Monday, September 21, 2009

Here we go again....

After the lawyer received and reviewed all my paperwork from the three hospitals, he asked me to sign a waiver stating that I would give him permission to contact any and all of my doctors who treated me for the stroke, as well as, for my fertility issues. I was leary at first, but was easily persuaded to "suck it up and do it." I knew I would come to regret that decision.

The lawyer kept in constant contact with my husband about where he was in the case. He would call my husband and say, "I'm only my way to UNC to talk to Dr. X" or  "Dr. X won't return my call because he is out of the office" or "I found a witness who can attest that Lupron causes strokes when used as a fertility medicine, but it will cost you $$$ out of pocket. Should I book her?" Each time he called, I knew that it was costing me more and more money. Then the day came when he called to say that two of the doctors who treated me at UNC said that Lupron was to blame for the stroke, but the most important doctor, my neurologist, won't say for sure whether or not my stroke was caused by Lupron. He told my lawyer that it could have been caused by a blood disorder. This really ticked me off, because this was the first I was hearing about a potential blood disorder. My doctor had NOT told me or my husband about his latest revelation. He thought it would be most helpful if he shared it with my lawyer!?! What an idiot!!!

The lawyer decided after speaking with my neurologist that he didn't have a case and that we were "out of luck." Then two weeks before Christmas, my lawyer sent me a bill for $900 to cover the copies and travel expenses he incurred trying to make my case. Can you say JERK? I understand him billing me, but why take the case, if you didn't think it would amount to anything. I was already out of work and not bringing home a paycheck and now you are going to send me a bill that is due ASAP at Christmas!!! To say I was upset and depressed was the understatement of the year.


I had no clue as to what I should do next. So I did what I seem to do best. I confronted my neurologist at my next visit. Since I have had my stroke, I find that I tend to act first and think later, which is definitely not something I did BEFORE the stroke. I am still the nice, thoughtful person I was before, but now I have a backbone when I feel I have been wronged by someone. When my six month neurological appointment came up I was ready to give the doctor a piece of my mind.  I allowed him to do his exam and ask all the questions he wanted to ask of me... How are you feeling? Are you having headaches? Have you started back to work part time? How is it going? Are you under stress? Are you feeling dizzy? When he told me the blod clot was significantly smaller and the blood in my brain was almost gone, so I was getting a clean bill of health I was thrilled. Then he made his mistake by asking if I had any questions for him. I said, "YES!" Why did you tell my lawyer about a potential blood disorder and not think it was important enough for me to know first? Are you 100% sure that I have this disorder? Where tests run while I was in the hospital to check for this? Did he realize that his careless comments caused my lawyer to drop my case? The look on his face was priceless. He was horrified that he had messed up my case. It turns out that the tests had been run and I did not have a blood disorder, so the neurologist offered to call my lawyer and tell him he was certain it was the Lupron that had caused my stroke.

Sadly, the damage had already been done. I am embarrassed to admit that I gave up! I was tired of having to defend myself, when I had done nothing wrong. I had taken  a drug prescribed by my doctor and had suffered a serious injury as a result. It wasn't fair, but not everything in life is fair.

0 comments: