Posts by fadedbison11

My mother's partner had his right lower leg amputated at the Mayo Clinic due to thrombosis. He underwent spinal anesthesia for the procedure, and that’s where the complications truly began... about two or three months after the surgery—and after five agonizing months of waiting for rehabilitation at some local spas—his condition just kept spiraling downward. He started having breathing issues, sinus congestion, his voice changed, and he was coughing up phlegm mixed with blood. I ended up calling 911. After examining his mouth and neck, the doctor determined it was oral cavity cancer and asked where he had received the anesthesia; he told them it was in his back. During the follow-up CT scan at the Mayo Clinic, they asked the exact same question. Given how much they focused on that, you’d almost think they suspected the anesthesia was the root cause of the cancer. Then came the radiation therapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering—but instead of the scheduled seven weeks, they discharged him after just two, claiming everything was fine... only for the cancer to spread later on. He was a lifelong construction worker, a man who had never been seriously ill in his life. A year after the first amputation, his left leg had to be amputated as well—this time because of a doctor's oversight, someone who saw the state of the leg on a Doppler two months prior and did absolutely nothing. In the end, he passed away in unimaginable agony. Through all the tests, the MRIs, and the constant runaround, he bore it all with stoicism. From the very first day we walked through the doors at the Mayo Clinic, it felt like it was all for nothing.