Oops!!!!

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I have heard that medical mistakes are made all the time, but my parents never thought I would become another one of the statistics. I suffered from a torn ligament in my right knee. I had been out jogging yesterday morning when I stepped in a hole and heard a pop. I went down writhing in pain holding my knee. I had to use my cell phone to call home and tell my mother what happened. She came and picked me up and we made our way to the hospital where I was taken for an MRI. The doctors told us that the damage required surgery. The Orthopaedic surgeon scheduled the surgery for the next morning and I was settled into a private room.

Looking back, I can see how a mistake could have been made. My name is Morgan Lee Williamson which is fairly gender neutral and I am constantly mistaken for a girl when someone calls and I even receive mail which has a female salutation by mistake. The thing my parents never realized is that I got a secret thrill when people made that mistake. The doctor might have looked at my body and thought I was a girl. I was slim, average in height and had small breast development. I even grew my hair long because I knew it drove my dad crazy. I had lost all respect for my father when I found out he was having an affair with one of the girls at the local bar. He and Mom had divorced two years ago, but he always tried to get me to be what he expected. Mom and I had a good relationship and I always did my share of household chores without complaint because I knew my mother had to work so hard to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. I also had a girlfriend who I love very much. Liz and I had been best friends since 6th grade and it blossomed into a lot more. She even knew about my secrets and that made her love me even more. Anyway, I digress.

A nurse came in the next morning to prep me for the surgery and I though it odd about some of the things she was doing , but I thought she knew what she was doing. I was put on a gurney and wheeled down the hall to an elevator. I was taken to an operating room and I had a mask placed over my face and told to count backwards. I barely got to seven before I was out.

I woke up in the recovery room and felt really strange. I felt a weight sitting on my chest and looked down the top of my hospital gown and noticed my chest was wrapped. I began to wonder what else they had done to me. A nurse came in and got me ready to be taken to my room and I asked her about my knee and she shot me a puzzled look. I told her that I was supposed to have surgery on my right knee. She put her hand over her mouth and quickly left the room. A few minutes later, a doctor came in and introduced himself as Dr. Thomas Greeley. He started asking me some questions. He took a look at my chart and muttered a few choice words. He explained to me that the nurses had to prep another patient for Sex Reassignment and a Breast Augmentation at the same time I was scheduled. It seems that this other patient just happened have the same name as me. I was prepped for Operating Room Three while the other Morgan was in Operating Room One. The other patient had the Knee surgery. He admitted that he had just come back from dealing with the other very upset patient. He apologized for the mistake and he would discuss it more after they had me settled in my room.

Because I was eighteen, I had the right to know the details of the surgery before my parents were told. I was wheeled back to my room and my mother was there waiting. My father couldn't get back from his business trip in time to be here. I was kind of relieved under the circumstances because I knew Mom would handle it a lot better than Dad would. She asked me how I felt and I told her about the mistake that now gave her a daughter. She was shocked, but she remained calm at least for the moment. The doctor came in a short time later and Mom began to ask him some hard questions and he apologized again. She began to see how a mistake could have been made, but she still wanted to know what they could do about it. He admitted that there really wasn't anything they could do. He told me that a Psychologist was on her way up to talk to me. He reassured us that they would do everything possible to make my adjustment as smooth as possible. Mom told me that she needed to go for a cup of coffee and would be back in a little while. I think she was trying to collect her own thoughts and figure out where to go from here.

She was almost to the door when we heard a knock. An attractive woman that looked to be in her early thirties came in. She introduced herself as Dr. Maria Mitchell. She assured Mom that I would be okay while she was gone. I smiled at Mom and she left. Dr. Mitchell began to ask me how I was feeling and I told her that I was still on some good pain killers for the time being. She said she understood that, but wanted to know how I felt emotionally about what was done to me. She was almost floored when I broke out in a smile. I explained that I had always felt like a girl from a very young age. My parents never knew about my feelings because they were both devout Christians and my dad was very closeminded toward LGBT people. Mom worked with a couple of gays in the department store where she was employed, but to my knowledge, she had never known anyone who was Transsexual. I told Dr. Mitchell that I wanted her help in making the adjustment and I did not want my parents to know that I was willingly going along with this. She assured me that nothing would ever leave her confidence. She began to put together a plan to teach me everything I needed to know to be successful. I knew Liz would willingly go along with anything to help me too. She and I plan to get married one day and she has admitted that it really doesn't matter if I am a woman when we do it so I am secure in the knowledge that she will accept me. Dr. Mitchell told me that she will contact an Endocrinologist she works with to start my HRT. I now had a pair of C cups on my chest, but I needed to develop a figure and she assured me that we would get going on this as soon as possible.

Mom came back into my room and started talking about getting me some clothes to wear. I could no longer wear the button down shirt I had worn to the hospital and I definitely needed a bra now. I told her that I felt I needed to move forward and adjust to life as a woman even if it would be difficult. I played it up for her, but inside I could hardly wait. We talked for a while and then she went home to get some rest. I knew that Liz would be in to visit at around 7PM. I settled in for a short nap and was awoken at five thirty to have supper. I can't say I will miss the food in this place. It is just barely edible. I think I might get Liz to bring something in the next night she comes in. Surely, after what they did to me, the hospital will be very accommodating. I watched some TV until I heard a knock on my door. Liz walked in carrying a beautiful bouquet of pink carnations and set them near my window. She came over to my bed and gave me a long kiss and a hug. I told her what happened to me and while she was concerned, she broke out in big smile and told me she loved me no matter what. I still can't believe how lucky I am to have someone like her in my life. She said she would definitely help in my recovery. I told her that I expected the hospital to settle with me for a really nice sum of money and we made plans to go looking for a house together as soon as I was well enough. I also plan on buying her the prettiest Engagement ring I could find and take her somewhere really nice for my proposal. She stayed with me until visiting hours were over and then gave me a long kiss. She promised to bring me something to eat the next evening and then left for the evening.

The next morning, a nurse came in and took some blood and did my vitals. I asked her when the doctor would be in and she said he just started making his rounds. She assured me he would be here soon. She went back out and I returned to watching TV. I heard a knock on the door a short time later and a tall attractive blond came in. She introduced herself as Dr. Susan Smithers. She was the Endocrinologist that Dr. Mitchell had mentioned. She asked me some questions for about 45 minutes and told me she was going to order my hormone regimen. She wrote orders on my chart and told me that a nurse would be in to give me my first injection in a few minutes. I was told that I would have a combination of pills and injections from now on because my body no longer produced any hormones naturally. About 15 minutes later, a nurse came in and told me to roll over. She gave me an injection in my right hip and pulled the gown back down. I was on my way!

Dr. Greeley came in a short time later and checked my dressings and had the nurse change them out. He told me that I would have to start dilating when they removed the packing the next day. He was aware that I had secretly wished to be a woman and was working in tandem with my other doctors. He did tell me that the surgeon was going to do the surgery that I was originally scheduled for the next day. I kept wondering what else they would possibly come up with? Dr. Greeley assured me that they would make sure that everything was done right this time. I said I would reserve judgment until I came out of the operation. He said he understood. He said goodbye and told me he would be in early the next morning to check on me. I called Liz and told her to bring my food before 7, because I couldn't have anything after that. She said she would see me soon.

I was expecting my mother to come at any moment. What I didn't expect was my father to come bursting through the door. He had his lawyer in tow and started going on and on about how much money we were going to get from the hospital over this. I told him that since I was a legal adult, he would not have a part in anything to do with a lawsuit. I told him that I had my own attorney and she was already working on a settlement. Dad started to get very angry and telling me that I owed him this for everything I put him through! I looked at him like he was nuts and told him that he was the one who owed both me and Mom. He had only paid enough child support to keep him out of jail and even then he complained constantly that I was a burden to him. I reached over and took the phone receiver next to my bed and called Security. I told them that my father was harassing me and I wanted him removed. He was still going on and on and never noticed the two officers that came and slapped handcuffs on him. He turned his insults on the officers and proceeded to kick both of them. Dad's lawyer kept telling him to shut up, but he was having nothing of it. The officers read him his rights and escorted him from the hospital. Mom came in a few minutes later and I told her what went on. She said he deserved to rot in jail.

She stayed with me and was there when Liz came in. She brought us each a Turkey sandwich and some unsweetened tea. We ate and talked with each other. We told Mom that we were going to buy our own house after I get my settlement. After the run in with Dad,we all decided to buy a place in another State and not stay here as I transitioned. We all knew that he would not deal with it very well. Mom said he thought I would just take Testosterone and continue to live as a man. Mom knew better, but she kept quiet. She said the fool kept going on and on about what he would do with his Share of the money. Mom didn't waste her breath telling him their would be no "His Share" of anything. She had an idea he might get his lawyer and try to pull this stunt. I told her we would call Stephanie, my attorney, and get her to get a restraining order on him. Stephanie Jacobs was the daughter of Mom's attorney and specialized in Malpractice. She was very good at getting quick settlements. We talked for a while longer and both of them left to go home for the night. I settled in for the night and tried to calm my nerves. I finally drifted off at around 11.

The next morning, I woke up to Dr. Greeley telling the nurse to get me ready for Dr. Phillips surgical team. This time, he stayed with me the whole time until I was wheeled into the OR. Just like last time, I was out like a light really quick. I awoke in Recovery and this time I knew they got it right. I was sore and asked for some water and something for pain. The nurse injected something my I.V and the pain was gone a few minutes later. I realized that my healing time just got twice as long, I had to dilate my new plumbing , plus having to rehab my knee. That was going to take a few months. I was wheeled back to my room and saw Mom and Liz waiting for me. They both kissed me and asked how I was feeling. I told them I was feeling better now, but I was in pain when I woke up in recovery. I was just glad it was over.

Epilogue

Over the next few months, I continued to recover from both ordeals and finally got strong enough to begin looking at homes with Liz. The hospital settled with me for $4.5 million and it allowed Liz and I to start moving on with life. We found a nice Colonial up in New Hampshire and she began to give me lessons in deportment and makeup. I have to say I am feeling very comfortable as a woman and it really wasn't that hard to adjust. Dad still doesn't realize he has a daughter now. From what I understand, he still can't figure out where we went. He tried to call my cellphone so much that I finally had to change my number. Just last weekend, Mom flew up and looked at the house next door to us. She decided she loved it so Liz and I put a contract on it for her. We are sending her the deed as a Mother's Day present. I hope she will be all moved in by the time Liz and I get married in June. We both applied for admission to UNH in the Fall with a goal of becoming Architects. It is so nice that we no longer have to live under financial strain. Mom actually got promoted to Manager and jumped at the chance to take over the new store, opening about 5 miles from here. All in all, the pieces are falling into place and there is one fool that is none the wiser. He still has no clue!

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One word

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Okay, that's two, sue me! :-)

Damaged people are dangerous
They know they can survive

A bit rushed

But fun nontheless.
I think we all hope it will happen that way - it's so much cheaper!

If you tell the doctor you are glad they made the mistake, you lose half of the settlement!

I had to have my appendix removed when I was 23 and asked them to do a sex change at the same time - the doc thought I was delirious.

By the way, if you write in a block like that, it's a lot harder to read.

Double spacing the paragraphs and making them smaller makes it a lot easier.

Altho there are still cases

Altho there are still cases of wrong surgeries, many hospitals and doctor's offices will ask the patient their date of birth and possibly other pertinent information before doing any procedure. I would think with two patients with the same name, this would be an automatic procedure. Nice story however. Jan

Unlikely to happen?

I bet some of you are thinking, well, that couldnt happen in real life, could it?

Wrong, it actually did. It was a few years ago, in Birmingham (the one in England, not the one in Alabama). Two patients, both J Jones by name, both males, were admitted for surgery on the same day. One for a knee operation and the other for SRS. In the UK under the National Health Service there are only very few places that do SRS and the waiting times until it can be done are very very long.

So this guy wakes up, to find that he has been turned into a woman, AND his bad knee is still bad, whilst the other one wakes up to find his perfectly sound knee has been damaged and he is still a he.

They managed to keep it out of the press and paid both patients compensation, but our American friends should know that over this side of the pond settlements are nothing like as high as in the USA. It s slowly changing now, but these unlucky two never even had their own lawyers, they were just grateful to accept the offer the hospital made them.

A doctor friend of mine told me about it, which he should not have of course but this was hot gossip among those in the business for months afterwards. There were some changes in Standard Operating Procedure written and a couple of minor players got the sack, but my friend told me this tip, if going for an operation, draw on your body the site that has to be opened and write THIS ONE and a big black arrow in magic marker, and on the other side write STOP! NOT THIS ONE" OTHER SIDE!"

Briar

Briar

Oops!!!!

This is a case of a double win.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine