Don’t worry. There’s still so much to tell.  We haven’t even gotten to my four emergency brain surgeries and weeks in the ICU. Or the fact that I emailed the head of the Westminster Dog Show and asked him to bring show dogs to visit me – and he did.  (I will share photos at some point.)  NO.  Don’t leave me now.  I’ve got more to come.  I just thought that I would share today the letter that I wrote Dr. Gold Shit, when I finally could “see” out of my right eye after the ocular surgery last February.  After I finally got round to putting into words what I think of Dr. Gold Shit.  And that I do think he is the reason why I have Gretchen today — and why the blood actually had time to make it into my eyeball.  If I had been treated sooner, who knows how much more of a medical miracle I’d be today? Who knows?

Anyway — here goes:

April 15, 2013

Dear Dr. Piece of Shit Gold Shit:

I’m writing you today to tell you that I am alive, no thanks to the treatment, or lack of treatment, I received from you.

I was incited to write you because I received an explanation of benefits from my insurance company for services claimed by the shitty in between hospital regarding my health over the weekend of August 18, 2012. In case you do not recall, that was the weekend that my friends found me in my apartment and brought me to the ER at the shitty in between hospital based on my erratic behavior and ill health. That was also the weekend when you spent absolutely zero time listening to anyone, from me, who almost immediately complained of a very bad headache and stiff neck, to my very dear friends and my psycho-pharmacologist.  You instead made immediate incorrect assumptions without bothering to rule out other factors. The resulting actions caused me a great deal of misery and pain.

On August 18, 2012, you jumped at a chance to diagnose me of overdosing on Ambien despite any knowledge of me as a person and without listening to the people who know me. My friends and doctor begged you to listen to them, begged you to do all medical testing, including a CT Scan, knowing that overdosing on Ambien was not probable – and not in my nature.  You continued to ignore their pleas and did absolutely no medical testing, which as a doctor you know must be done prior to assessing any overdose.  You made despicable and weak assumptions regarding my proposed Ambien intake, and you never took the time to analyze my situation and actually do your job as a medical professional, even after promising my friends and psycho-pharmacologist that you would do all standard medical testing.  It wasn’t until the following day, once your shift was taken over by other doctors, that I received a CT Scan showing a massive brain hemorrhage. 

As a result of your stubbornness and presumptive idiocy, my delayed diagnosis of what was a burst brain aneurysm is unacceptable. As far as I know, my aneurysm began to bleed on Friday, August 17, 2012. My friends found me and brought me to your ER on August 18, 2012. You disregarded anything they said about me as a person. You also disregarded a phone call from my psychiatrist (who happens to be affiliated with New York Presbyterian) who had seen me a few days prior and knew I had been complaining of medical symptoms that could be related to my situation. You did nothing. And as a result, I was not tested for any medical issues until August 19, 2012. And those medical tests were not ordered by you. You, as I’ve stated, did nothing. You assumed. And you assumed incorrectly.

I have no idea if you ever bothered to follow up on my status after I was correctly diagnosed by other individuals, but once I was finally tested after you finished your shift and went home, I was taken to Cornell Weill/New York Presbyterian uptown. There, I was treated for my aneurysm and underwent four intense surgeries, the last that resulted in the implementation of a cerebral shunt, which according to my doctor, I will have forever.

In February, I underwent ocular surgery, and the remaining blood that had leaked into my right eyeball while I was hemorrhaging was removed so I could see clearly again.

Shame on you, Dr. Gold Shit.  Shame on you and the shitty in between hospital for what you did NOT do to save my life. The mere fact that you dare attempt to claim payment from my insurance company for your lack of services is despicable to me. I will never forget how terrible you were. And I will never forgive you for your lack of attention, your inaccurate presumptions, and the results of those bad decisions.  My life has forever changed after those incidences that weekend.  I hope no one ever has to go through what I have been through these last eight months.  I am lucky to be alive in the best of circumstances, especially given the fact that you failed to do the minimum that was required of you.  But every day when I feel this shunt on the front of my head, I will think of you and your failures as a health care professional.

Sincerely,

 Melissa Menta                                                                                                                                                                                          

 Cc:          I cc:d everyone I could think of including the NY State Medical Board.  And here is a photo of gold shit.  The worldwide web is amazing. There are photos of EVERYTHING!