Bad experience with hospital
This is a long read but it is a timeline of what we have been thru with Kona. Now we just found out from her stool sample that it shows she has been exposed to Giardia. Not sure whether to treat at this point or not as she has been thru so much. Right now she seems to be doing well with no diarrhea or vomiting.
Central Hospital for Veterinary Medicine in North Haven CT
12/26/19
Dr. Leroy Holdmeyer
$509.47
We brought Kona to the hospital for vomiting as we suspected she ate some berries that may have been poisonous on Christmas from the yard because she vomited three of them. We searched the yard and could not find any berries that she may have gotten into. We brought the vomited berries to the hospital, but they could not identify them.
Blood work was done, and Dr Holdmeyer went over the results with us. He asked us if she had been drinking excessively because he said her blood sugar was 470. He said she is probably diabetic , and we should follow up with her vet. (WHY WOULD NOTHING BE DONE FOR HER WITH A BLOOD SUGAR SO HIGH?). He also said there was another value in her blood that was elevated but he said it was common in older dogs. We said she is not even two yet! He just glazed over it and prescribed her meds for the stomach issues. We were very upset when we left thinking that she probably is diabetic. When we checked out, we asked for a copy of her blood work. When we reviewed the results, it showed her blood sugar was 98. We were furious that we had been given inaccurate information. If we had not requested a copy of the blood work, we would have incurred even more expenses taking Kona to our own vet for evaluation of diabetes.
12/30/19
Dr. Marianne Freschlin
$182.16
Kona was still not eating or drinking well so we brought her back to the hospital. I was concerned that she was dehydrated. Dr. Freschlin suggested we leave Kona overnight and for a couple of days for IV fluids and monitoring. The estimated cost would be around $2,000 or $3,000. I asked if she could just give her sub q fluids even though she never gave us that option. She said yes but it would not be as quick as IV fluids. We opted for the sub q fluids and would monitor her at home as my husband and I are both retired so she would be monitored very closely. She was given the fluids and some meds and we took her home.
1/16/20
East Side Veterinary - Our Vet
My daughter lives with us and we were on vacation in Florida. She took Kona to our vet for vomiting. X rays were done and no blockages were seen. Meds were given and they suggested if Kona did not improve she should get an ultrasound done since she has been having sporadic problems.
1/22/20
Dr. Carolyn Gross
$3065.71 – Deposit
$793.10 – Final Payment
My daughter took Kona to the hospital for an ultrasound. By late afternoon, my daughter had not heard back, so she contacted the hospital. She was told that Kona has a very severe ulcer that may perforate at any time. They said they have never seen an ulcer this bad and it is in a very bad location. They made it very clear that this was a grave situation. They advised her to leave her overnight and they would treat her aggressively with meds and repeat the ultrasound in the morning. They also told her that if things went bad during the night, they may have to do emergency surgery. They asked her if that happened would she like them to spay her while they are in there. I do not know why they would ask this as BEFORE Kona even had the ultrasound, my daughter informed them she was spayed and also that she had her stomach tacked.
When my daughter went to pay the down payment, she reviewed the charges on the estimate, and she saw a charge of $342.98 for a Von Willebrand test. She questioned them on this stating that Kona’s parents were both tested, and Kona had previously been spayed and had her stomach tacked with no complications. They said they definitely like to have this test done anyway. When my daughter told me about this, I still did not understand why we had to do the test and I spoke with Dr. Gross about this. She stated they definitely like to have it in case they need to go straight to surgery. She said it is based on percentages. I agreed to have the test done as Dr. Gross was adamant at how important it was.
1/23/20
In the morning Dr. Gross contacted me by phone at 9:18am. She said Kona did ok during the night and we have three options. The first was to just continue the meds and to monitor her. The second was to do an endoscopy and the third was to go straight to surgery. She said all of the options have risks. She said if they just continue to monitor her, they cannot be sure if the ulcer already may have perforated. The second option was the endoscopy and she said that can also be very risky because they inflate the stomach so the ulcer could potentially perforate at which time, they would have to take her right into surgery. The third option would be to head straight into surgery although the ulcer is in a very difficult location and it would be very risky. I asked her at that time if a gastro specialist would be doing the procedure and she said yes. When I look at the hospital notes I see it was Dr. Gross that did the procedure. Why didn’t she tell me it was her that would be doing the procedure?
My husband and I chose to have the endoscopy done. They made it very clear to us at the time what a grave situation this was for Kona. We were very distressed and even tried to change our airline flights to get home earlier, but it was too expensive on top of the expenses we were incurring with the hospital.
At 11:29am Dr. Gross contacted me with the results of the endoscopy. She said Kona did not have an ulcer at all. She said Kona may have IBS but the biopsies would tell more. We were elated with the news but also very upset at the misdiagnosis. When my daughter took Kona for the ultrasound, she let them know that Kona had previously had gastropexi surgery and was spayed so they definitely should have been aware of this.
1/23/20
After the endoscopy was over, my daughter went to the hospital to visit Kona, but she was told Kona was anxious and they had just given her some medicine to calm her, so it would not be a good idea to visit her. The nurse she spoke with said it was great news that Kona did not have an ulcer and they are thinking it may be IBS. She also stated something to the effect that her stomach looked different than normal anatomy on the ultrasound and it that could be due to the stomach tacking.
Later in the day, my daughter was told Kona could go home. When she went to pick her up, she met with Dr. Gross. My daughter felt very rushed in her meeting. Dr. Gross said Kona had been given medication to calm her so she may act drunk, confused, or anxious so have fun with that. My daughter felt this was very rude for her to say that. She also told my daughter to just continue with her usual food which was Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach. Why would we put her right back on her food when we still did not know any results of the biopsies that were done, and she had not eaten much in days. We have kept her on the Hills Prescription canned diet as a precaution until we get the results back. My daughter asked about the Von Willebrand test and she was told it did not come back yet. So why was it so important to have this test done when it would not even be back before Kona could have possibly had to have emergency surgery.
On 1/28/20 at 7:06 pm we received a call from one of the techs informing us that the Von Willebrands test was finally back and it is negative. She said the biopsies are not back yet as they were sent to Pennsylvania and if we do not hear anything by Friday, to call.