Legs Burned During Hospital Visit

Monday, October 6, 2008 - 11:35 A.M. Somehow, in writing about my trip to the hospital last week, I inadvertently neglected to mention that I sustained some burns on my legs while there.  This was something I was not even aware of until going to bed the night that I returned home.   When my CNAs removed my pants, I heard them commenting about some burns/bruises, they had seen on my legs.  I had no idea what they were talking about until I raised my head and looked downward.  Much to my amazement, I saw what could only be described as large, burn marks on both legs.  Four of them were on my left leg and one was on my right.  I think that two of them were open wounds.   I was both shocked and stunned at the same time.  Having something wrong and going to the hospital to get it taken care of, is one thing, though returning home with something entirely different is another.  As for the burns themselves, I am not talking about nickel or dime sized burns.  These burns are as long as four inches in length, by three or more inches in width.   They were apparently caused by some devices they wrapped around my legs to keep my blood circulation flowing properly.  The devices were connected from my legs through tubes that went to a motorized pump.  It is my guess that warm/hot air went through these tubes and into the devices wrapped around my legs.  When the tubes, which were lying on my bare skin, got hot, my legs must have been burnt by them.   I must not have felt my legs being burnt, because of the pain medication that I was being given.  It probably deadened the effect of the pain to the point where I could not feel it as it was happening.   After my CNAs left here Thursday night, they immediately placed a call to my home health care nurse to tell her about the injuries they had seen.  She came to see me the following day, examined the burns, placed an antiseptic on them, and then wrapped each leg in bandages.  My nurse also measured each burn, and made a record of everything that she saw.  She returned here yesterday, took the bandages off, put more antiseptic on my legs, and then replaced the bandages.   Personally, I feel like suing the heck out of the hospital, but my nurse said that she was documenting everything for the home health care agency as well as for my doctor.  She said that the hospital should have been checking all of my body for marks, skin breakdowns, etc. during each change of shift, but that they had obviously not been doing that. I consider that to be neglect!   I am seeing my primary care physician tomorrow afternoon, and will discuss the whole situation with him before taking any action myself.