Aurora Medical Center Summit — Local services in Summit

This is specifically about the interventional radiology department. On May 9th I was scheduled to receive a bone marrow biopsy. I was already extremely anxious about it, as I have not had anything like this done before (including the twilight sedation that my doctor requested I have, which I am grateful for). The anxiety I have towards needle exposure (aka a severe phobia of needles) was noted on my most recent visit with my doctor. I had no knowledge of what medications were going to be used. I was also completely unaware that I would need to take a urine test to detect pregnancy before this procedure, so, naturally, I used the bathroom when I woke up that morning. I was told by the nurse that we could wait until I needed to use the bathroom again. I was without any liquids for 12+ hours due to fasting before sedation, so that wasn’t happening. I was already in tears the second I got into the room. The nurse asked if I was crying because I was anxious. I nodded my head yes. She asked my boyfriend (the person who was driving me) if I was always like this. He said yes. She proceeded to tell me how the biopsy would be performed, then informed me that I would be getting versed and fentanyl which, honestly, made me even more anxious. Again, I have never had anything like this done before. I asked the nurse if she could give me a minute to take some deep breaths and let me bury myself into my boyfriend otherwise that IV wasn’t going in. This has been working every time I get blood work done. She said okay. She put the band around my upper arm, which I flinched to. I apologized. She then started wiping my arm with two different cleansing wipes to which I flinched again, twice. I apologized again. Next thing I notice is the IV a couple inches from my arm ready to be put in. I pulled my arm away and started panicking (which is what happens and it’s why it’s listed in my chart). She tells me that I can’t move when she’s going to stick me with the needle. She tried again and I pulled away again. She said that she was going to get someone else to help hold me down to get this done. That made me even more anxious to the point it’s no longer anxiety, this is fight-or-flight. My boyfriend told her not to because that would make it worse. She ignored him. The second person came in and saw me freaking out, and thankfully left the room almost immediately. The nurse told me that she was going to give me a minute to decide what I wanted to do and to calm down. Shortly after she left the room, she whispered to somebody who was right outside the door with her as well, and they both started laughing. A couple minutes later of me still panicking she comes back in to tell me that “there are other patients here, so you can’t be acting this way.” Had she listened to me and my boyfriend initially, I would have probably been fine enough to where we could have gotten the needle in. She said the doctor would come in and talk to me to figure out what we were going to do. The doctor came in and nicely explained to me that unfortunately there wouldn’t be enough time for everything that needed to be done before the biopsy. She suggested I ask my doctor for some lorazepam when I reschedule. I stood up and told her that I wasn’t going to do this, and I wasn’t coming back. I wasn’t nice about it (which I do feel bad for because it wasn’t her fault and she was very nice to me). I said I’m leaving, I’m done, and started grabbing my clothes off the hanger right by her. She said that she would let me change back into my clothes and that the nurse would come show us out. I got dressed and walked right out, waiting for someone to show us out. That nurse needs to learn to listen to the patient, and at the very least try to understand/sympathize with the patient especially if you can tell someone isn’t going to react well to something. If she had already been taught to do that, retrain her because she didn’t learn the first time. And if all else fails, she probably shouldn’t be in this profession. I would love to say more, but this box only lets me...

Aurora Summit employees violate civil rights by not understanding the American Disability Act. This is NOT acceptable. Disabled people should NOT have to fight for their basic rights.

Common people questioning and inserting themselves into your personal business is one thing, and businesses not being familiar with ADA code is already below par, but medical facilities and employees being ignorant to these laws is absolutely unacceptable.

Not a day goes by that we aren't questioned or asked intrusive questions about our service dogs and personal challenges. We have learned to set boundaries and that we do not need to answer these questions, however having our rights flagrantly violated is unacceptable.

Today, we attended an appointment at the Aurora Summit medical center; minding our business, sitting isolated and completely away from other patients, we were making the best of the situation, petting our dogs and trying to keep our minds calm (as you can see below).

Shortly after, our comfort and peace of mind were taken away from us. We were approached by an ignorant clinic manager and security guard, who attempted to intimidate us, stating they had "concerns about the dogs," that we weren't allowed to have a service dog without "first giving them a heads up," and that they were most concerned about other patients' potential allergies to dogs than our needs to have service dogs in the first place. They spewed utter false information, violated ADA code in doing so, and made an already stressful visit excruciating.

The security guard condescended us and treated us like criminals, even "escorting" us to the radiology department, despite our blatant questioning of the need for this behavior.

The doctors and medical assistants who then assisted us from that department were cold and distant, clearly just gossiping about this unnecessary situation that transpired before entering the room.

We just want to be able to utilize our right to have assistance in our daily living, but instead are often presented with more stressors due to others triggering us and not being informed of ADA laws.

We shouldn't have to fight for our rights and deal with needless confrontation, yet we do. We have to recite laws and codes to protect ourselves and rehearse responses to commonly asked invasive questions which catch us off guard and make us incredibly uncomfortable.

Please keep your curiosity to yourself and do not impose your questions on disabled people unless you receive consent to do so. Just because someone's disability isn't obviously observable doesn't mean it doesn't exist. We are not your science experiments to dissect and we do not owe you the disclosure of our health information.

This extends to any person who you perceive as "different;" whether it be based on ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, etc. Please think of them...

I was transferred from the Oconomowoc Aurora urgent care center yesterday with transfer paperwork Let me by first start off by saying the staff at the front desk at this facilty were kind and commpapasiibate along with the nurses. However the Er doctor dr Jamie goehner. She was nice at the beginning of my visit until you questioned her on how she conducted the tests and everything she else she did then she turns into a horrible doctor. However, during the visit they ran some tests on the issue I came in for only to tell me I had some kind of stomach virus but they could not tell me what kind of virus with of all the technology that they have in 2022!!!! And they told me that she spoke with a GI doctor with Aurora but the doctor would not give me their names at the discharge and told me to follow up with my primary care physician and they would refer me to one of the those doctors she refused to give me the names to. Well how wouldn’t that happen when my primary care physician is with frodert and the doctors were with Aurora?? Also they tried to load me up with tons of medications and not treat me with the medication for my actual issue. And then before I left she had the nurses give me even more medication and I refused and left and not take the medical community’s abuse any longer. Please do not go to this hospital. I was thinking when I was there I would switch my primary care physician and future specialists there however your doctor changed my mind to her unprofessional bed side manner. This dr goehner also wrote on my diagnoses abdominal pain and unspecified abdominal location even though she told me in the room where it was. I think Aurora health system is a huge money insurance cash cow who prays on patients and trains there doctors to be uncommpassionate and not take patients seriously and treat them like there 2 inches tall And now I’m at home with still a 10 out of 10 pain with literally nowhere to go. I very Much believe that the reason she would not give the names to the doctors is she already talked to them and talked horribly about me and they are all best friends at the country club where they sip...