Mr Rajesh Ragoowansi

Mr Rajesh Ragoowansi 2020-02-11 Person 1 5 0

I had a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament of my left thumb and came to Dr Ragoowansi in Dec 2018 for a surgical repair. He diagnosed that without an MRI or a scan. The surgery has failed and I dont have the use of my left thumb any more. Its been very hard. 1. I think that after my surgery Dr Ragoowansi should have been more hands on with me and not just relied on the hand therapy nurses at the Wellington hospital to make sure everything was fine. They would never dare to say somethings not right to a surgeon. 2. I think that when Dr Ragoowansi pulled the pin out of my thumb with a pair of pliers in his office, there should have been a nurse present to hold my hand steady. I had no idea what he was gong to do or how it was going to be done. I almost fainted from the pain. Now I know - that wasnt normal. When he saw my reaction - me sobbing in his office he simply shuffled me out without even replacing my bandages that he had thrown away.. he said get something for pain form your GP. Thats not right. He's a surgeon so surely he could have written a script from some Tramadol for a few days? 3. The fact that the pain was so much worse, after the pin pull (its shouldn't have been ) he should have actually listened to me when I said a week later that something was wrong. He should have examined me himself and had a scan done. He later said he didn't like doing unnecessary tests. Why take a chance on me losing the use of my left thumb for the rest of my life? 4. Doctors should take a patients pain more seriously. Pain is the language of the body. And if a patient with EDS is in pain at a time when a person without EDS wouldnt be in pain, then something has gone wrong. 5.. Surgeons should understand what EDS type III means in a patient who requires surgery. It is not a routine surgery and certainly the after care should not be considered "routine" if I am to heal properly with the full use of my let hand.. Metal tags shouldn't be used in a patient with EDS as the tissue is more likely to tear away from it, especially if the splint cuts into right where the surgery has been done. 7. Dr Ragooansi avoided seeing me for over 6 months and refused to see me without the GP who referred me to him present in his office. I had fired my GP months before that for not taking my hip replacement pain seriously. That was done in April 2019. I said I didn't think she needed to be there, as she knows nothing about hand surgery so had nothing to add the our meeting. But he refused to see me until jan 2020 to examine my thumb himself. He preferred instead to rely on the 2nd opinion of another doctor who had nothing to do with my surgery. It was quite shocking. He was more worried about his reputation than he was about me. My GP was also more worried about his reputation than she was about me. The hand surgery was done on Dec 8 2018. I first noticed try thumb was definitely not right in May 2019 because I could not do any of the rehab without extreme pain. I never took off the brace and still wear a hard brace to this day. You cant rehab a ligament that is not attached.. Thats 8 months of him avoiding me to examine my thumb personally . And when he did finally see me, he measured the angle - how far my thumb could stretch.. and it was farther and therefore in a worse state than before he did the actual ligament repair surgery. So it is obvious to me that his surgery did not hold. He said his surgery was perfect that my tissue was the problem. I find that laughable. It may have been done brilliantly at the time, but if the aftercare is so poor on a patient with EDS, I cant see the point of having the surgery at all. After a year of pain my thumb is actually worse than it was before as my joint collapses as soon as I try to pinch something. I am left with no way to strengthen it and my life had been forever changed. I will never be able to ride a bike again or cook properly or open a car door with my left hand. Getting dressed and pulling on boots is also a challenge. I actually cant live alone any more! This realisation has been devastating. The reason I have written this is so that no one else with my condition will think that surgeons understand what EDS Type III actually means. They don't. You have to educate them or find a surgeon who is familiar with the condition. The use of ones hands are very important in life. I had no clue that this could happen and I have private BUPA health care! And pay over £700 a month for it as Im 63. This should not have happened. Thank you for letting me post this. I thinks this is a great website.