How I spent my weekend (after a simple operation)

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Networkn
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#2209781 2-Apr-2019 21:09

frankv:

Journeyman:

You won't need them anyway, right? 😈😄

Oddest thing... During post-vasectomy sex, I was thinking "Well, this is a waste of time".

That gave me a proper LOL I have to say.

I can't imagine thinking the same thing.

sqishy

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#2209809 2-Apr-2019 22:24

Well what can I say but looking at the bright side you get a week of work and a great conversation story to tell people about in the future. If this was elsewhere you could sue !

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#2209825 2-Apr-2019 23:06

Great to see people talking openly and honestly about having a vasectomy, it is the best method of birth control for both partners after the making actual babies phase is over.

Had one about seven years ago, remember having to collect fresh samples in the office disabled toilet to give to the lab at lunchtime..

blackjack17

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#2209884 3-Apr-2019 05:51

jonb:
Great to see people talking openly and honestly about having a vasectomy, it is the best method of birth control for both partners after the making actual babies phase is over.

Had one about seven years ago, remember having to collect fresh samples in the office disabled toilet to give to the lab at lunchtime..

Yeah I would do it again. Different doctor sure. Even though it may not even have been avoidable.

Funny thing is from my mass email to my workplace (most of who are middle to older aged women) I did get several replies of we should be able to talk about this type if stuff, or when my husband had it done and it got infected and he had to keep it quiet.

It isn't going to be something I am going to forget in a hurry.

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frankv

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#2209887 3-Apr-2019 06:45

antoniosk:
blackjack17:

What do you know, Snip is refunding the full amount as an act of good will.

I do understand that my reaction was very unlikely and I got unlucky, but I do wonder who keeps track of this type of thing?

My three days in hospital, drugs and surgery must have cost tax payers $10,000 of thousands of dollars

Side comment I know... but your 3 days would have cost a lot more than $10k. If most people in NZ knew the real cost of health and how much is already funded from their taxes...

Hard luck for you, and good that you're getting your money back, but this is a pretty rubbish experience. Is any effort going to be taken to ascertain what the cock up was (I couldnt resist using that), or is this going to be written of as a 'Oops'?

I've seen enough medical Oops in my life to have no tolerance for it anymore, but the industry seems to be pretty good at just glossing over stuff and NEVER TALKING ABOUT IT AGAIN.

Make the clinic pay for the hospitalisation caused by their mistake and they'll care a whole lot more.

A classic example of privatisation of profits and socialisation of costs.

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#2209933 3-Apr-2019 08:18

How do you know they made a mistake

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freitasm

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#2209935 3-Apr-2019 08:21

frankv: Make the clinic pay for the hospitalisation caused by their mistake and they'll care a whole lot more. A classic example of privatisation of profits and socialisation of costs.

How do you know it was a mistake? It could be anything, from a non-disclosed/unknown condition interaction to simply the body reaction.

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blackjack17

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#2209964 3-Apr-2019 08:51

freitasm:

frankv: Make the clinic pay for the hospitalisation caused by their mistake and they'll care a whole lot more. A classic example of privatisation of profits and socialisation of costs.

How do you know it was a mistake? It could be anything, from a non-disclosed/unknown condition interaction to simply the body reaction.

I can definitely see things from both sides. On the one side you have a company doing 4 operations an hour at $450 a shot and if anything goes wrong public will take over costing $10,000s to $100,000. On the other hand my reaction was atypical. One of the nurses said it had been 3 years since he had seen swelling as bad as mine. What would the surgery have cost if the private practice had to cover outliners like me?

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networkn

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#2209975 3-Apr-2019 08:59

There are a *very* limited number of things that can go wrong in an operation of this nature. Certainly an even smaller number of things that cause the symptoms mentioned.

I wouldn't automatically assume that as a result of them offering a refund, that they made a mistake.

I have the same operation scheduled for next Friday.

blackjack17

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#2209979 3-Apr-2019 09:13

networkn:
There are a *very* limited number of things that can go wrong in an operation of this nature. Certainly an even smaller number of things that cause the symptoms mentioned.

I wouldn't automatically assume that as a result of them offering a refund, that they made a mistake.

I have the same operation scheduled for next Friday.

To make it clear the refund was in no way an acknowledgement of error. It was purely an act of good will to an annoyed patient (me). The only things I can be critical about are them suggesting I go to a and e first rather staight to the emergency department. This might have saved an hour or two of swelling and the lack of personalised follow up after my call on Friday night.

All medical procedures come with risks. The risks of a vasectomy are much less than those of tubal ligation or pregnancy.

I would repeat the past 5 days many times over to avoid having another kid.

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frankv

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#2209984 3-Apr-2019 09:23

blackjack17:

freitasm:

frankv: Make the clinic pay for the hospitalisation caused by their mistake and they'll care a whole lot more. A classic example of privatisation of profits and socialisation of costs.

How do you know it was a mistake? It could be anything, from a non-disclosed/unknown condition interaction to simply the body reaction.

I can definitely see things from both sides. On the one side you have a company doing 4 operations an hour at $450 a shot and if anything goes wrong public will take over costing $10,000s to $100,000. On the other hand my reaction was atypical. One of the nurses said it had been 3 years since he had seen swelling as bad as mine. What would the surgery have cost if the private practice had to cover outliners like me?

If it wasn't a mistake, then I guess it's an expected (although rare) potential complication. In which case, surely the cost of dealing with it is part of the cost of doing the operation? When the cost is borne by the taxpayer, then the easy answer is to instruct the receptionist to send all complications to ED. When the cost is borne by the operator, there's financial motivation to prevent/mitigate the risk by post-op checks or after-care which might find the issue earlier and begin treatment earlier, not only saving money but also reducing pain and suffering.

As to cost... let's assume it cost $100,000 to fix. If there's 4 ops per day, that's perhaps 1,000 per year. So, if the nurse is about right at one every 3 years, the risk is something like 1 in 3,000. So it adds perhaps $30 to the cost of the op.

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networkn

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#2209987 3-Apr-2019 09:29

frankv:

If it wasn't a mistake, then I guess it's an expected (although rare) potential complication. In which case, surely the cost of dealing with it is part of the cost of doing the operation? When the cost is borne by the taxpayer, then the easy answer is to instruct the receptionist to send all complications to ED. When the cost is borne by the operator, there's financial motivation to prevent/mitigate the risk by post-op checks or after-care which might find the issue earlier and begin treatment earlier, not only saving money but also reducing pain and suffering.

In the real world it doesn't work like this. The number of complications vs the cost of having facilities to deal with it, when hospitals are fully equipped to deal with all levels of complications, makes it much more sensible and SAFE than dealing with it themselves.

If you end up with the hospital billing private organizations for their surgical repairs, things get very litigous and we head to the USA style healthcare system, which I don't want and I am sure most others don't as well.

Also if they did this, the cost of these ops would sky rocket (think 5K) to cover it, and pratices wouldn't do this type of surgery (Because of the risks vs reward) which would lead to a fully blown out surgery departments and *massively* longer waiting lists. It would also mean that people would be less likely to have these minor surgeries and that has run on effects.

The system works well the way it is, and edge cases like this one, are unfortunate but don't indicate significant issue.

networkn

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#2209990 3-Apr-2019 09:34

blackjack17:
networkn:

There are a *very* limited number of things that can go wrong in an operation of this nature. Certainly an even smaller number of things that cause the symptoms mentioned.

I wouldn't automatically assume that as a result of them offering a refund, that they made a mistake.

I have the same operation scheduled for next Friday.

To make it clear the refund was in no way an acknowledgement of error. It was purely an act of good will to an annoyed patient (me). The only things I can be critical about are them suggesting I go to a and e first rather staight to the emergency department. This might have saved an hour or two of swelling and the lack of personalised follow up after my call on Friday night.

All medical procedures come with risks. The risks of a vasectomy are much less than those of tubal ligation or pregnancy.

I would repeat the past 5 days many times over to avoid having another kid.

Yup. If it wasn't clear, I wasn't suggesting that you weren't aware of my suggestion, rather than the other people participating in the discussion consider the points as well. You have a very reasoned response to your issue.

For the record, people often underestimate the importance of following the post operative care for minor surgery thinking "she'll be right". Most of the complications of these minor surgeries are avoidable by closely following the instructions provided. Dental stuff is a particularly common one.

I am guilty of taking this approach myself and have suffered the consequences. Given your timely post, I will be being "extra" careful to ensure I follow these now.

blackjack17

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#2209993 3-Apr-2019 09:38

One thing they could have done is a wait period after the op. Within minutes of having the vasectomy I was out the door driving home. If I had to wait around for half an hour it would have been clear that my bleeding was atypical and I could have gone straight to the ED.

Even after a flu jab you are meant to hang round for 20min.

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#2210014 3-Apr-2019 10:23

Journeyman:
blackjack17:

My three days in hospital, drugs and surgery must have cost tax payers $10,000 of thousands of dollars

It would've been quicker and cheaper to just lop off the offending bollocks! You won't need them anyway, right? 😈😄

Oh, it's not as simple as that, Nigel. God knows all! He'd see through such a cheap trick.

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