Hernia, blockage of small intestine.

[dadsgift4]

My mother passed away on 09/02/09 from what was found as a hernia, where the small intestine was blocked causing lack of circulation.  On 08/28/09 she began having stomach pains a nausea she thought she got sick off tuna she ate about 3 hours before she began feeling ill.  she waited it out the whole weekend thinking she could fight off the stomach cramps which was accompanied by vomiting, but she couldnt.  on the 31st, she went to an urgent care center.  she was in so much pain she needed a wheelchair to go in because she could not walk.  she was very sleepy and was vomiting greenish yellowish liquid which was bile.  she told the doctor what SHE thought was wrong with her, the food poisoning from tuna and also told him she was vomiting with cramps.  she did not have diarhea, fever, chills and was eating very little.  the doctor took her BP which he said was a little low and prescribed her phenegram and some prilosac for vomiting and heartburn.  although she told him what she thought was wrong, he did not feel her stomach but just did a quick listen with a stethoscope and told her i will give you medicine for your vomiting (phenegram) and something for the heartburn (prilosac), which she did not have, and then told her if you dont stop vomiting by tomarrow, go to the ER.  The next day i went to see her and she told me she was feeling a little better and had stopped vomiting because of the meds, but it was making her very very sleepy.  she ate a little toast bread and sipped on some broth and went to bed.  about midnight my father said she was tossing and turning and was very restless, but she told him she was not in any pain.  my dad said she would call him and hold his hand then call out for her mom which had passed away over 15 years ago, my dad became very scared and called me to come help him.  my father being 81 years old did not know what was going on.  when i saw her i immediatly knew something was wrong and called 911.  they got there about 15 minutes later and had a hard time finding her pulse and bp saying her bp was very low.  they said they were transporting her to th nearest hospital which was about 30 miles away but were going to meet another ambulance that was fully equipped and were paramedics not EMT's.  my father an i followed then about 10 miles down the road where they met the other ambulance i pulled over in front and waited for about 7-10 minutes and remembered that she was RH negative blood type, i went back there to tell them and i saw the EMT's prefroming CPR on her.  they continued to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.  an autopsy was preformed and was shown that she died of a hernia, which was blocking her small intestine not allowing circulation and food to digest also causing the bile vomit.  the coroner stated to me there was a buldge in her stomach from the hernia.  im sorry im telling this story, but its how i remember everything.  my question is, shouldnt the buldge have been detected at the urgent care visit? should there been more done to my mom then just giving her a prescription for vomiting?? if he did not know what was wrong with my mom shouldnt he have told her to go to the ER??  im upset and feel the doctor should have done more to see what was wrong with her , and maybe he could have felt the hernia and said YOU NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL.  i think she was misdiagnosed, can any of you give me feedback please?  i could really use it and so can my father who is now all alone after 37 years of happiness with my mother.  thank you for your time in reading this.   -RM

[Tonie001]

I am sorry to hear about your mom. I my self am going thru some of the signs you described. I had gastrobypass in 2006, so I went to that doctor and got checked. I went to my regular medical doctor and nothing was told to me, but maybe I am eating to much. My gastro doctor scheduled me to take some tests and told me it feels like I have a hernis blockage.
Dr. Rajpal pressed down on my stomach full circle and notice what areas I felt pain. Your story is making now think more about my boys and go get tested sooner. Thank you  

[Pegsdaughter]

I am so sorry for your loss.  I too, as well as some others, such as your family, have lost a dear loved one due to a physician who diagnoses without all the facts.  My mother was on her 4th course of antibiotics for a 'lung infection' she did not have...she passed away from congestive heart failure.  I know this post was over a year ago, but, I felt the need to leave a message with you.  In our case, my dad would not even consider holding the dr. accountable in mis-diagnosing. I am sorry for that, but, he felt like it would just be harder for him and all of us to drag it on when she was gone, and it wouldnt bring mom back.  I am not sure what the right thing to do is.  I went through the anger stage for a long time...but eventually forgave the physician.  I am thankful to the Lord that He forgave me and also, to be given the grace to forgive the dr. that I felt could have preserved my moms life.  I truly am sorry for your loss, and hope you too, will be able to forgive and help others in the process.  God Bless, Pegsdaughter  And by the way, thank you for your story, I found it because I was looking up hernias and sbo relating to my husbands symptoms, and he will go to the doctor today!

[nukeman10]

I am very sorry to hear this. I am an expert at dealing with doctors that don't seem to spend the time in really listening, diagnosing and treating. I have an aliment that they can't seem to diagnose so they tell me to go home and wait it out. The pain has been so bad for months now. They don't take anything serious. My days are long and hard to deal with. Anyway, I'm very sorry and you should make sure that ER Dr. know what he didn't do.

[churn]

It is awful about your mom.  It looks like they would have pressed her stomach.  But maybe because she was so sure of food poising, he listened to her instead of making sure everything was medically alright.  Did he do any blood work.  It makes you wonder about some of our doctors.  I have had some things happen to me that I also wondered about.  If it keeps upsetting you, maybe you need to see someone in the legal field. I lost my dad last year.  They said he needed colon surgery at 83 years old because they suppected cancer, he didn't make it and I really regret making that final decision.  My heart aches for your lost.  You only have one set of parents.