Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Veteran Surgery Question

Dr. Dean Norman
Chief of Staff
Veterans Administration Medical Center
11301 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA. 90073

Dear Sir:

It is with undivided loyalty to this country that this veteran is placing this matter at your door. You have my apology for doing so, but I must explore every avenue available to me. This matter has been communicated to Dr.’s Gonzales and Steiner a number of times (3), and Dr. Frazee has ignored my requests to speak with him. Therefore, the next step in the chain of command is to share both my gratitude for the services of the neurosurgery department, along with the medical issue at hand.

The medical issue centers upon the care I received in the ICU, following successful surgery to resection a posterior fossa meningioma. Prior to surgery I was informed that if everything went well, a two or three day stay in the ICU would be expected by all concerned. The craniotomy was performed on May 15 and I was the guest on the third floor until the 28th being discharged to home the next day. Understandably this was a miserable experience, due to my helplessness at receiving morphine and who knows what other drugs for the 14 day stay in the ICU.

The question I must have answered is what didn’t go well? My doctors are unable to field this question in an understandable way, referring primarily to pain avoidance and the hallucinations that resulted from the drugs. Well, if the drugs are the problem…….STOP the drugs! So why was I drugged for two weeks?Prior to surgery I had “O” pain, despite my other symptoms. Possibly the morphine prevented pain post surgery, this explanation makes no sense to this veteran.

In an attempt to get these questions answered, I procured my medical records on June 17, 2008. At the sug-gestion of Dr. Gonzalez, I wrote and gave to the patient advocate office a letter detailing one of my “recko-lections”, was this a reality or an hallucination? I shall remain in the reality mode until someone has the courtesy to discuss why my “recollection” could not have been reality.

Instead, despite all my efforts, what I have experienced is a “Grand Silence”. I will not be bullied and slinkaway ! I shall continue to be the fly in the ointment, at least until it becomes obvious to all that we all put our pants on in the same manner. Please, I request your assistance in ending these negative vibrations. As they say, the ball is now in your court.

Respectfully yours,
(There has been no response to this letter)
Mr. Glen L. Goslaw