Bad news, the biopsy had complications and now you’re wheelchair bound for the rest of your life.
how often does this actually occur? I assume if they’re doing biopsies of brain material there’s a risk but seems like it’s a low probability if they’re biopsi-ing your liver…
Also, when physicians find something wacky or unusual, is there any desire to do more imagine to see if that’s the only oddness? for example, I had a retrocecal appendix (discovered during my appendectomy) - is that the only thing going on that’s funky / unusual, or should I check / have imagine for other stuff? My docs didn’t have a consistent answer - one said yeah, one said nah, one said it’s nbd but if it was their appendix they might ask for other tests. :|
Fortunately my insurance is about as likely to pay for extra stuff as it is to cut my copay to zero, so it’s not an issue I can address, but it does hang around in the back of my head.
Not frequent, but enough to make you question are we truly doing no harm when we indulge people. Medicine is an art, at the end of the day its a mix of statistics and experience. Not everything has a clear cut or even a right or wrong answer. Do this long enough, and you’ll see things that have minimal risk turn into a clusterfuck.
For your question, yes I’ve seen minor things end up killing someone through sheer bad luck things can spiral out of control despite all the right steps being taken. Hence the inherent risk they mention of death during all informed consents.
how often does this actually occur? I assume if they’re doing biopsies of brain material there’s a risk but seems like it’s a low probability if they’re biopsi-ing your liver…
Also, when physicians find something wacky or unusual, is there any desire to do more imagine to see if that’s the only oddness? for example, I had a retrocecal appendix (discovered during my appendectomy) - is that the only thing going on that’s funky / unusual, or should I check / have imagine for other stuff? My docs didn’t have a consistent answer - one said yeah, one said nah, one said it’s nbd but if it was their appendix they might ask for other tests. :|
Fortunately my insurance is about as likely to pay for extra stuff as it is to cut my copay to zero, so it’s not an issue I can address, but it does hang around in the back of my head.
Thanks for your insights!
Not frequent, but enough to make you question are we truly doing no harm when we indulge people. Medicine is an art, at the end of the day its a mix of statistics and experience. Not everything has a clear cut or even a right or wrong answer. Do this long enough, and you’ll see things that have minimal risk turn into a clusterfuck.
For your question, yes I’ve seen minor things end up killing someone through sheer bad luck things can spiral out of control despite all the right steps being taken. Hence the inherent risk they mention of death during all informed consents.