This doctor talked my husband into lithotripsy for kidney stones that were not causing symptoms or harm at the time. He failed to use a stint to aid in passage of the stone debris, and it all stayed within the kidney. Dr Fauconier insisted that another lithotripsy be done asap to break up the debris into smaller pieces, and this time he would use a stint. He also said stones had formed in the other kidney and he'd do both at the same time. We were horrified. Husband is in his 70's and has been diabetic for more than 20 years. Dr Fauconier made us feel like we were completely ignorant and that our concerns were ridiculous. Reluctantly we agreed to the procedures, but only if he gave my husband's kidney at least 3 months to heal. At exactly 3 months the out patient double lithotripsy was done and as we feared, it went badly! Husband hemorrhaged from both kidneys, but Dr Fauconier let us believe he was reacting poorly to anesthesia and pain meds. After receiving 3 units of blood "to make him feel better" and his blood count was still falling we figured out that there was hemorrhaging, which the hospitalist confirmed. His kidney function was failing as well. After 6 units of whole blood and a unit of platelets, his blood count stabilized and his kidney function started trending up.
At that point, I believe 5 days in to the hospitalization, Dr Fauconier said he was going to do a CT scan of the kidneys, but ordered fasting. Thankfully we questioned that, and found out with the aid of a nurse that he was actually going to do a kidney angiogram, and that the dye to be used might completely shut down his kidneys. Dr Fauconier's condescending answer to that was "then we just put him on dialysis".
A regular CT scan confirmed that the hemorrhaging had stopped and no further intervention was recommended and that we should allow nature to heal the kidneys.
The next day husband was allowed out of bed for the first time, but his heart immediately went into atrial fibrillation, a result of the physical and emotional stress he had been put through. So now he has a permanent heart condition. He was finally discharged from the hospital after 13 days.
We fired Dr Fauconier when he lied to us about the CT/angiogram, and his practice was loathe to provide follow up with another doctor. When they finally did, it was discovered that Dr Fauconier left one very large stone intact in one of the kidneys and it was blocking the exit path of the stint. Thus another needless procedure had to be done to laser that stone and remove the stint. A nightmare to say the least. In my and my husband's opinion, this man should not be practicing medicine! read more