Mayo requested a pre-surgical chest X-ray and an EKG. They asked if I needed orders for them or would my PCP order them...my PCP ordered them [lesson learned...get the orders from Mayo].
I went into the PCP's office for the EKG, next thing I know nurses are getting paperwork for a pre-surgical consult...which I never requested!! After the EKG, my PCP pops into the room and says "you need to postpone your surgery. I won't clear you for surgery. You have inverted T-waves that we also saw months ago [why wasn't it important then?] You need a stress test...it would be unfortunate if you had a heart attack on the table." [Bedside manner????]
So my head starts spinning and I said "Please send my EKG to Mayo and they will decide if I need a stress test, or not." My PCP responded with "oh, they won't."
I insisted that my EKG be sent via fax. My PCP asked if his nurse had the phone number. She did. I called the nurse an hour later only to discover that she didn't send the EKG. When I asked why not: "Your PCP said to hold it until after results of the stress test. I drove to the office and got a copy of my EKG directly in my hands, and I sent it along with my Echocardiogram report from three weeks ago, and my chest X-ray, to Mayo.
The next steps, per Mayo, was to meet with their anesthesiology/admission team to see if they want additional testing done before surgery. Mildly inverted T waves (on my EKG) can mean many things. What I am most curious about is that my PCP mentioned that my EKG is unchanged from 6 months ago. Why was I not told then that I had inverted T waves? I also had all historical EKGs sent. Mayo reviewed everything, including a pre-surgical EKG they did in 2016 at Mayo. I had inverted T-waves back then too. A normal abnormality for me. Plus my Echocardiogram was perfect!.
Mayo concluded that I was cleared for surgery.
The hospital CEO is well aware of some quality improvements that the hospital needs to work on and these contribute to me not being willing to do anything major at the hospital:
• Mis-reading my Nov 2024 chest x-ray...both an outsource group in Wichita and a local ARNP missed a huge tumor, plainly visible.
• Ordering a neck MRA when I requested a head MRA after my ocular migraine to follow up on my mother's history of cerebral aneurysms. I had to do two tests to get one done.
• Confusing me with another patient and violating my HIPPA rights in the process.
Of course Mayo cleared me for surgery! It was yesterday.
Thank God for Mayo
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