Horrible Experience
Combining and posting our experience with Dr. Liz Cruz who owns Partners in Digestive Health.
Nadezhda Ivanovna Lind who was a nurse practitioner at GB FAMILY CARE.
And Banner Estrella Hospital in Phoenix.
While Dr. Cruz is very personable, she almost killed my husband. The nurse practitioner at GB FAMILY CARE, Nadezhda Ivanovna Lind, sent him to see Dr. Cruz for his first colonoscopy.
Dr. Cruz did not get his lab results from GB Family Care. (If she had she would have seen he had low platelets and would have had to infuse him while doing the colonoscopy. Or, like she told me later, she would have sent him to a specialist for the colonoscopy.) Also she would have seen he had fatty liver (non alcohol related) which makes clotting a problem and cauterized all 8 of the polyps instead of just cauterizing the largest one. Nor did she send him to get blood drawn to get her own lab reports.
We found out that GB Family Care did/does not read the labs until they are in the room reading them to the patient. Which was shocking. Lind said they are too busy and have too many patients to read all the lab reports that come in.
Every Dr. we have ever been to if there is something concerning they would get a hold of us immediately. When we did not get a call we were unconcerned.
None of the info my husband received from Cruz's office said black tarry stool is bad and her office should be called asap if that should happen. I was aware but my husband did not know. He had been bleeding heavily since the colonoscopy.
2 days later he was in the hospital fighting for his life. He ended up having 15 blood transfusions along with, I believe it was 12 bags of platelets. (There are many risks in having so many transfusions!)
Along with many other medical procedures.
The inept hospital we took him to "Banner Estrella" could not find where my husband was bleeding from even though he was there for a month. Finally having enough when one of the employees (I can't remember if she was a nurse or a lab tech) asked me and my adult children what we wanted them to do. We stood there shocked for a moment until I replied "Find where he is bleeding from and repair it!"
Another mistake was when we decided to have him transferred to Mayo the Dr. cancelled all his blood draws. (Even though I asked if his care would remain the same. They assured me it would.) One that told us how low his hemoglobin was to see if he needed another transfusion. Had I not awakened in the middle of the night to check what the results were online he would have had a dire emergency. Possibly died. I had to call the hospital where they proceeded to argue with me if my husband even needed his blood drawn. He ended up being transfused with-in the hour as his hemoglobin was critically low.
Another, my husband's blood count was low. (IE the many transfusions) One of the nurses left him alone in the bathroom after helping him in with a wheelchair having just had a test where he had to lay completely still flat on his back. She left him there alone. He passed out hitting his head on the wall. My children were in the room and heard the awful sound. When the nurse rushed in, my children saw their dad laying there, color ashen. Looking dead. They were terrified!
We had him transferred to the Mayo Clinic. It took them all of 24 hours to find where he was bleeding from and repair it.
