How do you ever trust anyone...

I learned today that the surgery I had four years ago was not, in fact, the surgery I agreed to have performed. I learned this because the fourth specialist I have seen since then is the first one to actually read the surgical report from the hospital I have submitted to each new doctor as a part of my records. It is a report I never read since it was technical and since I always assumed was about the surgery I needed instead of one that I did not need and would not resolve my problem.

The news was devastating, for my life over the past four years would have been markedly different had I had the proper surgery. At a minimum, I have suffered through a problem that could have been resolved four years ago. And a grief that I have struggled to absorb would never have taken place.

The news was welcome, for it means that the things that did not add up medically, now make absolute perfect sense.

The news was hopeful, for it means I have more options and more positive options in addressing my problem since the surgery was not actually performed (it is one not done twice).

Still, it is simply overwhelming to learn that a surgeon would not only perform a surgery to which I had not given consent but also failed to reveal that fact to me. I only have the report that is NOT a part of my medical records from that surgeon because a doctor who felt I needed to see another specialist logged into the hospital system and printed out several surgical reports for me to pass on as a way of being helpful to the next doctor.

Seriously, if you are having surgery, I am thinking that you should ask every single person in the operating room if he/she knows which surgery you are to have so that, perhaps, someone might hold the surgeon accountable for his/her actions before it is too late.

I am Yours, Lord.  Save me!