I am writing this looking for advice, because I really don't know what to do. I am also writing this in case there is anyone else who may have encountered the same problem(s) as me.
I recently had bowel surgery, and I made my NO BLOOD wishes known to my surgeon almost 2 months prior to surgery. I was told by the surgeon, TWICE, that "it shouldn't be a problem."
These wishes were also in my advance directive, which the hospital received a week prior to surgery.
Then the morning of surgery, while I am being rolled down to the OR in my gurney, an anesthesiologist informed me that I needed to sign a waiver that the hospital would need to give me a blood transfusion if I were to die. I'm already hooked up to an IV, they've already put lots of groovy stuff into my system that made the walls turn different colors. I was relaxed, and sedated, but not asleep yet, and still very coherent. I told this anesthesiologist absolutely not, that I made my wishes known to my surgeon prior.
Then the anesthesiologist tried to compromise with me, saying that there are many reasons for giving blood transfusions, such as when certain parts in the blood get low, but not life threatening, and that my waiver would state only to give me blood if I were to die, not if my counts were low and not life threatening.
At that point I started becoming angry, and said to please call the surgeon over and he will verify that I do not want blood transfusions. Then the surgeon came over and said that he would not operate unless I signed the waiver. I told him how he had said to me prior that it wouldn't be a problem, so then why are they making me sign this waiver?
I also asked why they didn't equip the OR with those special machines that "recycle" the patient's own blood so that a transfusion would not be needed? The surgeon then told me that these OR rooms are not equipped with those machines, only the trauma rooms.
I had a direct blood family member there with me at the hospital to see me through surgery, who also is the same blood type as me. So then I tried to compromise, saying, "look, I have a family member right here that I would feel comfortable taking blood from, and this is the ONLY person I would feel comfortable taking blood from, that is if, and only IF, I am going to die on the table and a blood transfusion is absolutely necessary to save my life." To which the surgeon told me, "well, it's too late for that now, your [family member] would have had to give blood days ago." Well thanks for informing me days ago.
So, I'm in the OR, I'm yelling and screaming at my surgeon and my anesthesiologist, I am absolutely livid. I was yelling at them that I'd discussed this prior and was told it wouldn't be a problem; they have my advance directive, so they knew far enough ahead of time; they had ample time and opportunity to equipp a room with a blood machine; or inform me to have my family member donate blood. So this SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. If I could have gotten out of that bed to slap them silly, I would have.
Not to mention, I should not have been under that amount of stress in the OR prior to surgery. There is no excuse for it whatsoever.
Now, in case you are wondering, I am not a Jehovah's Witness. My reasons for not wanting blood transfusions are not religious. This particular hospital nor the surgeon ever asked me what my religious affiliation was, nor is it any of their business in the first place. I was never asked why I did not want blood transfusions.
But, since I'm sure you would like to know by now, I do not believe in blood transfusions for a number of reasons. I am not convinced that blood is efficiently tested for disease; I am concerned about getting a new illness or disease that blood is not currently being tested for; and I have major reservations about taking blood from strangers because of just that - THEY ARE STRANGERS. I know people who donate blood and/or plasma and lie about their sexual and drug history. I do not want their yucky yucky blood in my body. People forget that a blood transfusion is essentially an ORGAN TRANSPLANT and the risks run many more than I feel like listing here.
I am not sure how to file a complaint against either the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, the hospital, or all of the above, and I'm not sure if I should. I'm not sure if I should just move on, or really pursue that the people involved be punished for what happened. In the least, I definitely would like an apology and an assurance that this will never happen again to anyone else, ever. If I am this upset about it, then I'm sure someone else will be, regardless of their reasons.
And this makes me wonder, what if I was a Jehovah's Witness? Would I have received "special" treatment for my faith, which requires no blood? Would I then have received the recycle machine or have been given the opportunity ahead of time to donate my own blood? Or, the other side of that is, would the surgeon have REFUSED to operate on me, based on my faith? Not too sure if a surgeon could do that - I belive that would be a Hippa violation, not to mention discrimination. Both of which set up the hospital for lawsuits.
I did not need a blood transfusion; I was never in any danger of needing one. I was incredibly healthy going into surgery, all my blood counts were great. That is one reason, I was told, that it "shouldn't be a problem," since blood transfusions are not routine or high risk in the case of the particular surgery I had.
I just feel like I did everything I needed to do to let this surgeon and hospital know my wishes, and my wishes were ignored. They put undue stress on me prior to surgery and made me go against everything I believe in. It was wrong.
In case you're thinking, "well, you could have just said no, and gone somewhere else, or rescheduled for a later date when they equipped the OR with special items." Well, easier said than done. NO I could not afford to go anywhere else; I could not make a second trip to this hospital because I lived FAR away and could not afford the travel cost; and my insurance would not pay for me to go anywhere else either. TRUST ME, I looked into it after I came home. I am on a fixed income, I was screwed.
I was vague on parts because I didn't want my identity or the identity of the hospital known. Alright, well that's my story. Very interested in reading feedback, thanks.