Saturday, October 25, 2008

Wrong Diagnosis?!?

So...... Sam had his follow up appointment on Tuesday with an Orthopedic surgeon, Dr S at Tanner clinic. (keep in mind, he is a specialized bone dr.) Well, they were booked full, so she said if I could come right away we could be squeezed in. We arrived at 10 am and did not see the Dr until 12:30. Thank goodness Debbie was there to keep both me and Sam sane..... Anyways, not only did we wait long, but the visit with the dr was 2 minutes, Im not kidding. He turned the light off to show us the x-ray and that scared Sam so he started to cry. This is what Dr S said and I quote..."turn that light back on, I hate screaming children!" Me and Debbie just looked at each other like....ok?!? The x-ray that they did in the office was just one view and was a chore to get. The rad tech said to a screaming 2 yr old...Just stand there real still.... Yeah ok, ya idiot!
Anyways, the dr said it is a broken humerus, just like what the ER said, and to keep the same sling on for 3 weeks and then come back. He DID NOT EVEN TOUCH Sam or take his sling off. He barely even looked at us. I did ask him if it was normal for Sam to get a bruise on his collar bone from and broken humerus, he said "yeah thats fine."
I felt really uncomfortable about the whole situation, mothers intuition I guess.... But I made an appointment with his regular pediatrician Dr Pruitt. I called and had the ER fax over his report so he could see it and then go from there. Dr Pruitt found that the ER radiologist said there were no broken bones. The ER had taken 4 x-rays, of the entire left shoulder and arm too! Our first thought was something with the shoulder because that is were Sam said it hurt.
After Dr Pruitt did his exam he realized Sam doesnt have a broken humerus he has a broken collar bone!!!! If any of those stupid drs would have even touched him, they would have been able to tell!!! He also had to be put in a different sling, one to hold his shoulders back not forward like the last one. (He has been a completely different boy since we changed slings too) Treatment for collar bones is basically nothing, but I am extremely upset that Davis ER and Dr S(a bone dr) miss diagnosed my son and for 1 week was uncomfortable in the wrong sling!!! I am never going to Davis or tanner clinic EVER again!!!!I recommend Never going to those stupid DR's either!!! If you can even call them that. Dr D and Dr S they SUCK!!
On a good note, Dr Pruitt is the greatest Dr in the world, he spent 45 minutes with us and is so good with Sam. Sam loves him!! He felt sincerely sorry for us that we had to deal with those quacks! Now I know I can just go to him for everything!!
Sam is doing better, he has to wear his new sling all the time, but it goes on under his clothes and gives him the use of his left arm. You cant even tell he is wearing one. It goes on like a backpack. Plus it is designed for a toddler not just a modified adult small...... He is using his arm more and more, but if he doesnt raise it up in 2 weeks, we have to take him to primary childrens to check for nerve damage. He said that is VERY rare, but also a possibility. We do follow up x-rays in 2 weeks!
My poor little boy, he is such a trooper!

5 comments:

Erica said...

What the hell? I'm sorry you went through all of that, I can't imagine how uncomfortable Sam must have been. I guess thus far I've been really fortunate with Tanner & Davis. Guess I'll keep my fingers crossed and knock on wood. Hope he's back to normal in no time, and keeping my fingers crossed that there's no primary trips.

Nikki said...

I am very chhosy with Dr. after working in Pharmacy. But I know what you mean, I wont go to tanner anymore. I would get ahold of the hospital and fight paying it cause the diagnosed wrong. They can do something.

The Bruces said...

That is so crappy, sometimes I think dr's think they dont have to take there time because they are to busy and they get paid a crap load... I personally think nurses should make more money because they seem to do all the hard stuff and you see them more than the actual dr....

Robin said...

I am so sorry that happened to you! I really hate taking my kids to the doctor because we've had the same type of thing happen to us before. I'm glad Sam's doing better now.

Bree said...

some doctors should not even be allowed to have licenses...and I hate Davis as well. Complete idiots.