She was scheduled for a myomectomy — fibroid removal that keeps your uterus. The hospital had her down for a hysterectomy, which removes it entirely. Two completely different surgeries, one caught-in-time moment. Dr. Bayo shares the three protections for anyone heading into surgery: bring an advocate (a second set of eyes and ears), verify the procedure on every piece of paperwork before surgery day, and match your consent forms to what you discussed, and on the day itself — say your procedure out loud to every single person: the nurse, the anesthesiologist, the surgeon. If anyone seems confused, stop everything.
Wrong-site and wrong-procedure errors are rare — but they’re 100% worth 30 seconds of prevention 💛
#PatientSafety #MedicalErrors #SurgeryPrep #PatientAdvocacy #Hysterectomy #Myomectomy #Fibroids #WomensHealth #HospitalTips #DrBayo
source
Sounds suss…. Black woman… this was regular practice
That would’ve been one hell of a lawsuit. I’m so glad she caught that.
Anytime I’ve had surgery the nurse will ask
Me “what are you here for check this paper and make sure the information is correct”
I had a hysterectomy, I’m in the uk. Every medical person the spoke to me before going under they all asked me “can you tell what you having done today” and i would say “full hysterectomy” after about the 5th person I asked them “should I be concerned that everyone is asking me what I’m having done? do you guys not know” she just said we just want to make sure what we have written down is correct with what you think your having done”
Wow, just did research, the consequences of that kind of mistake are DRASTIC.
The fact that some doctors don't cross their t's and dot their i's is crazy! They don't read records at all… I've probably had 20 pregnancy tests before CT scans over the past 20 years… I have no uterus, no ovaries. They don't even bother asking or reading records. OR the time my right ovary looked UNREMARKABLE. I do not have one of those, sir. It's like no one reads, double checks, triple checks anything sometimes. A hysterectomy isn't something this poor woman could just "get fixed" once it's removed. I'm so glad she was vigilant in reading before she went in the OR.
WTF?????????????
That’s terrifying! Thank God you noticed!
You should sue them
I have been extremely lucky with 98% of my doctors. Especially with my surgeons, my success rate has been 100%.
I know how lucky I am. My sisters have not been so fortunate. They continually struggle to be heard by their doctors.
Every surgery that I have ever had, starting with my first surgery when I was only 10 years old, I have been asked to describe the procedure that I am going to have.
At 10 I thought that it was funny. I remember laughing at the nurse “Don’t you know?” At sixteen I rolled my eyes as I answered the question.
As an adult, I have been extremely grateful.
At sixteen, I started working as a medical records file clerk. At 18, I moved into more direct patient care as a hospital orderly. After becoming an accountant, I often did doctor transcription and billing.
The stories that I have heard, from nurses and other medical professionals (rarely from the doctors, themselves) of horrible mistakes in surgery are the material of nightmares.
My personal protocol after finding out what was removed. I was never told the risks. I have to do tiny 3 units three times weekly of testosterone propionate. E2 dotti patch 2 per week 0.05 and crinone gel vaginal. Had to lose weight first and do weight training.
I know how in the USA and in Cananda, they forcibly sterilized nonwhite people. Makes me wonder if that's still going on in cases like these, because HOW do you mess up that badly???
This wasn’t a mistake and it’s sick and sad that a lot of people are incompetent
At Strong Memorial in Rochester NY the surgeon asked me "what procedure are you having today" and the team verified as well. It was the first place I'd experienced this, but thought how good to verify with the patient directly as well as the team.
YES! Ask them to print them so that you can read nefore you sign ANYTHING. Hospital admissions often shows you the paperwork on a computer and the clerk wants you to sign electronically. Don’t do that. Be pleasant and ask to read a printed copy. It’s important.
Something similar happened to me before my myomectomy. Whoever they put in charge of calling me ahead of the surgery to give me my instructions started giving me instructions that didn’t make sense. Wrong day, wrong doctor, then she said I would be having a total hysterectomy. I tried interrupting her several times because, like I said, everything she was saying was wrong. Finally, when she took a breath, I told her I was not having a hysterectomy and didn’t know what she was talking about. She excused herself and hung up the phone. A few minutes later, she called back with some story saying the computer glitched and my information and another patient’s information ended up on the screen at the same time. Sure, Jan! I made sure that I was actually getting the correct surgery the day of. Sheesh!
Last year I had a bilateral salpingectomy (I wanted a hysto for pain, the answer was still no). I finally was allowed (I shouldn't even have to use that word) to have my hysto. I got something that had CPT code 58661 about the removal of tubes and/or ovaries. I IMMEDIATELY called the gyno and said "no, it should be 58260 or 58570 for cervix and uterus removal. I already had my tubes removed and I'm keeping my ovaries". They confirmed they had the correct code written and had no idea why anything said anything differently. When I was in the hospital, I told the pre-op nurse, anesthesiologist, surgeon (who I obviously knew), and OR nurse "I'm having my cervix and uterus removed. I had my tubes removed last year, and I'm *taking my ovaries home with me*". I wanted NO mistake. I trusted my surgeon and knew she knew what she was doing, but I didn't want ANY mistakes for ANY reason.
My last experience every nurse and doctor asked me the procedure I was there for and confirmed the paperwork and I was asked to verify my signature and explain my understanding ofvthe procedure in my own words and other stuff. It was super well done. I was very impressed by the precautions and procedures.
I had an email sent to me about my hip surgery. I was having shoulder surgery. Luckily, I knew my surgeon exclusively did shoulders, so that mistake would never happen. I immediately forwarded it to the office as a potential sentinel event if I had not caught that and had a surgeon who did both. Not sure what happened from there other than that they said they'd look into the error.
Hysterectomy and removal of an ovary (oophorectomy! 😬
Remember, not all of these instances are malicious — a lot of people are a part of coordinating your surgery and all it takes is one person in the chain making a mistake. Humans are not infallible.
I did patient care for over 20 years and it was staggering how many patients don't know the names of the medications they take, the dosages, or why they were taking them. Please take the time to understand your health care situation because sometimes you will need to be a fierce advocate for yourself, and being informed on your health matters will help you do that better.
With all of that said, I've encountered my own amount of gaslighting and practitioner mistakes with my care. You know your body best. Say no when you feel you need to say no. Ask questions until you understand, no matter how annoyed the person in front of you looks. Patient education is a MASSIVE part of the job and you have every right to understand your care. Be careful, and be diligent! ❤
I honestly don't think they made a mistake. I think they tried to slip it past her. Unfortunately it's very easy now a days to take advantage of people and get away with it.
It shouldn’t be the patient’s job to do all that. It’s stressful enough just having to mentally prepare for surgery, sign a Living Will in case surgery goes wrong, and muster enough trust to place your safety in the hands of complete strangers. With increasing use of Spellcheck and AI in the medical field, I can see these mistakes increasing. Just last month a jury awarded a Maine woman $17 million because her surgeon removed her healthy bladder instead of the large ovarian cyst for which she was having surgery. 🤯
Patient's rights in the United States don't exist for women. A physician actually assaulted me. I reported them to the state board and the police. Nothing was done. As far as i know, the provider still practices medicine when they should be in prison for performing a procedure on an awake, lucid adult without consent.
Edit: the assault was performing a procedure on me without my consent. I didn't know what was happening til it was almost over. No one else was in the room with us. They could have said "ok, so I'd like to do xyz if that's all right with you." They did not say that. A lucid adult patient must give or refuse consent for everything done to them. But since i have lady parts, no one gave a F.
And when you WANT a hysterectomy, some doctors downplay or ignore your pain while also making sure to ask "is your husband okay with that?"
Dr. Bayo always there for you guys❤
I've had the same thing happen to me as well as getting the wrong tests, scans, etc. It's so terrifying how many mistakes are made honestly. Also the patient shouldn't have to do all this!!
My grandma was about to have the wrong breast removed for breast cancer. I think they like to use sharpie marker and mark the limb or side that is going to be worked on. However, sometimes the nurse scrubs the area and cleans off the marker .
I had surgery twice last year. In both cases the nurses, anesthesiologist, and surgeon all asked me to tell them what surgery I was having. It was reassuring to know they weren’t just reading it off a note.
BEFORE THEY GIVE YOU A PRE OP MEDICATION.!!!!
This is something slightly different but I still had to advocate for myself. I was getting a biopsy on my left lymph node on my neck and the Dr kept saying we’re doing a biopsy on the right. I repeatedly kept saying no, it’s the left. After about the 4th time the Dr said, should we get the report? I’m like, yes please. He said, in this case it’s the left. I almost jumped out of the chair and left but decided to do it. It came out benign but my report is literally scratched out on the right and now it says left. Crazy.
I still don’t understand how they cut off the wrong leg, or arm? It’s complacency from what I’ve observed? There’s zero excuse for this? 😳
Ummm, your surgeon may have put that on the schedule intentionally…
Robotic assisted?
😳😳😳 holy crap.
This is damn good content!
What's so crazy to me is how much they love doing stuff like this when people don't want it. But then when they do it's a fight… I'm so thankful she caught that before they did it
Never trust American health care
That's the doctor's trying to get a huge payday ! Thank the Lord she saw this❤
The patient is asked before going into surgery. Again after getting into the surgical suite. A final time out is done before incision. So the consent needs to be correct before the patient gets into surgery. I am glad she knew the procedure name. Many people don't. This is a good example of why the person should know what exactly is going to be done and the proper medical term.
Be careful with consent forms. You can amend any section or cross out language that you dont want to apply to you.
Many forms have language that authorizes a doctor to treat anything else he or she finds during surgery. Happened to my husband's godmother, who went in for abdominal surgery and came out with additional procedures on her internal organs. (She was very premature and her internal organs were in different places than "normal." Surgeon decided they needed repositioning.) Caused her difficulties for the rest of her life.
Or they just do what they want and won't release what they have done.
I had a doctor do this! We discussed a myomectomy, but he just decided that he was doing a hysterectomy after I explicitly told him I didn't want it! He said well I don't know what I'm going to find inside you.. which was no excuse for planning something I had declined. Be safe ladies 🙏🏽
That is genuinely terrifying. I hope she is doing ok