My 44 year old son when he was younger, abused his body. He was the singer in an Heavy metal band and often leaped off stage. He hurt his hip doing this. This past Tuesday had a hip replacement. Two days after the surgery had to go back to the ER with severe neck and back pain. Immediately, the doctors did a test of his fluid and determined he has meningitis from the surgery. He is on a crap load of antibiotics as well as his wife and daughter. They believe they caught it in the earl stages.
Is this something to sue the hospital for, or is it part of the risk of surgery. He is already looking at lawyers, but I thing he should be worrying about getting better first.

Then, my daughter with stage IV breast cancer has been told it is starting to spread again, so they are trying a new series of drugs. One rough week.

IDK, because I'm neither a doctor, nor hospital employee of any kind, nor a lawyer, but my guess is that, among the myriad of forms he signed upon admittance or whatever, were waivers for catching any one of the number of diseases running rampant in today's hospitals.

I make this assumption based on the fact hospitals somehow manage to remain in business despite the number of times you hear of people going in for procedures both minor and major, and coming down with infections that sometimes kill them.

Sorry, seeing your kids suffer is always a hell.

FWIW, your family in my prayers

I’m very sorry to hear if these troubles with your kids. I would look into legal advice as well, were I him. Whether or not he can sue, this is an unplanned event due to a surgery they performed and it’s about to wreak untold havoc on his life. I would want advice and research into how (specifically) this happened.

I do know people who have had abdominal surgeries (were mesh was placed) come to arrangements, but I don’t know the details and there was a faulty product involved there.
My thoughts are with your children..I hope the new drugs help your daughter eliminate the cancer, and your son recovers completely.

Your children are in my prayers Dang

Prayers for your son and daughter, and you and your family.

I did a search on the subject since it is normally the result of a neurological procedure.
Looks like it can sometimes be present as an infection in the joint beforehand and then spread as a result (I'm no DR so interpret it yourself). Also can result from an epidural and enter that way.

https://academic.oup.com/bja/article/108/3/485/417591

I’m very sorry to hear you’re experiencing all these issues with your children. I have a couple questions. What type of anesthesia was used for the procedure? Was there an epidural or a spinal block? Had he been ill in the days prior? Has he been on steroids recently or did he have any injections over the past few weeks? Hopefully he has a speedy recovery and your daughter’s cancer is responsive to treatment.

I'm not sure about hip replacement (Yet) but when I had my knees done I was given quite a few antibiotics before the surgery for a week or two to prevent infections and build up my immune system.

quote:

Originally posted by armedmd:
I’m very sorry to hear you’re experiencing all these issues with your children. I have a couple questions. What type of anesthesia was used for the procedure? Was there an epidural or a spinal block? Had he been ill in the days prior? Has he been on steroids recently or did he have any injections over the past few weeks? Hopefully he has a speedy recovery and your daughter’s cancer is responsive to treatment.

He was supposed to have an epidural. They tried several times without success and eventually put him under with something stronger. I myself feel at this time thinking about a lawsuit is too soon. Getting healthy should be the priority. He is 44, so he will do what he wants.
I suffer from a mesh implant from 15 years ago that may require surgery to correct. I have no desire to sue the doctor that did the surgery.

Good gosh yes, prayer up now for your family, you bet, that would be difficult for anyone when your family is going thru a health crisis.

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:

quote:

Originally posted by armedmd:
I’m very sorry to hear you’re experiencing all these issues with your children. I have a couple questions. What type of anesthesia was used for the procedure? Was there an epidural or a spinal block? Had he been ill in the days prior? Has he been on steroids recently or did he have any injections over the past few weeks? Hopefully he has a speedy recovery and your daughter’s cancer is responsive to treatment.

He was supposed to have an epidural. They tried several times without success and eventually put him under with something stronger. I myself feel at this time thinking about a lawsuit is too soon. Getting healthy should be the priority. He is 44, so he will do what he wants.
I suffer from a mesh implant from 15 years ago that may require surgery to correct. I have no desire to sue the doctor that did the surgery.

I’m guessing you raised your kids to be like you, so I’m betting he really doesn’t want to sue anyone, either. I had a surgery a number of years ago where the anesthesiologist unsuccessfully attempted to place an epidural. They ended up going traditional with me, too, and I ended up with spinal headaches for a bit due to the multiple attempts. It. Was. Awful. I spect that procedure might be where your son got the meningitis. Scary stuff.
I never went after anybody, but I did want it corrected, and I’m pretty sure my insurance covered it when I went back for the fix. Maybe your son just wants meds and care covered for him and his family if this was an unforeseen complication? Either way, I wish all of you the best.

My heart breaks for you. Your thread, as well as the one started by acidjazz, in addition to some others of late reminds of the quote from Philo of Alexandria; “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.”