Susan Kasperski, a long time Southern California Kaiser Permanente patient has prepared a chronology of negative events that she had to endure while THRIVING in the hands of Kaiser.

Susan Kasperski is a long time Southern California Kaiser Permanente patient. She has prepared a chronology of negative events that she had to endure while THRIVING in the hands of Kaiser. Susan has kept a complete diary over the years. This is a pretty good example of assembly line medicine in practice and shows just how bad the patient experience is once an illness or disease needs treatment and the patient has no other options.

For financial reasons Susan has been unable to drop Kaiser and obtain medical insurance elsewhere she states. Susan's story is not uncommon. It is very sad that any patient in this country should be forced to endure such unprofessional treatment.

Susan has requested that this information be placed online and here it is:

Written by Susan R. Kasperski -

Beginning of a Nightmare with Kaiser Permanente
Susan has kept a complete diary over the years. For financial reasons she has been unable to drop Kaiser and obtain medical insurance elsewhere she states.

Year 2000-2001Susan has kept a complete diary over the years. For financial reasons she has been unable to drop Kaiser and obtain medical insurance elsewhere she states.

It all began when I started to retain water in my body. Several times I went to Kaiser complaining about not being able to breathe. They gave me inhalers to enable me to breathe better. After some time passed I started to gain a lot of weight, in fact I went up to 320 pounds from 180 pounds. Still all they thought of was the inhalers to help. These didn't help and my husband replied you hardly eat anything and you are still gaining weight. Something is very wrong.

Especially every time I go to Urgent Care. The doctors are always telling me to drink a lot of water. They say by drinking a lot of water it releases the excess water. Well, finally I ended up in the Urgent Care again. Shortly after that my friend, Janet Carlos called 911 and off to the emergency room I go. On the way I heard the paramedic say "she has stopped breathing and now her heart is stopping, pull over and get back here and help me."Susan has kept a complete diary over the years. For financial reasons she has been unable to drop Kaiser and obtain medical insurance elsewhere she states.

Well I don't remember anything until I was going through the emergency room doors, on a Code Blue. I found out later that they had called it.

There were doctors, nurses trying to save my life, working on me. They gave me shots to get the water off me fast. I urinated and urinated until it ran off the bed onto the floor. I was all wet, my gown, the sheets and the floor. It was so bad nurses were walking through it.

Finally they put me on a bedside toilet which I filled quickly. No one had time to empty it and it was soon running over.

They put me in another place with another bedside toilet and there I saw, and sat until I started having chest pains that were real bad.

The doctors and nurses came in and looked at my chart and replied, "she is having a heart attack" - because they "forgot to give her potassium."

They had sent my husband home early and said "She won't be going home as we are going to admit her later on." I was very tired and covered in urine and still having problems breathing.

The doctor decided to send me home anyway. My husband came and said "She is still having problems breathing and you want to send her home?"

The doctor replied she is OK and have her make a follow up appointment with her regular doctor, she is out of danger now.

Can you believe that I was a Code Blue and in less than 7 hours later they are sending me home. Being home I knew that I was going to die from not getting proper care. I sat up all night gasping for air, my husband left the car home for me to use if I got worse. My friend Janet was sleeping and I didn't want to interrupt my husband at work, so I made an appointment with a doctor at Kaiser.

I was told to come right in. It took forever it seemed to get out to the car because of starting and stopping till I could catch my breath. I drove to Kaiser and to get into the hospital I had to stop and catch my breath several times. People were staring at me and not one of them asked if I needed help. I finally made it to the desk and the lady saw how bad I was and they got me right in. I followed the nurse and tried not to collapse on the floor. The doctor there got me admitted to a room and worked on me. They weighed me first and I weighed 320 pounds. I was there two and a half days and I had so much water around the heart and in the lungs that I had congestive heart failure. When I left the hospital I weighed 240 pounds.

They removed 80 pounds of water in two and a half days. Can you believe that Kaiser emergency room sent me home in such bad shape?

Second Nightmare at Kaiser Permanente
{Stick around it gets better}
February 2001

This time Kaiser talked me into a pacemaker. Well shortly later Kaiser made arrangements for me to have one put in. I was transferred from Kaiser Hospital in Fontana California by ambulance to Sunset Hospital in Los Angeles, California. The surgery was to take place there. Needless to say I was very frightened but once there, they explained everything to me that would take place and I felt at ease. After it was all over I was told that someone had to come and pick me up to take me back to Kaiser Hospital, Fontana. Now I was worried because there wasn't anyone who could pick me up at this time of the morning and my husband's truck could not make the long trip to L.A. and that is what I told them.

Finally after a long wait, Kaiser said they would send an ambulance for me. The ride home was rough. There were bad roads and a lot of pot holes. I think that I felt them all.

When I returned to Kaiser they had to put me in a new room because they had given my room to someone else. The ambulance drivers were going to put me in the bed and I noticed that the bed had been slept in already and was soiled badly on the chuck and the sheet. I told them not to put me on that soiled bed, "look at it!" They put me in a chair instead.

After an hour I found a nurse and she said they had an emergency and she would be right back. After another hour, I was tired, upset, hurting and angry. I used the phone to get help. Someone from the hospital answered my complaint and I was put into another room. The nurse made the bed. The room was dirty but I was too tired to care. A few hours later they discharged me to go home {What a Night and Morning to have to go through}

Third Nightmare at Kaiser Permanente

{This is nothing yet. I haven't even started with the REAL Nightmare yet.}
November 14, 2001

Well here it is time for a mammogram. What could possibly go wrong now? {?} I went in and told the girl that I had a pacemaker and where it was. She said "OK" and without gloves and with real long artificial nails. When she grabbed my breast to place it where she wanted it, she scratched me and I bled. She did the right breast and then it was time to do the left breast where the pacemaker was placed near the collar bone. She put the machine against my chest and came down on my breast catching the pacemaker in between the glass plates. I screamed it hurts, she replied it will only hurt for a minute. I replied back, "You got my pacemaker and I'm ready to pass out in pain." She released it and said "Oh, I'm sorry. Let's get an x-ray." She said that it didn't look like any harm was done.

Bad Advice from M.D. - Jennifer Knowles, M.D.

From year 2002 through January 19, 2004

Every month I feel the pacemaker doing damage, moving around in my side chest. Shortly after that I noticed that it was moving around to the point it made canal's between my breast, up by my throat and moves to under my armpit. When I am laying down, moved to the throat, lay side ways it slams to the right side and when I turn over to the other side it hurts real bad.

I told Dr. Knowles and she replied "Don't worry about it, it is OK - they do this."

Well it stuck under my arm pit and then later it worked its way down the side to the stomach and left breast was swollen. I told her on the phone again what was going on and her response was "We put pacemakers in all parts of the body, don't worry." I said but mine isn't supposed to travel like that. She said "It's OK," but my breast is swollen. "OK then I will write you a prescription for you." After I hung up, I got another doctor and got rid of her. Because of her I had an infection and damage to my chest, and now need to get the old pacemaker out and get the damage fixed and implant a new pacemaker.

Fourth Nightmare at Kaiser Permanente
{Stick around it gets better as you go}
The Day of my Surgery
March 29, 2004

Well here I am in the hospital and another surgery, a nurse approached me and said, "I am your nurse today and I am getting you ready for surgery. I tell my nurse several times that I would like to talk to the doctor who is doing my surgery.

The nurse pointed to a doctor who was walking past my bed. That is your doctor. I said I wanted to talk to her. She never did stop to talk to me.

Well here I go into the operating room, scared and upset that the doctor wouldn't talk to me. They are rolling me into the room and the nurses telling me to help them get me onto the operating table. The nurses and myself are having a hard time putting me on the table which was too small for me. I weigh around 260 at the time or better. There was no place to put my arms or shoulders, and the side of my butt checks were hanging over the sides. (To put it bluntly.)

They asked me to put my hands under my head and they took sheets and wrapped them around me and the operating table to hold me on. So after that was done, one of the other nurses turned on the radio.

Other nurses were getting me ready and one nurse was telling the other nurses that "we have to sterilize her all over again, because we forgot to put a tent over her face and in order to do that this table has to be turned the other way." These nurses started bickering back and forth.

In the meantime, another nurse was sterilizing my groin, saying the doctor will come and give you a local so you won't feel pain. The doctor has to put two leads into your veins that go to your heart. I ask how many nurses are in here? She told me there were seven nurses. By this time doctor Uppal walked in. I noticed she wasn't wearing anything on her head like the nurses were. She walked over to where I was and I asked her are you the doctor doing my surgery and she replied "YES" in a very harsh voice. I remember wondering why, she was angry with me. She then started feeling around my groin. All of a sudden I started screaming, trying to get off the table, the pain was unbearable. The nurses were all yelling at me to stay still or I will hurt myself. Let the doctor finish putting the leads in. About that time I fell off the table and was hanging by the sheets that were around me. All of the things that had been placed on my stomach (all the tools) were on the floor and the nurses were trying to put me back on the table. All of this with out any pain killer at all. Now they decided to give me something and out I went. Thank God for small favors.

When I was coming around I saw the doctor leaving and a nurse made a remark, and said the doctor had a very hard time getting the pacemaker out. She had to use her hands to get it out. I thought to myself "Oh my God, she went from my chest down my side to below my stomach to get it."

Now for the record, the table was never turned nor was there a tent over my head. Well they took me to a room. I asked the nurse what is all this dark hair on my chest? (It looked like the short hairs that would come off a dog after you have given it a bath.) The nurse replied, "I don't know." My thought was that maybe the doctor had sweat during surgery and she shed all over me.

Come to find out she put the new pacemaker in my (Double DD Breast) near my nipple, so now when my breast moves, so does the pacemaker and I can't get a mammogram now in the left breast.

To this day I still have a lot of pain. The pacemaker bangs around in my breast and it is sore to the touch. It feels like it is making a path as it bangs around.

Fifth step: Pleading with Kaiser Permanente
{It sounds like a Science Fiction Story, but it Really Happened}
Around September 2004

I tried to convince Kaiser, by telling them I need this pacemaker out. To my surprise they later agreed. So a date was set at Sunset Hospital by the same M.D. that had done such a beautiful job on the first one.

Sixth: Transferring to Riverside Kaiser Permanente
Year 2005

Since my M.D. left Fontana Kaiser, I decided to transfer everything to Kaiser in Riverside and had all new doctors.

Well I was happy and I liked all my doctors and nurses. This Kaiser was all so nice and clean and it had a lot of nice people to work with. I just loved my family doctor, as he took time with his patients and seemed very concerned.

Seventh: Biggest Nightmare of Them All
The Cardiology Doctor, Charles Cowan
In Riverside Kaiser
January 13, 2005, signed in at 7:55 A.M.

Well, too good to be true; the horror was right around the corner in another department. It was time for my pacemaker to be checked out on a machine in cardiology by a doctor named Charles Cowan.

I got to my appointment early because I had therapy afterwards. So here I waited to be called into the cardiology department. I was called in and I followed the nurse to the room and she said that the doctor will be in shortly, strip to the waist and put on the gown and the doctor will be right in. Ok, all done, and true to her word, the doctor came in.

Charles Cowan went right to the machine and I started to talk to him and he said wait till I am done and you can talk. He got ready to put the leads on me but first he pressed down hard on my chest and breasts to locate the pacemaker. I told him he is pressing too hard on my chest and he replied, "OK." "I found it now" and he sat down in the chair in front of the machine. "Oops, I forgot the lead, so sit up and I'll put it on. Now lay back down." He went back to his chair and I noticed a lot of paper coming out of the machine as he typed. "Oh, What is happening?" I am starting to feel funny. I am having trouble breathing, starting to have chest pains too. It was so bad that I started losing my hearing and my eye sight was starting to dim.

I started screaming "Stop you are killing me!" I screamed over and over again and noticed that I couldn't move. (Dimly I could see him rocking back and forth saying, "I have to do it") By this time I am in a dark placed and all of a sudden I felt my body jerk and everything was starting to come back. My hearing, eye sight and pain and gasping for air. The pain was unreal like someone had a hold of my lungs and was squeezing all the air out of them. I could see him in the chair at the machine with a lot of paper coming out. It was all the way to the floor and beyond. I screamed at him, saying "you killed me and brought me back", over and over.

He replied, "I had to do it." He said it more than once while he was rocking back and forth in the chair.

All of a sudden he got up and took the leads off of me quickly and then scrambled to pick up all that paper in his arms, while some of it dangled from his arms and as he walked out I asked him if I could get a copy of the paperwork and he said "No." I was so scared right then that maybe he would come back in to finish me off. I stayed there for a short time and gathered my composure then got dressed and left the room. I approached a nurse to complain and she just shooed me on by. I walked up the the lady at the desk to tell her and she acted like she didn't want to be bothered. I then went out to the elevators to go to my next appointment and was moving very shaky. I was on my way to my therapy. I must have blacked out for a few seconds as I found myself setting on the floor of the elevator sobbing. I had people asking me if I was ok and did I need help.

I gathered myself together and said, "I think I am ok now, thank you." I walked to the other side of the building for my appointment. While getting therapy, I told my therapist what had happened.

She didn't seem too surprised. After I finished, I went home and called Membership Services, and put in a complaint.

I told my new doctor, Doctor West and he was shocked. I told many other people in Kaiser and they didn't understand why he would do this to me. He turned off my pacemaker, which my heart is dependent on for me to stay alive.

I also called the police department to get him arrested because thinking about what happened, if something was wrong he could have gotten a nurse to explain what had happened and to comfort me.

So I have come to think that he may have been a pervert causing me pain and enjoying it. He probably would think, who would believe her anyway? I had also asked for my records on what had taken place and the read out from the machine. By coincidence, they could not find the records for over 7 weeks. Finally they found them and the read out he did on me. However, the times on the read out and the times that I was there and the length of time it took me to walk to my therapy appointment do not coincide. It if did then it only took me 5 minutes to get to my therapy and make the co-payment.

Boy, I must be a fast walker!

So I feel that the papers were falsified to keep me quiet.

Yes he is still working at Kaiser in Riverside, but over the phone they said he has a nurse that goes in with him because of no proof of what took place. (By the way, I canceled my appointment for surgery as I was scared to get it now.)

Eight: The Reason for Writing This Is:
January 30, 2006

Because I was told I have a tumor in my left breast and it could go into cancer, and the doctor won't take it out until I have the pacemaker out first then shortly after he will remove it when I heal up from surgery. According to what I was told, I am the only person to have it in the breast. I am asking Kaiser Permanente in Fontana to foot the bill for the doctor who originally put in my first pacemaker at Sunset Hospital where the doctor did it right. In case I don't make it through the surgery I want every one to be aware of these doctors and some of their practices in Kaiser.

Wish me luck. Thanks.

(Closing this Chapter Up)
May 18, 2006

All went well. Had the surgery on the left breast, and no pacemaker had to be removed to have it done.

The doctor performed surgery was (Asome) MD Maher Gobran. Now here is a doctor that made sure everything was checked before surgery, lungs, pacemaker and so forth. I had the best care before and after surgery. Oh in the surgery room, I had the best care ever. I had Jan Harvey from cardiology there that made my day also. I bet that was the doings of my sergeant.

Ninth: Before and after Surgery
On June 6, 2007
By: Doctor Sharon L. Kaline (with grammar and spelling as written)

First of all doctor assent messed up on my surgery date and was very rude on phone and said first of all doctor doesn't tell me how to schedule apt in computer and so I messed up I corrected it and I replied too late pre up told me even if you corrected it they could not get me in pre op before the surgery date and now have to second another date down line. Now surgery went well, but I did as the doctor said and now have a messed up hand, therapy dept said I wont give you any more treatments it looks like I'm doing more harm to it, well months down line, like 4 months now have past and I'm a handy cap now in right hand, but all other things going on I haven't done anything about it yet, because other things came up in my life so I put it on back burner, old saying is. I member the sergeant saying too me if I do as I'm told about taking care of hand and exercising it, I be fine because she is a very good sergeant, good sergeant? My finger won't close so I cant grab things or hold things good, one more problem to worry about later on.

Ten: At the mercy of Kaiser Permanente
Surgery 3rd Pacemaker to be put in
October 1, 2007

Well here I am in Cat Lab

Getting ready for surgery, nurses having a hard time finding a vein and me complaining it hurts, by that time I seen my heart doctor Chander by my bedside and what a relief it was to see him, for I have asked him to be there to make sure all goes well before surgery and during surgery and after and he was a doctor of his word and this was on his own time. How lucky I am to have a doctor like this. He knew I was frightened because of what happened last time.

I had a pacemaker put in at Fontana Kaiser. It was a horrifying experience and I didn't want this to happen again. See you aren't allowed to see your sergeant at all. Maybe before going in he might see you and I did see him right before going in for surgery. Well one hour after surgery they called my husband to come and pick me up. I asked to stay over night in case something goes wrong but only if you have a wire put in and I didn't so off to home I went. Being home I broke out in a rash and itched all over my body and rash and blisters under (Tagaderm) where doctor Ball had placed it over the gauss (- unknown word) and over an inch around on the skin. I had to change it to paper tape later on and I got better but lost a lot of skin where the tape was.

Now I find myself being zapped by the pacemaker when laying down. My body would jump up off of the bed and lose my breath after a while of this trying to lay down off and on. It scared me and rested sitting up in a recliner chair. I made an appointment with Cardiology to check what is going on with the Pacemaker. I had seen a doctor W. Chin on October 5, 2007 and he turned off my lead and sent me off for x-rays to see if wire is connected to pacemaker, after seeing x-rays told me lead is backfiring so we will leave it shut off but I feel bad since it is off, having a hard time breathing. I told him, don't worry he said your upper part of your heart is working 95% with it off. You will be fine. If you have problems with the pacemaker call me and I will see you.

That evening my husband called 911. I could hardly breathe and was it was like someone was sitting on my chest. Well in the ER the doctor took of water out of my lung, mild congestive heart failure, he said. The other doctor taking his place at the change in shift said, "The heart isn't working right and can't get rid of fluids in the body and I should call Cardiology and see a doctor about the lead and pacemaker. Well, I was released to go home after I paid the $35.00 co-pay.

Being at home, I tried everything but standing on my head to get an appointment. I was on the phone for hours and hours. I have already passed out in the bathroom and another time in the driveway. Cardiology told me and membership services that there wasn't a thing they could do. They were all booked up. Another nurse called me and said "I told you we are all booked up."

I got cocky and I replied "So if I'm having a baby now, stick my foot up there and wait till there is an opening, that is asinine. I'm dying and I have to put it on hold until an opening comes. That is so asinine. I can sit and feel ok, but walking a few steps feels like I ran a block just to go to the restroom."

Finally I started calling friends for help. Finely, I got a number to call that would help me. A government office which helps people like me in need and in 12 hours I had an appointment in Cardiology on the 11th of October at 10:10 A.M. with doctor Orens. By the way there was an appointment on the 10th just to check in at 7:30 A.M. When I arrived nothing was open and so I went home. The appointment was wrong and they meant to tell me 8:30 A.M. instead.

Let's get back to the appointment on the 11th. I drove myself to Kaiser and got a wheel chair to lean on to so I could get to my appointment. It seemed forever, sitting and walking off and on to catch my breath a couple of times. I thought I would pass out because of the lack of air but I made it.

A gentleman approached me while I waited in the waiting room and said my (name is?) ((He introduced himself))
He said that he represents the company that made the pacemakers. He said "I will see you and then wheeled me into a room and explained what he was doing - checking the pacemaker out and then left the room. Dr. Orens came in and said he will change the program a little for the other doctor who turned the lead on and set program. Dr. Orens changed the program some what and told me the lead is fine. He said that maybe the extra program is zapping me and turned it off.

Dr. Orens told me that I was now fine.

I thought - sure I am but I didn't believe him really. I went my merry way with the wheel chair to hold on to and after a short while I noticed that I didn't need it and walked out to my truck not gasping for air. The next day I went grocery shopping and have just been enjoying doing things again.

It is a shame what one has to do just to get an appointment with Fontana Kaiser in Cardiology, because I knew that I would see the grave if not seen by the doctors.

Shame, Shame on Kaiser's policy.