This recap of a situation that happened to me is meant to prevent anyone from experiencing the same thing that I went through.
The Promedica Genito-Urinary Surgeons – Toledo is across the street from the main Promedica Toledo Hospital. My urologist has an office there and does procedures in the same building. There is a procedure room that looks like any other operating room and a staff of nurses, anesthesiologists and staff.
On September 11, 2023, I had a procedure where the urologist removed some kidney stones and inserted stents in both urethras under general anesthesia. I woke up after the procedure, got dressed and was put in a wheelchair to be wheeled to the front door. Neither the urologist or anesthesiologist visited me prior to me being wheeled out the procedure room door.
My wife had the car by the front door and I climbed into the backseat for the ride home. Within 100 feet of the door, while still in the parking lot, I experienced severe cramps and an incredible urge to urinate so I told my wife to immediately go back to the front door and I rushed into the bathroom by the receptionist. The cramps kept coming in waves and were as painful as when I had a kidney stone stuck in my urethra. I also was urinating pure blood and blood clots. I told my wife to go upstairs and ask for the nurse. Incredibly, the same nurse that had been helping me during the procedure, told my wife that I was discharged and to call 911. When my wife came downstairs and told me, I absolutely could not believe what she was told and asked her to go upstairs again. The same nurse told her, again, to call 911 because I was discharged already and then slammed the door shut. All the time, my cramps were continuing and the toilet was filled with blood and I blacked out once. The receptionist tried to help by calling upstairs and she was told the same thing.
Finally, with the wave of cramps continuing, I told them to call 911. The fire truck came with a group of very kind and concerned firemen. Because my wife was really worried, the firemen went above and beyond with one of them volunteering to drive us across the street to the main Promedica Toledo Hospital emergency room because it would be 20-25 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.
We arrived at the emergency room at about 12:30pm and discovered that there were 45 people waiting before we could get to a room. So I was forced to sit and wait until 4:45pm before a room was available. Once in the ER room, it was chaotic because of the volume of patients including stabbing victims etc. But the ER people did their tests and, finally, at about 8:00pm I received some pain medicine but I was still urinating very blood red urine. I was released from ER at about 10:30pm. My day had started across the street at 8:00am and I was exhausted but very thankful to walk out.
A week later, the scheduler from the Promedica Physicians Genito-Urinary Surgeons center called to have me come back in to get the stents removed. I refused to go there again and insisted that the removal take place at the Promedica Toledo Hospital. The scheduler was upset by my refusal but arraigned for the stent removal at the hospital. The hospital staff were far more professional and attentive then those at the surgical center and the removal process went very smooth.
Reflecting on the events that happened, I would encourage anyone contemplating a procedure to be very cautious about where they go to get it done. While the doctors involved may have some incentive to do procedures outside of the hospital, do they have any processes in place to take care of patients that they consider “discharged” after they are wheeled out the procedure room door but still in the building? Do the doctors or nurses even care what happens when the door closes? Unfortunately, I found out the hard way but am still incredulous over their lack of care and concern.
It is not clear if the staff ignored procedure, or if this IS the
