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| - This review is for a negative experience I had with Dr. Heather Dalton at Arizona Oncology. I sent a personal letter to Dr. Dalton before posting this review, to give her the benefit of the doubt, and I got no response.
My first meeting with Dr. Dalton went well -- she is charismatic and confident and seemed very passionate about the work that she does. I decided I wanted to move forward with Dr. Dalton and she was quick to schedule surgery.
A week later I was sitting in the preop triage area of Dignity Health St. Joe's getting prepped for surgery. The nurse made two attempts to place an I.V. -- first in my elbow with no success, and then on the underside of my forearm (ouch!) with no success. The third attempt in the top of my hand was thankfully successful.
I asked Dr. Dalton multiple times if I could get something in my I.V. to relax me while I was waiting in preop to be wheeled to the O.R. She assured me that I would get something as soon as I was done signing all the waivers. I never got anything and instead was wheeled through the hospital and into the O.R. fully conscious -- a chilling memory that added to my negative experience. Nobody wants to see the inside of an O.R. like that, nor should they have to. It felt like another instance of negligence and disregard for the patient experience and well being that could have been easily avoided.
The surgery was successful and I woke up in recovery shortly after. I was given two doses of Fentanyl over the course of the next hour and quickly moved into a wheel chair to go home.
I did not have to walk, urinate, drink, or eat before I was sent home. I was given another half dose of Fentanyl in the wheelchair before my I.V. was quickly removed and I was taken to my car.
As the Fentanyl wore off upon my return home, I started taking my pain medication as per the schedule I was sent home with. The pain medication was unsuccessful.
The next morning I tried the pain relievers and was again unsuccessful. The pain was proving to be unbearable and I was suffering with no effective medication for relief.
My abodomen was hard as a rock, my muscles were seizing and spasming and I had extreme shortness of breath.
My partner called Dr. Dalton's post-surgery phone number and argued with the assistant that answered the phone until finally the assistant agreed to have Dr. Dalton call us back.
Dr. Dalton called back over an hour later. I answered, feeling that it was important she hear my voice and breathing patterns.
I informed her that the pain relievers were not working and I was in horrifying pain and having shortness of breath. She said, "Well -- what did you expect after surgery?"
I was taken aback by that comment and asked if there was any other pain relievers we could try. Pardon my ignorance, but I assumed there would be some other options. In a very curt, short tone of voice she replied, "I can't prescribe you anything else. If it's that bad you can go to the E.R."
Again, I was stunned. Maybe empathy and sensitivity is too much to ask, but I felt it was negligent that she did not seem concerned about the shortness of breath or uncontrolled pain.
I had a genuine question and asked her, "What will they do for me at the E.R.? Attempt to place an I.V. again and then give me a dose of Fentanyl and then send me home....and then I'll be right back here at home with no pain medication a few hours later once the Fentanyl wears off?"
Dr. Dalton seemed surprised by this question and thought about it for a moment before saying, "Well, I guess -- yeah."
She seemed quick to want to brush me off without any real thought to the state I was in or what needed to be done.
I continued pressing to see if there was anything she could do and she said, "If you feel your pain is uncontrolled--"
I cut her off and stated my pain was wildly uncontrolled as I already stated my pain medications produced horrible side effects in addition to the fact that they were not working. I was recovering from surgery with no pain relief.
She seemed annoyed at this point and said, "I guess I could try calling in a muscle relaxer."
At that point, I was willing to try anything and a muscle relaxer made logical sense since I was having spasms and cramping.
But, a muscle relaxer is not pain medication, so it certainly did not replace the pain medication one would expect to have after surgery.
I did not hear from Dr. Dalton again after that. She did not call to check up on me, nor did she call to see if the muscle relaxer helped or if I was okay.
(Yelp has a character limit, so if you'd like to read the rest of the review, you can see it here: http://bit.ly/2Bwfx1k)
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