250lbs from a tool outlet. I did not take
my truck because my elderly uncle wanted
to go, and he can't ride in a rough riding
4x4
when I arrived home, I had to park in my
lower driveway. Since I have moved weight
twice this weight, I felt I could lift
this press with no difficulty. I lifted
the press from the trunk, and carried it
over to the garage that is about 80-100
feet from the car. I had no trouble until
I went to lay it down.
While bending over to place the box on the
floor, I felt my chest literally rip
apart. I went down to my knees and was
clutching my chest for nearly 45 minutes.
I thought I had a heart attack. Since I
had no insurance, I just waited until the
pain subsided and decided to monitor my
own condition. The pain let up about
45-50% after 45 minutes.
I decided to soak in a hot bath to see if
it would do any good. When I tried to get
out of the tub, I noticed a bulge from my
breast bone to my navel. I knew right
then, that I had my chest rip apart and I
had the starting of a serious problem.
Possibly a hernia. I continued to monitor
the situation and the bulge kept getting
larger, then finally it exploded out of my
navel. I knew right then I had to consult
a doctor. My family doctor did exactly
what he should have done, and sent me
directly to the hospital. They did
surgery in less then 4 hour after I
entered the building.
The only problem is that the hospital
ignored everything that I told them, and
only fixed the navel part of my hernia. I
even went back and they refuse to admit
that more should have been done while I
was in the hospital. I told them all of
the above and no one in that emergency
room would even listen to a word I had to
say. There was never a cat scan or mri
performed, and only an x-ray was taken.
I am now almost bed ridden for most of the
day, and vomit every night unless I sleep
in a total upright position, or lay face
down on a pillow so it keeps my stomach
inside where it belongs. The medical
facility even went as far as trying to
diagnose me with a condition that happens
in newborns, and women that had their
stomachs stretched by having to many
children. This should anger anyone that
reads this as much as it angers me.
Please read on, and ask yourself: how can
something like this happen to someone in
2003-2004?
These are photos before surgery
1 shows how hernia and whole belly area
was inflamed.
2 shows a closer view
3 shows how belly appears when head is
elevated off pillow
4 relaxed state shows almost normal
condition except for slight swelling,
5 slight stress shown (as if rising from
the bed normally)
7 umbilical hernia shown when strain was
applied as in rising from bed
8 shows belly from different angle when
trying to rise from bed.
I, richard snyder took his mother to the
doctor on 11-14-03 and showed the doctor,
which is my own doctor also, the problem.
He said to go to the emergency room asap.
I had to wait until the next day to make
arrangements. I took the above pictures
the day of the surgery before I left for
the hospital. I signed in the emergency
room about 10:30am on 12-15-03 and went
upstairs to have the surgery at 4:30pm the
same day.
After the normal wait which was expectable
in a hospital room, I constantly tried to
bring the attention of the doctors to the
extent of the problem, but it seemed they
would only focus on the umbilical part of
the hernia. I tried to show them how I
had a bake-potato sized problem in my
chest, but every time I tried to show
them, they said not to strain because the
hernia that was actually sticking out of
my umbilical cord area could rupture and
cause immediate problems.
I repeatedly told the many doctors that
came in the room before emergency surgery
about the larger problem, but it seemed no
one would listen.
I now have gone from having an ugly bulge
from my belly button that was sore to the
touch, to having to roll sideways to get
out of bed, and having to almost give
myself diarrhea to go to the bathroom.
Every time I strain in any way, the upper
part of my stomach hurts for hours
afterwards. The area where they operated
is mostly pain free.
This hospital fiasco has left me totally
unable to conduct even minor daily
activities without concern of the
un-repaired hernia will explode causing
another hospital visit
these are after surgery shots
9 shows 2 days after surgery. Belly was
swelled and incision was 6" long
10 shows semi-relaxed state
11 shows how bulge is even more pronounced
after surgery
12 shows after surgery, under slight
strain, how huge part remains un-repaired.
The whole idea of having to bring possible
legal action sickens me, and if I had
never mentioned the larger problem I had,
I could see how it could be missed, but I
told everyone that came around me of the
larger problem, and now I am in worse
shape then before. This is pure
negligence on someone's part, and now I am
left with a climbing medical bill and no
way of working. This area is now very
painful when I strain even the
slightest.
12-16-03:
after a visit to my family doctor, he
suggested I return to the surgeon that did
the original surgery and discuss the pain
I am in. He even wrote out the following
referral slip.
Referral slip
i am awaiting a return call from attorneys
to give me guidance on how to proceed. I
am very hesitant to return to the same
surgeon and medical service because of the
neglect I received in the first place. I
also do not want to be blindly tricked
into signing something that will forfeit
my rights.
12-17-03:
called compass medical as advised by Dr.
Gary pinta, attorney paul perantinides,
and was set an appointment on january 8,
2004 at 8:30am.
Compass medical required me to bring a
picture id, and the following signed
statement of financial disclosure.
Financial statement
i then received a call from antonios p.
Tsarouhas from the perantinides law firm
to discuss my situation. He also stated I
should follow through with the above
advise, and then keep him updated on my
progress. He was very understanding and
listened to all of my concerns. I told
him I would contact him, most likely by
email after my visit to the compass
medical on 1-8-04.
12-31-03:
received by mail:
the following documents were sent by mail,
that I do not fully understand. I do not
understand how I can apply for a
discounted rate of payment when I know I
have absolutely no means of payment, and
will not even be able to evaluate the
means of payment until I find out if these
people are going to repair the problem
they missed in the first place. This
problem should have been repaired when I
was in the hospital in november of 2003
but was totally ignored, and I am quite
unsure if the problem will be adequately
addressed this time either. Now I am in
worse shape then I was back then. I must
therefore say that any paper I sign from
this point on, I do so, not knowing what I
am signing. I will sign any paper
necessary to receive the medical attention
I was denied in november of 2003. I must
therefore make the statement that I am
signing these papers under duress because
I am in constant pain and must do anything
in my power to get the medical attention I
so direly need.
Cover letter
compas form
summa 01
summa 02
summa 03
summa 04
summa 05
1-8-04:
went to compas medical for 8:30am
appointment. Was seen by michael cullado.
He stated he felt there was no hernia in
the area of the huge bulge. I then asked
him if there was no hernia, then why was
the huge bulge protruding from my chest
whenever I attempted to raise from bed, or
get out of the bath tub, and hurt whenever
I did any kind of walking or work of any
kind? He then stated that I might need a
cat scan and/or mri. I asked him about a
procedure they call screening. He said it
was a very painful procedure and has a
very high failure rate that leaves people
in worse shape then they originally were
in. (side note: according to the mayo
clinic online, a procedure of screening
has a very high success rate. Just the
opposite of what the doctors at compas
said)
he then stated that he wanted to get the
other surgeon in the office to take a look
at me. I did not get the other doctor's
name. He asked me to move and try to get
the bulge to appear as large as I could.
I asked him to lower the table flat. I
then moved as if I was trying to get out
of bed. The bulge was very apparent at
that point. Then the second doctor said:
(ah....Now I see) he then made the
statement that the problem was not a
hernia, and just a weakening of the
tendons that run up the front of my body.
I then asked him if that was what was
causing my pain. He stated that he did
not know, and that the area in question
should not be painful. I asked him what I
should do? He said that he was just a
surgeon, and his surgical opinion was
nothing could be done at this time. I
told him that the pain was what caused me
to seek medical help in the first place.
He told me to contact my general practice
doctor and let him make the decision on
what my next move should be. I asked him
in so many words, if this bulge is the
weakening of tendons, would it not be
advisable to get it repaired as soon as
possible? He said no, that people go for
years like that. I told him I do heavy
work when I get work and it seems to me
that this bulge is just a sign of problems
to come down the line. He reluctantly
said: not necessarily. He then said that
he would forward his opinion to my family
doctor.
The following show pictures of the bulge
after I returned from compas medical that
show there is a very pronounced bulge.
01_08_04/dcp_0390.Gif
01_08_04/dcp_0394.Gif
01_08_04/dcp_0395.Gif
i actually think they do not want to fix
my problem because they ignored it in the
first place, and now it is coming back to
bite them in the butt.
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personal research into hernia, and hernia
related problems
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5-18-2004: day before cleveland clinic
pic 1
pic 2
pic 3
pic 4
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5-19-04: trip to cleveland
this trip started at 9:00am, and by the
time my friend got me to cleveland clinic
emergency room, I was throwing up into my
handkerchief, and could not catch my
breath.
Paraphrasing the conversation I had with
the emergency room chief resident rakesh
engineer.
Engineer said: "mr. Snyder... Why in the
world did you wait 5 months from your
follow-up with the surgeons in akron to
seek help, seeing that you are as sick as
you are?"
snyder: I have no insurance, and everyone
in the surgeons office kept telling me
there was nothing wrong with me, and since
I am not a trained medical person, I
decided to search the internet and gain
enough information on my own until I found
out what was wrong with me. Why would I
go back and keep running up a bill when I
knew they were never going to do anything
but take my money. Everyone but the
surgeons can see the bulge in my chest, so
obviously I was not going to get fixed in
summit county.
Engineer: mr. Snyder, you definitely have
what appears to be a hernia in your
abdominal wall that needs attention.
Although you are very sick, and your
condition needs attention asap, it does
not meet the criteria of emergency
surgery. To be considered emergency
surgery, there would have to be bowel or
internal organ obstruction. Seeing that
the bulge in your abdomen protrudes, and
retracts, means it does not meet the
criteria of "emergency" condition. This
by no means, is to say that your condition
does not need further medical attention
asap. I am going to talk to a surgeon,
and refer you to him for further medical
treatment.
Here is the documentation from the
cleveland clinic:
page1
page2
page3
page4
page5 page empty but included for
accuracy
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5-20-04: day after cleveland clinic
i was going to call berenger's office in
lorain to schedule a follow up appointment
but I was so sick I could not even get out
of bed. I spend the whole day throwing up
following a simple ride to cleveland the
day before.
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5-21-04: friday & 5-22-04 saturday
i called and left a message on the machine
and never got a return call
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5-24-04: monday: I called the lorain
facility directly and discovered cleveland
clinic made a mistake, and that Dr.
Berenger is a geriatric doctor and not a
surgeon. They said there was a different
berenger that was a surgeon but not at
lorain, and the surgeon at lorain was
robert c warren md. I was also informed
that Dr. Warren was only in on thursdays
and the next thursday was to soon for me
to find a ride, the next thursday he was
on vacation, so the appointment was made
for thursday june 10, 2004
reminder1
reminder2
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6-10-04: thursday: I had a friend take me
to lorain to see Dr. Warren. I think we
got off very badly, but after we both told
each other we were not going to be pushed
around by the other, then we got along
fine. He was not going to be what he
called second guessed, and I made it clear
that I had certain rights and we were
going to respect each other, and I would
have the final say on what goes on with
me, per ohio law, or we were going to part
ways.
I think I made a mistake by telling Dr.
Warren about what the diagnosis by name,
that was given in akron compass medical,
because upon his first entering the room,
he asked me how my injury happened.
Before I even finished, he right off the
bat diagnosed me identically a akron did
without even laying a finger on me.
He did say that I could have more then one
problem, and it was up to me how to
proceed. He wanted to take me to elyria
hospital for a complete workup. Cat scan,
ultra-sound, abdominal x-rays, and heart
ekg, and blood work. I agreed to be
admitted to emh regional medical facility.
All of the above mentioned tests were
performed on 6-10-04
all of these tests came back negative, and
the resident doctor "dr. Esch" suggested
an upper gi barium x-ray. Before anything
else was said, I spoke up an said I want
tests taken until someone finds out what
is wrong with me. The test was set up for
6-11-04
i did not sleep that night, and by this
time I had no food or water of any kind
since 9:00pm on 6-9-04. I had no nausea
or vomiting since entering the hospital
and fasting.
I turned on the room light at 6:45am on
6-11-04
upper gi started at 7:30am and finished at
10:45am (x-ray page)
2:20pm head nurse poked her head in the
room and said the radiologist stated the
puliminary reading is showing a hiatal
hernia, and Dr. Warren would be in to
explain in detail.
3:45pm: dr esch stepped into the room and
said Dr. Warren was still held up in
surgery, but the report showed a hiatal
hernia, and Dr. Warren would be up as
soon as possible.
Around 4:00pm Dr. Warren got out of
surgery and was able to make some rounds.
He knew I was dependant on a ride back to
akron, so he came to me first.
The confusing part of this whole ordeal is
that the radiologist, head nurse, and
resident Dr. Esch all said I had a hiatal
hernia, but Dr. Warren said I had "acid
reflux" and that "acid reflux" &
"hiatal hernia" are the same thing.
Having already been through this with Dr.
Warren, I was not going to argue this
issue again. I figured the reports would
speak for themselves. (the cleveland
clinic's own website backs me up)
i was told by the nurse that I was to
follow-up with Dr. Warren in 10 days.
I was then confronted by Dr. Warren
stating if I was still having problems in
10 days, he would help me find a surgeon
because he does not do that kind of
surgery.
I stated that I have been extremely ill
for months, and I think it highly unlikely
just spending one day in the hospital with
absolutely no treatment is somehow going
to make me all better.
I am now left wondering if Dr. Warren
does not do gastro-intestinal and hernia
surgery, then why was I sent to him in the
first place? It seems I am once again
left to fend for myself. I am no further
to recovery then the day I went to city
hospital on 11-15-03. Seems like the only
thing that is getting done, is a hell of a
bill is getting run up, and no remedy is
in site.
I was then handed release papers that had
absolutely no explanation to what was
found, or not found. I have nothing in
writing to what is wrong with me.
Upper gi large photo x-rays (click here)
