This is a long review, but if you're considering seeing this surgeon, please read it!
I'm no stranger to a colonoscopy, as I've had more than i can count at 24 years old. I have never had such a traumatic experience as i have had at Dr. Kwans office. Walking in and seeing all the awards and degrees plastered on every available wall space, you'd think you were going to see a renowned professional. However, this doctor doesn't seem to have the slightest clue how to run a professional office, or just has no regard for the patients he bustles in and out like cattle.
My first appointment was scheduled for 4pm, I was in the waiting room until 5:15, and then another 30 minutes in an exam room waiting for the doctor to come in. There were people there who had been waiting over 2 hours just to get into an exam room. When i expressed this concern to the nurse who took my vitals, she simply said it wasn't her problem.
I was scheduled for a colonoscopy a week later. They give you a very… small room, almost like a closet, to get changed for the procedure. I walked past a man who was in a bed in the hallway, waiting for his procedure, and it all felt like we were just cattle waiting in line. I spent 10 minutes with the nurse who put in my IV, trying to explain to her that i've done this a million times, and there were only 2-3 veins that anyone had ever been able to use for an IV placement. She ignored me, and in doing that blew out a vein in both my hands, and the back of my arm, before she decided to take my advice. I then asked her what kind of sedatives they would use, as i am allergic to some of them. She acted surprised that i had allergies, even though it was written on the chart i had filled out at my first visit. I was in fact allergic to the sedative they were going to use, and this even put the doctor in a state of shock, as if he hadn't even glanced at my chart. They wheeled my bed into the hallway, and i waited my turn. A nurse approached with a needle, and i asked her not to put the sedative in until i could talk to her for a moment. At this request, she got very hostile an irritated, apparently the cattle aren't supposed to talk. I told her that at a previous procedure i had woken up half way through the procedure and hit a nurse, and just generally freaked out with confusion and discomfort. I told her they should make sure i'm good and out before they start anything. Her response to this was "Do you even want to do this? Because you're not acting like it, and you can leave if you want." She was very short and hostile. I said that i was simply warning her of what had happened previously for everyone's safety, as i'd have no control over myself once sedated. She said nothing and hastily pushed the sedative into my IV while i was still talking to her. I only remember one thing after that before i was brought into recovery, and that was begging them to stop. I remember almost screaming telling them to please stop because i could feel it and it hurt, and i remember people holding me down.
When they brought me to my husband in recovery i was crying and clearly agitated. They told us that they gave us 3x the dose of the sedative that they would normally use, and they couldn't give me anymore. But the sedative hadn't worked because i had been pushing them away in the procedure room, kicking, begging, and even jumping off the table. I don't know how long this went on for before they decided to call it quits, but i would guess it was quite a while since i was given so much sedative.
When i regained most of my consiousness i was confused and i was asking what had happened, something didn't feel right. The nurse just told me i needed to get dressed and leave. I asked for a minute so i could talk to my husband because i didn't understand what was happening, or had just happened. She left the room for a a few minutes, and came back in to tell us we needed to leave. I was still trying to understand, asking her questions, and she just told us to go and walked out. At no point in this did the doctor come in and say anything to us, we were just told to leave. The scope couldn't be finished because of my reaction to it, and i was told i would need general anesthetic to do it again, which is what i warned them about to begin with.
All in all, i have never felt more unimportant and uncared for by medical professionals in my life. This was a very traumatic experience for me, and i hope no one else has to go through it.
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