My personal living nightmare of about a year began with a kidney stone attack. Being a retired military man, I went to the emergency room at Nellis Air Force Base outside Las Vegas, Nevada. They recommended a local doctor (who I later found worked part time at the Air Base to relieve doctors who were scheduled to take ordinary leave). He informed me he was the best in the business, and had performed more kidney stone removals than any doctor in the area. He also informed me that urinary track blockage could create back pressure and kill the kidney within 48 hours. In by six – out by noon. Well, that is not how it happened. It turned out he stuck a lazier up the urinary track to “zap” the stone. He did irreparable damage to the ureter. He lied about it, and informed me that I had suffered a reaction to the anesthesia and he wanted to keep me an extra day in order for it to work its way out of my system. Three days later I was released from the hospital. (Later, when I saw a copy of my records, there was no mention of a problem with the anesthetic. On the next seven operations, I answered the question about reaction, and each time, informed them that I had an adverse reaction to the anesthetic.) To make a long story short, I urinated blood for six months, and “milk” from a urinary infection for three months. I underwent repeated surgeries in an attempt to correct the problem. On the eighth surgery and after about a year of living hell, my right kidney was removed. When I finally changed doctors, he requested a culture and sensitivity test of my infection, and found that the bacteria was resistant to the drug prescribed by me previous doctor. After the kidney was removed, I was informed that it was “encased in a cement-like substance” and had been beyond saving a long time ago.
David U.
