Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau — Attraction in Barcelona

Summary: This is a personal account of how a thyroid operation led to a drastic decline in physical and mental health, as well as self-esteem, for someone who had a benign lump and perfect thyroid function before the surgery.

Background: In 2020, during a scan for another issue, a lump in my thyroid was identified (an “incidentaloma”). I underwent a biopsy, which came back clear. Despite this, I was advised to have an operation to remove the lump (a hemithyroidectomy). I did not agree with this recommendation, as the lump was harmless and stable. After a year of monitoring, the lump had not grown and my thyroid function was still normal. However, I was pressured to have the surgery. I reluctantly agreed, but I had serious doubts and regrets until the day of the operation, especially because the surgeon could not understand why the lump had been changed from a 2 (benign), based on the scans and biopsy, to 4 for no reason. He also told me that based on my thyroid function, it was unlikely I would need medication. He also told me that they perform these operations “every day” so there was little risk of complications.

Conclusion: The operation turned out to be a disaster for me. I have lost my thyroid function and have to take medication every day. I have gained weight, which has triggered my eating disorder issues. Further, and more importantly, my health has deteriorated significantly. I can no longer run or exercise as before, and I have never felt worse in my life, from lack of energy to changes in mood and digestion. In addition, my face has changed so much that I feel ashamed to go outside and often have suicidal thoughts. I blame the doctors for their lack of professionalism and care. They should not operate on people unnecessarily. Over-diagnosis is not harmless and better assessment and training are required. I hope they learn from my case and do not harm others in the same way. I would also recommend better follow up: after six months they told me I needed no medication and should get a check up in a year - one month later my doctor at the CAP told me I urgently needed to take levothyroxine - but I have no idea if that was ever communicated to the hospital. It would have been nice to be able to speak to my endocrinologist again to understand why the operation went so wrong, if there was a better medication plan, and why I was forced into this unnecessary operation and subsequent...

I went to there for an ENT emergency, I had a referral from CAP. The waiting time was quite short. As I entered the door, there was a diva of a guy having breakfast on his desk and 2 girls standing next to it. I thought they were on a break or something. Who were those people? They asked me to have a seat, and the girls did some exmimation while the guy kept eating. No hi, how are you, they didn't bother hearing from me how my symptoms were that day, they just read from the referral. After a while the guy joined the efforts and did not fail to note that the device he was using was apparently sh!t (his words) and he couldn't see anything. I cannot say anything about the quality of the treatment they gave me, but I can say that none of them looked like they knew what they were doing or like they cared. The icing on the cake was that they gave me an invalid medical prescription because they forgot to add the stamp. I don't know what happened, I've heard very positive things about this hospital. I guess I was unlucky with this...

Del mes y 3 semanas que llevo ingresado debido a una úlcera de la que me han tenido que operar (soy parapléjico y me he de mover en silla de ruedas) he tenido que padecer durante casi 4 semanas a 3 vecinos de habitación que no estaban en sus cabales (aquí eufemísticamente los llaman desorientados...). Durante el 20% de las noches que llevo ingresado no he podido descansar con normalidad por sus conversaciones con la pared, gritos llamando a personas de sus recuerdos o a las enfermeras (mentalmente incapaces de tocar el timbre). Después de informar a médicos y enfermeras, me han dicho que me tengo que aguantar porque son pacientes "normales" que están desorientados, pasa esto y no se puede hacer nada... O sea según las directrices de este hospital, un paciente que viene a curarse ha de soportar semanas de compañeros de habitación dementes que no le dejen descansar porque no hay más camas libres... Incluyo en lo que es la curación un buen descanso y no verse sometido a prolongadas estancias con "locos" que acaban crispando tus nervios, sobre todo cuando ves que no se hace nada por tu descanso y tranquilidad... Quisiera saber si es legal esta tortura a la que he sido sometido con todo el conocimiento de los médicos que en teoría han de curarte y si se pueden mezclar esta clase de pacientes (sin un tratamiento tranquilizante que evite que perjudiquen tu descanso) con otras personas que no padecen sus "desorientaciones". Por lo que oí explicar a un integrante de la plantilla, en el hospital viejo había en los pabellones una habitación de una sola cama para el ingreso de personas "problemáticas", la dirección tomó la decisión de no incluir esa habitación al construir el hospital nuevo... He estado otras veces ingresado en este hospital, hasta 2 meses, y nunca me había encontrado con esta situación. Por lo que veo que la estancia aquí ha empeorado mucho en comparación con mis anteriores ingresos. Hoy es domingo 15 de diciembre de 2024, son las 4 y media de la noche y el demente que los directivos del hospital de Sant Pau de Barcelona han tenido la desvergüenza de ingresar en el pabellón de pacientes normales, y que me ha tocado a mí (es la 3ª persona fuera de sus cabales que han metido en esta habitación durante mi ingreso) no me deja dormir con normalidad por 3ª noche consecutiva, esta noche ha sido porque quería hacer de vientre y gritaba llamando a su mujer (que está en su casita durmiendo) para que le diera unas tijeras para cortar las correas que lo mantienen atado a la cama (lo tienen atado pero no le dan nada para que duerma y me permita descansar con normalidad...). No es solamente que el perturbado mental no me deje descansar si no que aquí en Sant Pau no se hace absolutamente nada para impedirlo y me dicen que tengo que aguantarme... No me lo puedo creer, no tengo ningún problema para poder dormir aparte de los dementes gritones que van poniendo en la habitación, y han venido a decirme que si tengo problemas para dormir que tome los somníferos que por supuesto me proporcionarían, la capacidad que tienen aquí para crearte problemas y luego hacer como si fueran culpa tuya no...