Magandang araw po doc. Nais ko pong humingi ng payo tungkol po sana sa pagkamatay ng father ko. 58 years old na po siya, meron po syang asthma at meron po syang ulcer. Last month lang po sya nagpatingin sa hospital kasi sumasakit po yung left side ng stomach nya pero bago po iyon ay naconfine po sya kasi nagmanas po ang paa nya. Lahat po ng test ginawa sa kanya, ok naman daw po lahat ng test sa kanya. Bumaba po hemoglobin nya sa 89, sinalinan po sya ng dugo at sabi po ng doctor na kailangan daw po ng endoscopy para masilip ang ulcer nya kasi baka doon daw po ang dahilan kaya bumaba ang himoglobin nya. Ayaw naman po ni papa pa endoscopy kasi natatakot sya na baka lumala po asthma niya. Kaya binigyan na lang po siya ng vitamins na Iron, Iberet po.
Nagpafollow up check up po siya pero hindi naman po tumataas ang hemoglobin ng papa ko. Kaya nagdecide na po kami na pilitin na po papa ko na magpa endoscopy. Pumayag na po papa ko kaya last month po nagpaconfine na po siya para maendoscopy po siya. Yung pathologist po na nagendoscopy sa kanya meron pong nakitang 15 cm na bukol sa stomach ng papa ko at may kumalat na po ng konte sa stomach ng papa ko. Kumuha po sila ng sample para sa biopsy. Pero ang sabi ng pathology sa tingin nya pa lang po cancer na iyon. Nagsabi po sya na irerefer kami sa surgeon para alisin ang bukol pero hinintay pa po namin result ng biopsy.
Habang nasa ospital po kami lumabas na po ang result pero nagnegative po sa cancer ang biopsy. Kaya na-postpone po ang operation. Dalawa po ang pathology sa hospital noong time na po na iyon. Sinabi po ng surgeon ng papa ko na magpa 2nd opinion po sa isa pang pathology kaya sinilip po ulet yung bukol ng papa ko at kumuha po ulet ng biopsy sa ibang parte ng bukol. At sinabi na naman po ng doctor na malignant daw po ang bukol sa tingin niya pa lang. Kaya kailangan daw po maalis. Sa madaling salita po hindi na po hinintay ng surgeon ni papa yung result ng biopsy kasi sabi nung pangalawang pathologist na sumilip na baka po sa loob daw po ang tubo ng cancer kaya nag negative sa unang biopsy.
Kaya kinabukasan po ooperahan na po ang papa ko at pumayag naman po kami. May waiver na pinapirmahan at may assistant po ng surgeon na nagsabi sa amin na delikado daw po ang operation kasi payat daw po ang papa ko at sa edad niya po at isa pa daw po iyong may asthma siya. Pero pinalakas pa din namin loob ng papa ko. Kasi sabi naman ng surgeon ni papa na madami naman sila na magtutulong tulong para sa operation. Sabi pa nga 100% kakayanin ni papa.. Kaya lumakas po loob ng papa ko.
Malakas pa po papa ko noong nagpaconfine kami at hanggang sa pinasok siya sa Operating room. At hindi naman po malala asthma niya na inaatake. Ubo lang po asthma nya paminsan minsan. Sa makatuwid po kumpyansa po kami na kakayanin ni papa operation kasi alam namin sa sarili namin na malakas pa po siya. Nakakapag CR nga po iyon magisa noong nasa ospital kami.
Eto na nga po noong inoperahan na po siya mayroon pong nakitang tumor sa pancreas ni papa pinakita po sa akin yun malaki po siya mga 1 kilo po bigat. Sabi ko po sa doctor kala ko po ba sa stomach lang ang bukol at 15 cm lang bakit po ang laki nyan. At sabi ko po sa kanya kakayanin po ba ni papa yan.. Sabi naman po ng doctor matatapos naman na daw operasyon kaya dasal lang. Sa makatuwid po tumagal po operasyon ng 5 hours. Hanggang sa inaupdate na lang po kami may lumalabas na nurse galing operaing room na taas baba na daw po BP ni papa at magdasal daw po kami. Nagdasal po kami ng sobra hanggang may lumabas na naman na nurse sinabi na huminto na daw po tibok ng puso ni papa CPR na daw po nila. Sa makatuwid po hindi po kinaya ni papa namatay po siya.. Ang nakalagay po sa death certificate niya cause ng death A. Cardiorespiratory arrest, B. Hypovolemic shock C. Pancreatic cancer. Yang po mga nakalagay.
Gusto ko lang po sana malaman doc kung may pagkakamali po ba ang hospital sa nangyare. Kasi halos lahat po ng kamag-anak namin nagtataka kasi nadadalaw nila si papa sa ospital malakas naman si papa tapos biglang may nakita pong tumor sa pancreas niya. Nireview po namin lahat ng result sa ospital humingi po kami ng copy at nakalagay naman po sa CT scan ni papa na normal pancreas niya. Gusto ko lang po sana malaman kung may kakulangan po ba ang hospital kasi noong oras na inooperahan po papa ko my reserve po na 2 bags na dugo at habang inooperahan po pinakuha pa po kami sa red cross ng 6 bags additional na dugo. Pero hindi na po ako nakakuha kasi noong oras na kukuha na sana kami sa redcross ng dugo eh sinabihan na po kami na huminto na nga po tibok ng puso ni papa. Doc tulungan niyo po ako. Gusto ko po marinig ng advice mula sa inyo kasi naguguluhan po ako. Nakalibing na po papa ko ngayon pero minsan naiisip ko po na kami po ba nagkulang oh ang ospital. Opo naiisip po namin na at least hindi po pinahirapan ng cancer papa ko pero naiisip din po namin na tama po ba ang ginawa ng mga doctor sa papa ko. Salamat po doc sa reply pag nabasa niyo po ito. Godbless po.
Translation: I would like to ask for advice regarding the death of my father who was 58 years old. He had asthma and ulcer. He went to see doctor last month, because he felt pain on the left side of his stomach. But before that, he was confined in the hospital because his feet was swelling. He underwent almost all types of tests, and the test results were all ok. His hemoglobin levels went down to 89. He underwent blood transfusion (he was given blood) and the doctor said that he needed to have endoscopy, in order to check his ulcer, because that might have been the reason why his hemoglobin level went down. My father did not want to undergo endoscopy, so he was prescribed Iron supplements (Iberet).
He had follow up check up, but his hemoglobin levels did not go up. So we decided to convince our father to have endoscopy. So last month, our father agreed to have endoscopy and was confined in the hospital. The pathologist who did the endoscopy saw a 15 centimeter lump in my father's stomach and was spreading to other parts of his stomach. They took a sample for biopsy, but the pathologist said that he think that it is cancer. He told us that he would refer us to a surgeon to remove the lump, but we still waited for the biopsy results to come out first.
When we were waiting in the hospital, the biopsy results came out which said that it was negative for cancer. So the operation was cancelled. There were two Pathology labs/sections in that hospital, so my father said that we could get a second opinion from the other lab. So a biopsy was again done and tissue was taken from another part of his lump. This time, the doctor said that the tumor is malignant, just from the looks of it. So he said that it should be removed/operated on. So we did not wait for the biopsy results anymore, because the second doctor said that maybe the cancer cells may be growing inside, that is why it did not show in the first biopsy result.
The next day, we agreed to have my father undergo an operation for the tumor/lump to be removed. We were asked to sign a waiver and an assistant told us that the operation is very risky, because my father is thin, and because of his age and he has asthma. But we gave our father confidence that he could do this. Because the surgeon assured us that there were many in his team who would be helping in the operation and the surgeon even said that my father would survive this 100 percent. So my father was encouraged.
My father was still strong when he was confined until he was brought to the operating room. And his asthma was not serious, and having bouts, triggered. He was just coughing sometimes. So we were confident that our father would survive this operation because we could see that he was strong enough. He was even going to the toilet by himself when we were in the hospital.
When he was operated on, they saw a tumor on his pancreas. They showed it to us and it was big, weighing around a kilogram. I told the doctor, I thought that the lump was just in the stomach and just 15 centimeters. Why is it now this big, I asked. I also asked if my father would go through this/survive this. The doctor said that the operation was about to finish, and we just needed lots of prayers. The operation took around 5 hours and a nurse came out, updating us that the blood pressure of our father was going up and down, fluctuating. So we needed to pray. We prayed really hard, and a nurse came out again and told us that our father's heart had stopped and they would do CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation). In the end, my father did not survive and he died. The cause of death written on his death certificate were:
A. Cardiorespiratory arrest,
B. Hypovolemic shock
C. Pancreatic cancer.
I just want to ask if the hospital had any shortcomings or is at fault for what happened. Because almost all our relatives are wondering how he could have died, since they had seen him still strong when they visited him in the hospital. Then all of a sudden they found out that he had a tumor in his pancreas. We reviewed all the test results from the hospital and the CT scan showed that his pancreas was normal. Is the hospital at fault or had any shortcomings? Because during the operation, there were two bags of blood, and when our father was being operated on, they asked us to get 6 additional bags of blood from Red Cross. But we were not able to get any more blood, because when we were about to get additional bags of blood, we were told that our father's heart had stopped. I would please like to get your opinion about this because I am really confused. My father has already been buried, but until now I still can't help but wonder if the hospital was at fault. Did the doctors do things properly in their diagnosis, treatment, operation, etc. of my father?
