AngrySailor302

Urologist Appointment

2008-05-12T20:08:50Z

Sat evening, we noticed a bulge in his lower abdomen right above groin level on his right side. When touched, he would yelp in pain.

Sunday May 11: Bedrest and little motion, still drugged up.

Manday May12: Urologist appointment, James was seen by the urologist, who told him to ride out the pain and that he would have to live with a swollen testicle for the rest of his life.

The Urologist worked off of the paperwork submitted to him by the boat, with little to no attention paid to the paperwork and ultrasound from Friday.

The urologist prescribed vicodin and told him to go back to work on the 19th. I asked him about a follow up, which he agreed to, and said that he would discuss corrective surgery then. He would do corrective surgery once the pain went away. and if the swelling persisited.

He said that the bulge was a result of the accident, which does not make sense as it showed up a week and a half after the accident.

I mentioned the possibility of a hernia and the urologist dismissed the idea as nothing. James was never checked for a hernia during the entire ordeal.

James has been working hard on his boat for the better part of the past 3 years. He has been subjected to hazing, harassment, and worse, but this really takes the cake.

I am tired of seeing what this command is doing to him, and how they will not help him.

Nicholle

Continuation of Medical IssuesI have

2008-05-10T04:10:59Z

The most I have gotten with this has been a runaround of phone numbers and ridicule, ranging from simple minded immature humor about my condition, to offers of back alley surgery.

I was even told by the COB that I was not a priority.

The swelling has taken a nasty turn for the worse, and the Percocet is not helping anymore with the pain, so my wife is going to drag me to a different emergency room.

I have had a lot of problems with this command, mainly dealing with hazing and other immature behaviour. When complaints of said hazing were made, the level of hazing would get worse for a bit, and then die down.

I will make another post when I get back from the ER.

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Posted document.write(''+ myTimeZone('Fri, 09 May 2008 16:38:34 GMT-0700', 'Fri 09 May 2008 04:38 PM')+'');Fri 09 May 2008 04:38 PM Fri 09 May 2008 04:38 PM

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I have returned from the Emergency Room.
The swelling has doubled since Monday.

Since I have a consultation with a urologist on Monday, the Emergency Room doctor (different location) did not want to take action until I see the urologist.

They did a more thorough ultrasound than was done on Tuesday. They confirmed that the hydrocele has made a major increase in size on the right testicle, and the *** itself was starting to swell up.

They did give me more pain pills, which now gives me enough to last until mid-day Monday. Otherwise, I would have run out tomorrow afternoon.

My wife has been keeping track of the swelling each day now, taking photos with our digital camera in the morning and throughout the day to keep track of the changes.

A tape measure is used to provide reference points.

The overall trend is getting larger and more discolored as time goes on.

The MDR was upset with me when I called him to tell him that my wife took me to the ER. The fact that the swelling has gotten this large and discolored, not to mention the fact that the Percocet pills given only help for a couple of hours, when I can only take them every 4-6 hours.

All this time wasted suffering needlessly, simply because of the fact that the medical department on my ship did not want to schedule my appointments in a timely fashion, only at the last minute did I get the contact information to make the appointments myself.

I had even offered to make the appointments myself on Monday, but I was told by Doc that it was his job to take care of it.

Oh, and a final insult and injury to injury.

People at my command have been making jokes about my condition and one sailor even went so far and to slap my crotch while I was waiting to see Doc.

I told the COB and he told me that it shouldn't hurt that badly. (I was in tears from the pain.)

This is part of why I am trying to seek outside help.

Update to Navy Medical Issue

2008-05-09T01:46:38Z

Here is some additonal food for thought:

When I talked to Doc today to see if anything could be done to get me seen faster, he told me that he was "surprised" to see that Navy Medical was working so fast.

This is only a "Pain Issue"

Hydroceles are not supposed to hurt, pain and changing sizes are indcations of more serious issues.

I should not feel a burning pain when at rest after taking percocet.

Navy handling of a painful medical issue

2008-05-09T01:30:38Z

I have been in the Navy for almost 6 years, stationed on a submarine based out of Groton, CT for the better part of the past 3 years.

Up until the the point where I reached my present command, I would have rated my time in the Navy as overall positive, since I reported to my present command, I would have to say that the little benefits the Navy provides, with the lingering threat of reduced retirement pay included, is not worth the stress and excessive hours required.

The following is a summary of my last week and a half of frustration, pain, and the run-around I have been given while trying to obtain medical help.

Last week, while riding bike home, a woman ran a stop sign and in the process of trying to minimize the impact, I hit the frame of the bike hard.

The pain wasn't more than I would have expected , and subsided by the time I got home.

The next day, I discovered that my right testicle had swollen slightly. I figured it was simply a bruise from the prior day's accident.

Over the course of last weekend, the swelling increased, but was not painful to the touch.

On Monday (05May08) I saw the Ship's Medical Department Representive, he asked what happened, examined me, and told me that the testicle was either infected, damaged, or had cancer.

I then had an appointment made for an ultrasound check, to rule out cancer and major injury.

I showed up for the appointment a half hour early, and was seen almost half hour late, in typical Navy fashion.

I was told that I have a large hydrocele on my right testicle , and that would require surgery to fix.

I went back to the boat to go see Doc (the nickname for the MDR also known as a Corpsman.)

He wasn't in, he went out to go for a run. It took me 2 hours to find his cell phone number, only to have him not answer.

It was about an hour later when he finally came back to the boat and saw me. I told him what I was told, and he said that I needed to make some calls to the Squadron Medical Liason.

I made several calls, I was told to keep calling back to schedule a urologist consultation to see what kind of help I need (discussion and reasearch has yielded the fact that I need surgery to fix this.)

During the course of the running around that I have had to do, the hydrocele had become swollen to the point where I has constantly in pain, rangine from burning to sharp stabbling pain running up and down my right side.

Now I have a very swollen and painful hydrocele (by definition, hydroceles are not supposed to hurt, only to be a discomfort.)

The medical department on my ship and squadron have been brushing me off repeatedly.

I have been told to stand by and to make calls to get my appointment set. None of the calls have been any productive.

I have had to run around a lot to try to get the help I need, only to be screwed with by Tricare and Navy Medical.

The best solution that has been provided was to give me Percocet, which is not helping with the pain unless I stay completely still.

Also, I have to deal with the side effects of Percocet (mood swings, dizzy/tired spells, difficulty focusing) and try to get help is not working out so well.

I have already been to the emergency room, my pain was not taken seriously by the attending doctor. ("Hydroceles should not be painful, so I do not understand why you are in pain.") The medical representative from my boat came with me and played down the fact that I am in a lot of pain from this, and the cure is to give me more painkillers.

Right now, I am beside myself in pain, my command has pretty much pushed me aside, if I am at home trying to get bedrest, I can't possibly hassle the command as much.

The squadron medical representative was supposed to have scheduled me a visit with a urologist on Tuesday, nope, I got pushed aside and had to have my wife drive my drugged up ass around for hours today to try to get an appointment to get this corrected.

Even the Doc on my ship realizes that I am in a lot of pain and need surgery to fix this.

The secretaries at the Urologist were not at all sympathetic to the fact that I need help and soon, and "could not get me in until next week."

I told them that my pain medications run out tomorrow, which the last one will be around noon tomorrow. Solution: more pain pills, which only work for about 3-4 hours when resting, 1-3 when active, which means even with the pills, I am still in a fair amount of pain. Again, hyroceles shoud not be painful.

Lesson learned: DO NOT JOIN THE MILITARY, or IF YOU DO JOIN, DO NOT GET SICK OR INJURED!