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the patients right to know who is the anesthesiologist

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the patients right to know who is the anesthesiologist  
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Wally1960
Regular Member
Joined : Feb 2013
Posts : 31
Posted 2/28/2013 8:49 AM (GMT -7)
  • From some other hospital websites:
  • "Patient's Rights:

  • Know the identity, professional status, and experience of physician anesthesiologists involved in your care.
  • You have the right to know the name and specialty of the doctor responsible for your care."

    I'm having my RLP surgery 3/26/13 at Vanderbilt Hospital (Dr. Smith). I've asked who will be the anesthesiologist for my surgery, and the answer is we don't know. My scheduled meeting with the anesthesiologist the day prior (per agenda sent to me), isn't with him/her as I was told today when I called there, as the anesthesiologist will most likely be in surgery. I will meet with some other pre-op team and they will determine if pre-op tests are needed. This is less than 24 hours prior to my surgery.

    I am maybe being too anxious, but it seems that this isn't too much to want to know. Is it or not?

    profile picture
    reachout
    Veteran Member
    Joined : May 2009
    Posts : 739
    Posted 2/28/2013 9:05 AM (GMT -7)
    I asked my surgeon who he used for anesthesia, and he told me. I met him the morning of the surgery. Or I should say, he meet me, since I was being prepped. He spent more time with me than the surgeon, because I was asleep during the operation. I liked the guy, and he was open and allowed me to ask whatever. I suppose if I didn't like what he was saying I could have called it off. I suspect, though, that the quality of the anesthesiologist doesn't vary that much, and not nearly as much as the surgeon.
    Age: 66
    PSA: bounced around from 2.6 to 5.6 over 2 years
    Biopsy 8 of 12 +, G 3+4, T2a
    DaVinci 9/09, path G 4+3, - M, NX, MX, T2c
    Continent right away
    ED pills did't work, Trimix works well
    Post-surgery PSA:
    12/09 <0.1
    4/10 <0.014
    6/10, 9/10, 12/10 <0.1
    4/11, 5/11, 9/11 all .05
    12/11 .06, 3/12 0.13!, 6/12 0.14, 9/12 0.17, 12/12 0.26
    Began SRT 2/13. 39 sessions 70.2 Gys.
    profile picture
    Sephie
    Veteran Member
    Joined : Jun 2008
    Posts : 1804
    Posted 2/28/2013 9:17 AM (GMT -7)
    Wally, according to Vanderbilt University Hospital's website (under Patient Rights and Responsibilities), item #7 states: "Your right to know the identity, professional status, role, and business relationship of all who participate in your care". It certainly seems that you should know who the anesthesiologist will be for your surgery. But, the surgical schedule for March is probably not known yet so there's no way to tell who the anesthesiologist will be. However, many surgeons work closely with a few anesthesiologists so perhaps the surgeon's office can give you the names of those that your surgeon works with.

    When my husband had his surgery, he met the anesthesiologist for the first time during his pre-op. The anesthesiologist came in to speak with my husband and I and was accompanied by the surgeon. He carefully went over my husband's medical history, asked pertinent questions, then spoke at length about the surgery and what was going to happen. He talked about the type of anesthesia that would be used as well as the pre-op medication given (usually something like liquid Valium), and discussed possible complications and side effects from the anesthesia.

    The anesthesiologist is actually the one who "has your life in his/her hands"...they're the one who monitors all your vital functions and alerts the surgeon and/or nursing staff if there is an issue. The morning after my husband's prostatectomy, both the surgeon and the anesthesiologist showed up in his hospital room to see how my husband was doing.
    profile picture
    Steve n Dallas
    Veteran Member
    Joined : Mar 2008
    Posts : 4865
    Posted 2/28/2013 9:45 AM (GMT -7)
    It never crossed my mind to ask who "Mr Happy" would be.

    The one I ended up with was switched at the last minute because the other guy went to the wrong hospitalsmhair
    profile picture
    InTheShop
    Elite Member
    Joined : Jan 2012
    Posts : 10390
    Posted 2/28/2013 9:52 AM (GMT -7)
    For my hernia operation, they had the anesthesiologist call me the week before the surgery to do pre-op questions. My hospital uses a pool of anesthesiologists and you get assigned one. They do make sure you know who it is and mine called, showed up pre-op and post-op. She was very willing to discuss all the concerns I had.
    I'll be in the shop.
    Age 53
    PSA 4.2 10/11, 1.9 6/12, 1.2 12/12
    GS 3+4
    Stage T1C
    2 out of 14 cores positive
    Treatment IGRT - 2/2012
    My PC blog
    profile picture
    John T
    Veteran Member
    Joined : Nov 2008
    Posts : 4307
    Posted 2/28/2013 10:07 AM (GMT -7)
    If death in surgery is going to happen it will most likely be caused by the anesthesiologist. Unfortunately none of us has the skill or knowledge to evaluate them; so it's a mute point. Unless someone goes out of their way to mention something I don't know what a patient can do.

    When I was a teen, a good friend of my mother was an anesthesiologist who drank heavily. She would go home at night bombed with a surgery a 7am. I often wondered about her patients. There is no way I would have ever consented to using her as my "sleep doctor".
    JT
    66 years old, rising psa for 10 years from 4 to 40; 12 biopsies and MRIS all negative. Oct 2009 DXed with G6 <5%. Color Doppler biopsy found 2.5 cm G4+3. Combidex clear. Seeds and IMRT, 4 weeks of urinary frequency and urgency; no side affects since then. 3 years of psa's all at 0.1.
    profile picture
    Oldguysrule58
    Regular Member
    Joined : Feb 2013
    Posts : 120
    Posted 2/28/2013 10:07 AM (GMT -7)
    Wally1960,

    I met my anesthesiologist the morning of my surgery. I don't know that meeting him earlier would have made me feel any different. He went thorough the procedure, described what he would be doing, confirmed my allergies and medications (I am epileptic), and then ran through potential issues and how he would deal with them. As it turned out, all of the potential issues occurred and he addressed each as he said he would. I was comfortable going in and satisfied with his answers to my questions. If I would have been uncomfortable, I felt completely at ease asking my surgeon to clarify (both were with me at the same time during my prep).

    Good luck and take it easy, you have an entire community here pulling for you.

    Pat
    54 years old, married 28 years, 2 adult children
    Age at diagnosis 53 (2012)
    PSA 3.6 February 2009
    PSA 7.5 August 2012
    PSA 6.1 September 2012
    Biopsy 1/12 positive Gleason 3 + 3 = 6 November 2012
    Nerve sparing Robotic prostatectomy - cancer spread to bladder
    removed prostate and most of bladder January 2013
    Pathology Gleason 3 + 4 = 7
    Ultra sensitive PSA scheduled April 2013
    profile picture
    Wally1960
    Regular Member
    Joined : Feb 2013
    Posts : 31
    Posted 2/28/2013 11:35 AM (GMT -7)
    Thanks everyone.

    I've been handling this pretty good since diagnosed back in October. But, anxiety and uncertainty are creepy in at an increasing rate lately, especially as it gets closer to the surgery date (which was moved closer by one week recently).

    Wally
    Age 53
    Single dad (11 y/o daughter)
    Diagnosed: Oct 2012
    PSA: 4.8 June 2010, 7.6 June 2011, 10.5 Oct 2012
    TRUS neg July 2011
    TRUS pos Oct 2012, 1.3 cm nodule
    Prostate volumn: 28cc
    DRE Oct 2012: confirmed
    TRUS biopsy Oct 2012: 4 of 12 pos
    GS: 7 (4+3)
    Pelvic MRI Jan 2013 neg
    Bone scan Feb 2013 neg
    RALP, da Vinci, nerve-sparing scheduled for 3/26/13
    at Vanderbilt - Dr. Joseph Smith
    profile picture
    English Alf
    Veteran Member
    Joined : Oct 2009
    Posts : 2221
    Posted 2/28/2013 11:46 AM (GMT -7)
    When I went to the hospital in Amsterdam for assorted pre-op meetings with people one of them was "an" anaesthetist. He talked me through everything that would happen, re explaining what the surgeon had been through as well as telling me stuff for the first time about what the anaesthetist would do. But he said before all this explanation that there was no way of knowing which of the 13 anesthetists in the section would actually be the one doing the business for my surgery.

    As it happened my actual aneasthetist came to see me in the prep room about 15 minuites beforehand and talked to me constantly about what was being done and what would be done, eg what the wiring was for, what the canuals were for, what substances he was injecting in me and why, as well as just chatting to me about who I was, to say nothing of swapping jokes and complimenting me on how good I looked as I was five years older than him and looked about ten years younger. We even had a sort of competition to get the rest of the team to try to guess my age before looking at my notes.

    Others may want it different, buit this was just the way I needed to be treated, I thus felt very comfortable being wheeled into the theatre with him at myside talking. I looked up and said, "wow that's a big bright light" and then next thing I know I was talking to my wife several hours later.

    But in addition to stats about the surgeon's record it can be worth checking what the hospital's record is too as complications during surgery and immediately after it often have much more to do with the whole team than the surgeon. Knowing specific names may not be as important as the overall stats.

    Alf
    profile picture
    Sagittarian
    Veteran Member
    Joined : May 2011
    Posts : 547
    Posted 2/28/2013 12:02 PM (GMT -7)

    I had a few surgeries and a few anesthesiologists.  When I was in the surgery center for my biopsy the prepping nurses raved about the anesthesiologist. When waking up after the biopsy I felt great, not groggy, not feeling brain things, felt good.  I compared this to 3 other times being put under.  Before my surgery I met the anesthesiologists, thinking who is this.  I asked the nurse where my anesthesiologists was, she said if I had another one in mind I could cancel the surgery, thought about it, but went through with it.  When seeing my surgeon after the operation I asked him why he used different anesthesiologists and pathologists for the operation, vs. the biopsy.  He replied he had control over the surgery center, but not the hospital.


    APR/2011- (age 53) Biopsy, 8 NEG, 4 POS, 2(3+3), 2(3+4) 40-90%, PSA 4.7, FPSA-7%
    MAY/2011- Da-Vinci, R-Spared, Partial-L, T2c,4+3,25%,Conf,Marg-Lymph-Sem NEG
    MAY/2011- Catheter Removed, UTI CIPRO 500mg 2 a day for 10 Days
    JUN/2011- No ED, Stress Incontinence, JUL/2011 No Incontinence
    PSA 0.1 Undetectable, *2011- JUL-OCT *2012- JAN-APR-AUG-DEC *2013 -JAN/.03,
    Not a Medical Proffesional
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