Sister Cancelled My Surgery Consultation To Babysit — Until The Medical Licensing Board Got The M... — Transcript

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1. 0:00The text message came at 2:47 p.m. on a
2. 0:03Tuesday. Can you watch the kids Friday?
3. 0:06Important date, can't reschedule. I
4. 0:08stared at my phone sitting in the
5. 0:10hospital parking lot. My surgical
6. 0:12consultation was Friday at 3:00 p.m. The
7. 0:14appointment I'd waited 3 months to get.
8. 0:17The appointment that would determine
9. 0:18whether the mass in my abdomen required
10. 0:20immediate surgery. I have my
11. 0:22consultation Friday. I typed back. The
12. 0:25one with Dr. Patterson. Remember? Three
13. 0:28dots appeared, then disappeared, then
14. 0:31appeared again. That's not until next
15. 0:33month. I checked your calendar. My hand
16. 0:36started shaking. Sarah, it's this
17. 0:39Friday. I showed you the appointment
18. 0:41card last week. Well, I already told
19. 0:43Marcus I'm free. Just reschedule it.
20. 0:46Doctors always have openings. I sat
21. 0:48there phone in hand trying to process
22. 0:50what she was saying. Sarah was a
23. 0:52registered nurse at Memorial Hospital.
24. 0:55She knew better than anyone how surgical
25. 0:57consultations worked, how long the
26. 0:59waiting lists were, how crucial timing
27. 1:01was when they found something
28. 1:03suspicious. I can't reschedule. I wrote.
29. 1:06This took 3 months to get. It's about
30. 1:09the mass they found. You're being
31. 1:11dramatic. It's probably nothing. I'll
32. 1:13help you call Monday to reschedule. I
33. 1:16didn't respond. I went inside for my
34. 1:18pre-consultation blood work. My mind
35. 1:21spinning. That evening my phone rang.
36. 1:23Mom, Jennifer, Sarah is very upset. She
37. 1:27says you're refusing to help with the
38. 1:28kids. I closed my eyes. Mom, I have my
39. 1:32surgical consultation Friday. The
40. 1:34important one. Honey, Sarah checked with
41. 1:37the hospital. You don't have anything
42. 1:39scheduled. The room tilted. What do you
43. 1:42mean she checked? She looked in the
44. 1:44system. There's nothing under your name
45. 1:46for Friday. My voice came out flat. Mom,
46. 1:50I'm holding the appointment card right
47. 1:52now. Friday 3:00 p.m. Dr. Patterson's
48. 1:55office. Well, Sarah says it's not in the
49. 1:57computer, so obviously there's been some
50. 2:00mix-up. Just help her out this once. You
51. 2:03can straighten out your appointment
52. 2:04situation next week. After she hung up,
53. 2:07I called Dr. Patterson's office
54. 2:09directly. Hi, this is Jennifer Walsh. I
55. 2:13just want to confirm my appointment for
56. 2:14Friday at 3:00 p.m. The receptionist
57. 2:17paused. Miss Walsh, we have a note here
58. 2:20that you canceled this morning. Called
59. 2:22at 9:15 a.m. and said you needed to
60. 2:25reschedule. The floor dropped out from
61. 2:27under me. I didn't call. Well, someone
62. 2:30called from your number. Let me check
63. 2:33our next available. We can get you in on
64. 2:35March 18th. That's 2 months away.
65. 2:38I'm sorry. Dr. Patterson only does
66. 2:41surgical consultations on Fridays and
67. 2:43he's booked solid. I hung up and pulled
68. 2:46up my phone records. No outgoing call to
69. 2:49Dr. Patterson's office at 9:15 a.m. But
70. 2:53Sarah had been at my apartment that
71. 2:55morning, bringing over some mail that
72. 2:57had been delivered to mom's by mistake.
73. 2:59She'd been alone in my living room while
74. 3:01I was in the shower. My hands were
75. 3:03steady as I opened a new document on my
76. 3:06laptop and began typing. Date, time,
77. 3:09exact quotes, screenshots of text
78. 3:11messages. The text continued over the
79. 3:14next 2 days. Wednesday 11:23 a.m. Sarah
80. 3:18and Marcus is really excited about
81. 3:20Friday. Please don't make this
82. 3:22difficult. Wednesday 11:47 a.m. Me, I
83. 3:26need to know if you called Dr.
84. 3:28Patterson's office from my phone.
85. 3:30Wednesday 11:52 a.m. Sarah, I don't know
86. 3:34what you're talking about. You're acting
87. 3:36paranoid. This is why you're always
88. 3:38stressed. You imagine problems that
89. 3:40don't exist. Wednesday 2:34 p.m. Sarah,
90. 3:45Mom says you're being selfish. It's just
91. 3:47one appointment. You're not even really
92. 3:49sick. I screenshot every message.
93. 3:52Thursday morning, I received a call from
94. 3:54my primary care physician, Dr. Morrison.
95. 3:58Jennifer, I got a concerning call from
96. 4:00your sister. She says you're refusing
97. 4:02necessary medical treatment. What? I sat
98. 4:05up straight in my chair at work. She
99. 4:08called this morning, said she's worried
100. 4:10about your mental state, that you're
101. 4:12canceling important appointments, and
102. 4:14making up medical conditions for
103. 4:15attention. My voice shook. Dr. Morrison,
104. 4:19that's not true. Sarah canceled my
105. 4:21surgical consultation without my
106. 4:23permission. I'm trying to get it
107. 4:25rescheduled. There was a long pause.
108. 4:28Your sister is a nurse, correct? At
109. 4:30Memorial. Yes.
110. 4:32Jennifer, I'm going to note this
111. 4:34conversation in your chart. This sounds
112. 4:37like it might be a serious situation. Do
113. 4:39you feel safe at home?
114. 4:41I don't live with my family, but yes,
115. 4:43I'm safe. After we hung up, I added Dr.
116. 4:47Morrison's call to my documentation.
117. 4:49Then I did something I'd been avoiding.
118. 4:51I logged into my email and found the
119. 4:53patient portal message from my The CT
120. 4:56scan
121. 4:59shows a 4.2 cm mass in your lower right
122. 5:02abdomen. We need surgical evaluation as
123. 5:05soon as possible. I'm referring you to
124. 5:08Dr. Patterson, our top surgical
125. 5:10oncologist. Please call his office
126. 5:12immediately to schedule. I'd shown Sarah
127. 5:15that email the day I received it. She'd
128. 5:17hugged me, told me it would be okay,
129. 5:20promised to help me through whatever
130. 5:21came next. Now she was telling our
131. 5:24mother I was making it up. Friday
132. 5:26afternoon, I sat alone in my apartment.
133. 5:29Sarah posted photos on social media from
134. 5:31her date, a wine bar downtown, laughing
135. 5:34selfies, carefree. I opened my laptop
136. 5:38and navigated to the New York State
137. 5:39Board of Nursing website. Under file a
138. 5:42complaint, I clicked the link. The form
139. 5:45was extensive. Nature of complaint,
140. 5:48supporting documentation, specific
141. 5:50violations. I wrote carefully,
142. 5:53precisely, on November 14th, registered
143. 5:56nurse Sarah Walsh, license hash 487392,
144. 6:01accessed my personal phone without
145. 6:03permission and called my doctor's office
146. 6:06impersonating me to cancel an urgent
147. 6:08surgical consultation. This consultation
148. 6:11was scheduled to evaluate a 4.2 cm
149. 6:14abdominal mass flagged by my
150. 6:16gastroenterologist
151. 6:18as requiring immediate surgical
152. 6:20assessment. I attached screenshots, text
153. 6:23messages where she admitted knowing
154. 6:25about my appointment, phone records
155. 6:27showing no call from my number at the
156. 6:29time the cancellation was made. The
157. 6:32patient portal message from my
158. 6:33gastroenterologist,
159. 6:35as a registered nurse, Ms. Walsh is
160. 6:38aware of the serious nature of surgical
161. 6:40consultations and the difficulty of
162. 6:42rescheduling specialist appointments.
163. 6:45She deliberately interfered with my
164. 6:47access to medical care for her personal
165. 6:49convenience. When confronted, she told
166. 6:52family members I was making up medical
167. 6:54conditions for attention and called my
168. 6:56primary care physician to report
169. 6:59concerns about my mental state
170. 7:01attempting to discredit my legitimate
171. 7:03medical needs. I attached Dr. Morrison's
172. 7:06follow-up email confirming Sarah's call.
173. 7:09Ms. Walsh has used her medical
174. 7:10credentials and access to manipulate the
175. 7:13situation telling my mother she checked
176. 7:16the hospital system regarding my
177. 7:18appointments. She has violated patient
178. 7:21privacy, impersonated me to medical
179. 7:23professionals, and interfered with
180. 7:26urgent medical care. This represents a
181. 7:28serious breach of nursing ethics and
182. 7:30professional standards. Before I
183. 7:33submitted, I called Dr. Patterson's
184. 7:35office one more time. Hi, this is
185. 7:38Jennifer Walsh again. When someone
186. 7:40called to cancel my appointment on
187. 7:42Wednesday, did they provide any
188. 7:44identification or verification? The
189. 7:47receptionist hesitated. Well, the caller
190. 7:49ID showed your number, and she knew your
191. 7:52date of birth, and the reason for the
192. 7:54appointment. We have HIPAA protocols,
193. 7:56but when someone calls from the
194. 7:58patient's own phone with all the right
195. 8:00information, did the voice sound like
196. 8:02previous calls from me? Another pause.
197. 8:06Actually, now that you mention it, I did
198. 8:08think it was odd. The voice was
199. 8:10different, but she had all your
200. 8:12information. So, I assumed maybe you had
201. 8:14a cold or something. Can you note in my
202. 8:17file that I did not make that call? That
203. 8:19someone accessed my phone without
204. 8:21permission and impersonated me. Oh my
205. 8:24god. Yes, I'll note that right now. Ms.
206. 8:27Walsh, I'm so sorry. This is This is
207. 8:30identity theft. Medical fraud. I know.
208. 8:34I'm documenting everything. After we
209. 8:36hung up, I added this conversation to my
210. 8:39complaint. Then I click submit. The
211. 8:41email came Monday morning. Your
212. 8:43complaint has been received and assigned
213. 8:46case number 2024NY8847.
214. 8:51An investigator will contact you within
215. 8:53five business days. Please do not
216. 8:56discuss this complaint with the subject
217. 8:58of the investigation, as it may
218. 9:00constitute witness tampering. I
219. 9:02forwarded the email to my personal
220. 9:04folder and went to work. Tuesday, Sarah
221. 9:07called. I let it go to voicemail. Jen,
222. 9:11this is ridiculous. Mom is really upset.
223. 9:14You're tearing this family apart over
224. 9:16babysitting. Call me back. I didn't.
225. 9:19Wednesday, a formal letter arrived. New
226. 9:22York State Department of Education,
227. 9:24Office of Professional Discipline. A
228. 9:27complaint has been filed regarding your
229. 9:29professional conduct. You are required
230. 9:31to respond within 30 days. Failure to
231. 9:34respond may result in immediate license
232. 9:37suspension pending investigation. My
233. 9:40phone exploded. Sarah, 4:47 p.m. What
234. 9:44did you do? Sarah, 4:48 p.m. You filed a
235. 9:48complaint against my license. Sarah,
236. 9:524:49 p.m. Over babysitting. Sarah, 4:52
237. 9:57p.m. Do you know what this could do to
238. 9:59my career? Sarah, 4:53 p.m. I could lose
239. 10:04everything. I responded once, you
240. 10:06impersonated me to cancel an urgent
241. 10:08surgical consultation. You called my
242. 10:11doctor to claim I'm mentally unstable.
243. 10:14You interfered with my medical care.
244. 10:16This isn't about babysitting. Sarah,
245. 10:194:56 p.m. It was a mistake. I thought I
246. 10:22was helping. Sarah, 4:57 p.m. You're
247. 10:26always so stressed about medical stuff.
248. 10:29I was trying to take the pressure off.
249. 10:31Sarah, 5:02 p.m. Please. Please,
250. 10:35withdraw the complaint. I'll do
251. 10:37anything. I turned off my phone.
252. 10:40Thursday, Mom showed up at my apartment.
253. 10:43Jennifer, you need to fix this. Sarah is
254. 10:46devastated. She could lose her nursing
255. 10:49license. I handed her a folder. Inside
256. 10:52were printouts of every text message,
257. 10:55the email from my gastroenterologist
258. 10:57about the mass, phone records, the
259. 11:00statement from Dr. Patterson's office.
260. 11:02Mom read in silence, her face going
261. 11:05pale. She told me you didn't really have
262. 11:08an appointment. She canceled it by
263. 11:10pretending to be me, using my phone
264. 11:12while I was in the shower. But she said
265. 11:15she was trying to help, that you get
266. 11:17overwhelmed. And Mom, I have a 4.2 cm
267. 11:21mass in my abdomen that might be cancer.
268. 11:24Sarah knew this. She canceled the
269. 11:26appointment anyway because she had a
270. 11:28date. Mom sat down heavily on my couch.
271. 11:32A date. Then she told you and Dr.
272. 11:34Morrison that I was making up medical
273. 11:37conditions for attention. Oh my god. She
274. 11:40used her nursing credentials to
275. 11:42manipulate the situation. She accessed
276. 11:44medical information, impersonated a
277. 11:47patient, and interfered with urgent
278. 11:49care. Those are violations of her
279. 11:51professional license. Mom's hands shook
280. 11:54as she held the papers. What's going to
281. 11:56happen to her? That's up to the Board of
282. 11:59Nursing. But I need you to understand.
283. 12:02This isn't about being petty. This is
284. 12:04about a medical professional who put her
285. 12:06social life above a family member's
286. 12:08potential cancer diagnosis. If she did
287. 12:11this to me, what has she done to
288. 12:13patients? The investigator called Friday
289. 12:16afternoon. Miss Walsh, I'm Robert Chen
290. 12:20from the Office of Professional
291. 12:21Discipline. I've reviewed your complaint
292. 12:24and the supporting documentation. Yes. I
293. 12:27need to inform you that we're escalating
294. 12:29this to a formal investigation. The
295. 12:32violations alleged are quite serious.
296. 12:35We'll need a formal statement from you,
297. 12:37from Dr. Patterson's office, and from
298. 12:40your primary care physician. I
299. 12:42understand. I also need to inform you
300. 12:45that we've placed a temporary
301. 12:47restriction on Miss Sarah Walsh's
302. 12:49license pending the investigation. She
303. 12:52cannot practice nursing until this is
304. 12:54resolved. My chest tightened. How long
305. 12:57will that take? These investigations
306. 13:00typically take 3 miss 6 months. Given
307. 13:03the severity, patient impersonation,
308. 13:06interference with urgent care, filing
309. 13:09false reports about a patient's mental
310. 13:11capacity, this will likely go before the
311. 13:14disciplinary committee. After he hung
312. 13:16up, I sat in silence. My phone buzzed.
313. 13:20Dad this time. Jennifer, your sister has
314. 13:23been suspended from work. She has three
315. 13:25kids. Please think about what you're
316. 13:28doing. I typed back slowly. I am
317. 13:31thinking. I'm thinking about what kind
318. 13:33of nurse cancels someone's cancer
319. 13:35consultation for a date. I'm thinking
320. 13:38about her patients who trust her. I'm
321. 13:40thinking about the fact that she tried
322. 13:42to convince everyone, including my
323. 13:44doctor, that I'm mentally unstable when
324. 13:47I have documented medical needs. She
325. 13:50made a mistake. She made multiple
326. 13:52calculated choices. I have three months
327. 13:55of text messages proving it wasn't a
328. 13:57mistake. I put my phone down and opened
329. 14:00my laptop. Dr. Patterson's office had
330. 14:03finally gotten me a new appointment,
331. 14:05January 15th, two months away. Two
332. 14:09months of not knowing if the mass
333. 14:10growing inside me was cancer. Two months
334. 14:13because Sarah had a date. I looked at
335. 14:16the complaint confirmation email one
336. 14:18more time. Case number 2024-NY8847.
337. 14:24My phone rang again. Sarah, crying,
338. 14:28"Please, Jen. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
339. 14:32Just withdraw the complaint. I'll never
340. 14:35You told Mom I wasn't really sick. You
341. 14:38told Dr. Morrison I was making it up for
342. 14:40attention. You didn't just cancel an
343. 14:42appointment. Sarah, you tried to destroy
344. 14:45my credibility with my own health care
345. 14:48providers. I panicked. I didn't think.
346. 14:51You're a nurse. You knew exactly what
347. 14:54you were doing." Silence on the other
348. 14:56end. "The investigation will determine
349. 14:58what happens next." I said quietly, "But
350. 15:02I'm not withdrawing the complaint. What
351. 15:04you did was wrong, and if you did it to
352. 15:06me, you're capable of doing it to your
353. 15:08patients." I hung up. Three days later,
354. 15:12I received an email from the
355. 15:13investigator. They'd interviewed Dr.
356. 15:16Patterson's receptionist. She confirmed
357. 15:18the voice on the cancellation call
358. 15:21hadn't matched my voice from previous
359. 15:23calls. They'd subpoenaed my phone
360. 15:25records, proving no call had been made
361. 15:28from my number at 9:15 a.m. Sarah had
362. 15:31used her own phone, but claimed to be
363. 15:34calling on behalf of me using
364. 15:36information she'd accessed from my phone
365. 15:38and medical records. The email ended
366. 15:41with additional charges being
367. 15:42considered: unauthorized access to
368. 15:45patient information, fraudulent
369. 15:47representation to medical professionals,
370. 15:50filing false reports regarding a
371. 15:52patient's mental capacity.
372. 15:54Recommendation: full license revocation
373. 15:57hearing. I closed my laptop and looked
374. 16:01at my calendar. January 15th was circled
375. 16:04in red. Two months to wait. Two months
376. 16:07of uncertainty. Two months that might
377. 16:09have been avoided if my sister had
378. 16:11simply said, "I can't watch the kids
379. 16:14that day. You have something important."
380. 16:16But she hadn't because her date mattered
381. 16:19more than my health. Because she thought
382. 16:21she could manipulate the situation.
383. 16:23Because she believed her nursing
384. 16:25credentials gave her the right to
385. 16:27override my medical decisions. My phone
386. 16:30buzzed one more time. The investigator,
387. 16:33Ms. Walsh. One more question. "Did your
388. 16:36sister ever express why she felt
389. 16:38entitled to make medical decisions on
390. 16:40your behalf?" I thought about all the
391. 16:42times Sarah had dismissed my health
392. 16:44concerns. The time she diagnosed me over
393. 16:47the phone. The time she told me I was
394. 16:50overreacting, being dramatic, seeking
395. 16:53attention. "She's been a nurse for 8
396. 16:56years." I said finally, "I think she
397. 16:59forgot that having medical knowledge
398. 17:01doesn't give you the right to play God
399. 17:03with other people's health, even
400. 17:05family." "Thank you. That's going in the
401. 17:07report." After we hung up, I made myself
402. 17:10dinner, took my medications, and went to
403. 17:13bed early. In 2 months, I'd know whether
404. 17:16the mass was cancer. In 3-6 months,
405. 17:20Sarah would face the disciplinary
406. 17:22committee. And somewhere in between,
407. 17:24maybe my family would understand that
408. 17:26some mistakes aren't just mistakes. Some
409. 17:29mistakes are choices, and choices have
410. 17:32consequences.