Posted on 09/28/2007 4:23:44 PM PDT by SkyPilot
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - A cancer patient says she was left alone in a CT scanner for hours after a technician apparently forget about her, and she finally crawled out of the device, only to find herself locked in the closed clinic.
Elvira Tellez of Tucson said she called her son in a panic, and he told her to call 911.
Pima County sheriff's deputies arriving at the oncology office had her unlock the office door to let them in, said Deputy Dawn Hanke, a department spokeswoman. The deputies contacted the office manager, who was not aware of the situation.
Tellez was taken to a hospital as a precaution, then released early the next day.
Tellez said she's had trouble sleeping since last week's incident. She and her family said they want an explanation from the medical office, Arizona Oncology Associates, but have yet to receive one. She said the technician did call to apologize the next day.
"I don't know what to think," Tellez said in Spanish. "I think and think and think, but I can't understand it."
The executive director of Arizona Oncology Associates, Sonya Hohm, was in a meeting Friday and not immediately available for comment, her assistant said. The assistant said no one else at the statewide medical practice was authorized to comment.
Diagnosed with bone cancer, the 67-year-old Tellez had been sent to the clinic for tests to see if her cancer had spread.
A technician placed her inside the large machine at about 4 p.m. on Sept. 19, dimmed the lights so she could relax and told her not to move during the 25-minute procedure.
"At some point, my mom lost track of time and felt like too much time had passed, but she couldn't look at a clock or anything because it was dark," her son Ariel Tellez said.
After calling out, then screaming for help, she said, she spent several hours trying to free herself from the machine. Finally, she wiggled out from under a heavy blanket and out of the machine. By the time deputies found her, it had been five hours since she was placed inside.
A physician who works at the practice and knew of the incident told The Arizona Daily Star it's not the first time such a thing has happened.
"People have been left in the office after hours, when something like that happens—it's the same sort of thing," Dr. Steven Ketchel said. "My guess is she was lying on the table, waiting and waiting and nobody told her she could go home."
Yo no entiendo.
El burro es un animal de trabajo.
"I don't know what you're saying,", Old Sarge said in English. "I listen and listen and listen, but I can't understand it."
How badly trapped in there could she have been if she had to unlock the door for the deputies from the inside?
. . .that is not quite the way it works when you are 'on the table' inside a CT scanner. . .
. ..but whatever, a horrible ordeal. . .
And what person would stay inside the scanner for five HOURS? Think maybe she fell asleep in there?
” in a CT scanner for hours “
Wait till she gets the bill, they probably will bill her for the time in there.
Who wants to bet the family knows the english words, “I sue”.
Because the cash settlement for 30 minutes is too small.
I dont know about now, but I had a couple CAT scans in the 80s....and it was an ordeal I tell you. First, I had a herniated disc from college football...they contorted me into the most painful position imagineable and started the process. I got claustrophic going into the machine, and kind of freaked watching that red laser shooting around....
I am not sure how it is today, but I am guess they told her to be still and she fell asleep.
So you would be perfectly OK with it if it happened to you or your mother?
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Wow ! I can’t believe some of the responses from FReepers on this one. She’s a 67 year old bone cancer patient who got stranded in an awful situation. Have a heart.
The rad office I worked for once left a woman in the office and went home after an x-ray....the cleaning people found her.
Awakened ... thanks much, you got to the keyboard before I could. Most of what I read on FR is reasonable. These reactions weren’t. As to suing — I would. In a clinic, leaving someone with orders not to move, and then going home, is unconscionable. Being mildly claustrophobic I would’ve freaked.
I agree. The woman was probably terrified and it sounds as if the health care people are treating her like a number.
welcome to Hillary care
No kidding. Not to mention that it's possible that her cancer had spread to her brain, since she was getting a CT scan, so we can't presume she had all the necessary mental faculties to have reacted differently than she did. Sad story, whether she's American, Mexican, or whatever.
Para Ingles, imprima el dos.
Para Ingles, imprima el dos.
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