You might remember that last week or thereabouts I mentioned that I was going to try and swap an appointment I had with the doctor to DH because of his navel hernia.
Well I got out the sharp and pointy teefs, polished them up and made the phone call.
My preperations were for naught, there has been a change in the immediate management of the clinic and they wouldn't do it. They said it sounded serious and they wanted to see him sooner. Would next Tuesday at 4:00 be all right? Knock me over with a feather!
So today was next Tuesday. DH girded his loins (I made sure he was wearing clean underwear), and made the trek up the hill. The doctor took one look at him and said she didn't need to examine him to confirm a hernia, because she could see it. She did examine him to see how bad it was, she guesses 3+ inches with a curve at the end. She admonished him about lifting, explained how to safely push the hernia back when it pooks out, emphasized what to go to the emergency room for, and told him to stop at the desk for appointments for a pre-anesthesia physical and to see a thoracic surgeon. Then she asked him to wait because someone from administration was going to need to speak to him. A few seconds later DH heard her "speaking very forcefully" to someone down the hall, and the admin rep was with him before he got his shirt back on. The rep wanted to know about the two examinations where he had come in to see about the hernia before this exam. So he told her, the first time the PA poked him in the tummy and said there was nothing to worry about, the second time the PA didn't even do that much. Just told him that if it was a hernia he wouldn't be able to push it back in. At that point the admin rep (an RN in a previous life) threw her pen into the air and exclaimed that there is a specific name for that kind of hernia and it is the easiest kind to fix, if it is not left unattended to get bad. She told DH that there was going to be an inquiry, because obviously some people had not performed up to snuff, and that at least on the second visit he should have been refered rather than brushed off.
So DH is going to be repaired, and hopefully some heads will roll about his poor treatment previously.
NightMist Yeah!