subicbay

So deep. So many things to consider. Why do they make it so hard. They always say they are here for me. But when I read their denials it's as if the doctors that accomplished this deception are the ones writing the denial to the 1151 Claim. I say answer the evidence and it goes on deaf ears. I say folllow the regulations and they act like regulations are not applicable. All I want them to answer what type of patient would sign to have his leg amputated on the day a new medicine was perscribed and the true ailment would have been known. I do not believe there is anyone out there willing to have their leg amputated without the fight to save it. J. Forbes

Thank you for all your comments and suggestions . I will consider all. J. Forbes

Sorry can't help. It was before my time. J. Forbes

I just wonder if I lost my knee when it could have been saved. The X-rays show nothing wrong. Was it their rush to eleviate the Infectious Disease that caused them to conceal the truth and amputate above the knee. Ask any AKA how important the knee is. Could this have not been in parts, first below the knee, any attempt to allow the new medicine achieve the goal. After I saw the comments about the knee it makes me think the Hospital's needs were more important than trying to save the knee. J. Forbes

Five years ago I went back to the States to try to save my leg. Even though I had an above the knee amputation I believed the VA hospital I went to did their best and never blamed them. In fact, I told all I met if it wasn't for the VA my family would have gone hungry along time ago. You see they gave me a pension and that is how i fed my children from that day. There was only one problem, five (5) years later I would learn the true reason I lost my leg. To better understand why I had lost my leg I asked for a copy of my medical records from Asheville VA Hospital for the time I was admitted for my leg ailment. When I received them I was shocked to find out that the true reason I had lost my leg. I would find a Wound Culture Report that said I had an Infectious Disease called Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia. I was never aware of it. I did a search of my medical records to see when this Wound Culture would appear in my mediical records. What I found was it was discussed prior to my amputation but it never mentioned the Infectious Disease or the change in medicine. It stated the patient would have an above the knee amputation (AKA) today. They also didn't mention my x-rays for my knee never showed damage and was not complete. Nor did they discuss why my Nuc. Bone Scan was cancelled. After reading all of this I felt they had amputated to eleviate the Infectious Disease. After reading this I initiated an 1151 claim stating I had the right to reconsider the amputation because there was new information that might have made me reconsider my decision. The regulations state the doctors must accomplish this. Everything I heard from the VA was positive and I believed it was a matter of time before they acknowledged their mistake and lived up to what they had done to me. Wrong. They disapproved my 1151 claim and never once referenced any of my evidence I had supplied. They had made one statement that bothered me. This was I had received the medicine all along. I decided to trace back the medicine to see when it was prescribed. What I found shocked me. It is found on the Internal Medicine Note, dated November 21, 2002. Here PA J. Stephen Downey acknowledges he has talked me into having the AKA operation. In the same Internal Medicine Note he changes my medication to Ceftazidine 2g IVPB Q8H and Vancomycin 1000mg IVPB Q12H. This change of medicine would be associated to the Wound Culture Report for my Infectious Disease, Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia, dated November 22, 2002. He advised me to have an AKA but never mentioned the change in medication or my true ailment. Would you sign to have your leg cut-off knowing there was a new medicine being administered and a correct diagnosis was now available. So now I have submitted a Notice of Disagreement quoting that twice it was evident my Infectious Disease was known prior to my amputation and twice the hospital chose to keep it secret and promote the AKA. I can only suppose it was to eleviate the Infectious Disease and save the hospital reporting procedures in a case they found less important than the saving of my leg, or at least the saving of my knee. Ask any AKA patient how important the knee is. Even though I have proven there was an Error In Judgement I feel I will still lose this because of these doctors attitude that they did nothing wrong. Why do I get this feeling that they believe they are above regulations and need not to answer to no one. Remember, I found this myself and still they do not acknowledge any wrongdoing. John P. Forbes