vito1281

Hi all,

Brief history: fractured my fibula on xmas day last year. Walked around on the leg for about a week because I only had symptoms of a sprained ankle, and did not feel/know about the fracture at the time. Decided to go get it X-ray'ed, and that's when the fracture was discovered. I went to go see an orthopedic surgeon the following day (after x-ray), and he told me that I NEEDED to have surgery, or else I could end up having problems later on down the road (he mentioned having ankle fusion as one likely consequence). I was somewhat hesitant to have surgery for obvious reasons, and decided to seek a 2nd opinion. Another orthopedic surgeon was highly recommended to me by family friends, and I went to see him. His diagnosis was that I had 2 choices: (a) have surgery and it will take ~6 weeks to heal, OR (b) put a cast on w/out surgery and it will take 8 weeks to heal. Well, given the fact that I didn't feel good about having surgery, I opted for plan b.

A month after the cast was put on, I had my first follow-up visit. At about the same time, I started having chest pain on the right side, underneath my rib cage. During that appt, I asked the doc if he knew what could be causing it, and he said it's most likely just some muscle pain from walking on crutches. Well, it ended up being a pulmonary embolism!!! Actually, 3 emboli were lodged in my lungs, so I could've easily died or had a stroke or any other possibility with an embolism. He never told me initially about the possibility of having this, nor did he tell me that the pain could be a result of that. I ended up spending 4 days in the hospital, and am on blood thinners now. He also told me that everything was going according to plan, and that the fracture site started developing the bone callous. He scheduled another appt for 3 weeks later.

Well, today was that appt. Now, here's where it gets "interesting". I show up to the office, and they send me over to the x-ray dept. Nothing unusual here, so I go over to the x-ray dept. I spent quite a bit of time waiting for my x-ray to be taken, and on the walk back to the doctor's office, we (I was with my father) see my doctor walking towards us, going in the opposite direction of where his office is. On top of that, he had his coat on and his briefcase. As he walks by us, he tells us "I have a patient in the emergency room" and made a gesture with his finger as if to just wait a little bit, and he'll come back to see me. Thinking nothing of it, I returned to his office.

When I got to his office, I needed to use the restroom. When I returned from the restroom to the exam room, I see his assistant (PA-C after her name, not M.D.--what is PA-C???) explaining something to my father. Anyhow, I sit down and she starts telling me that they will be putting me in a removal cast and will see me in 3-4 weeks. At this point I ask her where the doc is, and she tells me that he had a dentist appt and left. What the ****??? I got a little irritated, and asked her how that could be. All she told me is that the doc is gone and there's nothing they could do. She offered to have the doc give me a call back tomorrow. Well, having no other option, I told her that's fine.

So I start asking her questions about my x-ray and situation. Firstly, let me mention that the x-ray was really weird, and didn't look like the x-ray's they've taken before. This one was at a very odd angle, and it was hard to see the fracture site, unlike the previous x-rays. So I asked her how the fracture is healing, and she tells me that she's not happy about the amount of callous there. I started telling her that I was told by the doc that it would take 8 weeks at most to heal, and she starts telling me that nothing is exact, and blah blah blah. Then she told me that I need to start bearing 75% of my weight on the leg while wearing the removable cast. I told her that before this I was told to put only 50-60lbs on the leg, so putting 75% of my weight (I weigh 215lbs) would be a big jump. Now she tells me that I should only put 100-125 lbs on it. Anyhow, I left VERY disappointed in the whole situation. She told me the doc will call me tomorrow.

Can anyone explain to me who the **** is a PA-C? Is this right of the doc to lie to me about where he's going? Is there any medical malpractice here? Do docs usually prescribe Aspirin to thin the blood while wearing a cast? He has a patient who's obviously had complications as is with the cast, and I was looking forward to this appt like nothing else. Instead, I got medical advice from some PA-C. Can someone explain to me what the heck happened? Should I switch doctors, and is it even possible that some other doc will take on my case now? I'm a little worried now that perhaps the first doc was right, and that only surgery was plausible. And now I can be at risk for complications later on down the road, such as ankle fusion. Can anyone share their thoughts/experience on something remotely like this?

Sorry for the long post, but I'm extremly ****ed off and frustrated right now with my doc.

Thanks