| Posted By |
Message |
GoldenRod
10 years on LIF!
Member since 11/06 26792 total posts
Name:
Shawn
|
Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
Sep 28, 1:37 PM (ET)
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."
It was only a half-hour procedure. How could the tech "forget" about her? 
|
Posted 9/29/07 5:26 PM  |
| |
|
Long Island Weddings
Long Island's Largest Bridal Resource |
evnme
My little lamb
Member since 8/05 12633 total posts
Name:
aka momma2b
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
|
| Posted 9/29/07 5:27 PM |
| |
|
sunflowerjesss
Mommy to 3!
Member since 10/05 20369 total posts
Name:
Jesss, duh.
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
That's terrible!
|
| Posted 9/29/07 5:32 PM |
| |
|
Goldi0218
My miracles!
Member since 12/05 23902 total posts
Name:
Leslie
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
Oh G-d as if what brought her there wasn't anxiety producing enough! Poor thing!
|
| Posted 9/29/07 5:54 PM |
| |
|
LightUpOurLife
Totally in love
Member since 8/06 12785 total posts
Name:
Bonnie-Jean
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
|
| Posted 9/29/07 5:56 PM |
| |
|
lvdolphins
My Loves!
Member since 5/05 46292 total posts
Name:
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
OMGosh I would have freaked!!!!!!
|
| Posted 9/29/07 6:27 PM |
| |
|
|
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
Thats insane!!! How could someone FORGET a patient????
|
| Posted 9/30/07 2:03 AM |
| |
|
yankinmanc
Happy Days!
Member since 8/05 18208 total posts
Name:
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
That is horrible, however I had a scan in May and I have to say, the 20 motionless minutes I had in that scanner were like being on holiday on the beach, having sex, eating chocolate, and having a massage all rolled up into one.
I was disappointed when it ended.
In the end, I had a prolapsed disc. But for another 20 minutes in that scanner....ahhhhhhhh, pure bliss.
Can you tell I have a toddler???
Message edited 9/30/2007 6:52:59 AM.
|
| Posted 9/30/07 6:52 AM |
| |
|
karacg
Babygirl is 4!
Member since 5/05 17076 total posts
Name:
Kara®
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
You can BET they never forget to CHARGE the patients
She must have paid her co-pay when she got there. Yet another reason to to make your copay until you LEAVE the office - if you haen't paid, they will come looking for you!
|
| Posted 9/30/07 7:56 AM |
| |
|
mommy2bella
Where does time go?
Member since 12/05 9747 total posts
Name:
Kelly
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
someone needs to fired...and sued...
how terrible.
|
| Posted 9/30/07 9:46 AM |
| |
|
DebG
Pick a cause & stand up for it
Member since 5/05 18602 total posts
Name:
The cure IS worse!
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
I don't understand why it took her so long to get out of the machine. A CT scan is a large circle not narrow like a MRI machine. It's also a lot shorter in length.
It just makes no sense to me how it took her so long to get out.
|
| Posted 9/30/07 10:25 AM |
| |
|
GoldenRod
10 years on LIF!
Member since 11/06 26792 total posts
Name:
Shawn
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
Posted by racheeeee
That is horrible, however I had a scan in May and I have to say, the 20 motionless minutes I had in that scanner were like being on holiday on the beach, having sex, eating chocolate, and having a massage all rolled up into one.
I was disappointed when it ended.
In the end, I had a prolapsed disc. But for another 20 minutes in that scanner....ahhhhhhhh, pure bliss.
Can you tell I have a toddler???
I had an MRI last year, and I kept dozing off in the machine, even with the loud banging that goes on in those machines.... 
|
| Posted 9/30/07 3:26 PM |
| |
|
alnem
This is gonna be a good year!
Member since 2/06 9562 total posts
Name:
Emily
|
Re: Woman Left in CT Scanner for Hours
thats terrible!  
|
| Posted 9/30/07 3:29 PM |
| |
|
