First to debk, thankfully he hasn't spent much time up there by himself. Either I've been there, mom's been there, my niece has been there or someone from the church has been there.
I want to update you guys, but first I need to add something that I didn't mention in my previous post because it didn't seem to me to be relevant to the immediate situation.
Either when they did the CT scan or x-rays at the hospital they noticed a spot on his lung.
Dad already knew he had a spot (scar tissue) on his lung because his regular doctor had noticed it a year or two back and sent him to a respiratory specialist to check the spot and for chronic bronchitis. The respiratory specialist has a satellite office in dad's town. His main office is in a neighboring town. This doctor is not on staff or affiliated in any way with the hospital that my dad is in.
Despite the above, instead of emailing the respiratory specialist a copy of the x-ray or CT scan for review, the hospital actually called the doctor and requested he come to the hospital to see my dad. The respiratory doc, who was scheduled to be in his satellite office today, agreed to stop by. I guess this ended up being a God-send.
When the respiratory doc got there this morning, mom told him that they were fed up and ready to transfer to another hospital. That they still had not been told if my dad did or did not have an intestinal blockage and that dad still hadn't been given anything for his diarrhea.
The VISITING respiratory doc told them both that the spot on the x-ray (or CT) may very well be the previous discovered scar tissue but that he would have to check his records to know for sure. He then said that even if the spot was new that the immediate concern, before they could address the spot, would be taking care of the diarrhea. Within two minutes this VISITING respiratory doctor had pulled up dad's hospital records and told him that he did NOT have a blockage nor did he have the beginnings of a blockage. Then he told them to let him speak to someone real quick and he'd see if he could take care of the diarrhea problem. Shortly afterword, a nurse showed up with medication for diarrhea. Since taking the drug around 9 this morning dad's only had to go to the bathroom once.
Why in the world is it that a visiting respiratory doctor with no ties to the hospital can explain and take care of things while the hospital's doctors can't seem to do anything except ring up hospital charges?
Just wait until you place a relative in a nursing home, be it long or short time care as when you go on vacation and want a family member to be cared for a month or more while you are gone.
I was on vacation from my job at a nursing home and came home to visit family. My Grandmother went to a short time nursing home when her Son went on a 6 week vacation.
I went to visit her and was outraged, 3pm around shift change she was in a wheel chair in her nightgown with eggs from breakfast all over the front of her. She could not find her teeth and her wheel chair was stuck in a corner of the room, she could not leave the room.
I got her loose, up on the bed cleaned her up and changed her clothing. Poor woman had sat in that chair for hours and urinated all over herself. I was red hot but as it was shift change the day nurses were going home and the 2nd shift just come in. No way to talk to anyone on first shift about the condition she was in.
This woman I had spoken to on the phone 2 weeks before she went for care now had no idea who I was, she was really out of it.
I went home and asked my mother just what medication she was on, she read off a list and I freaked as 2 were strong narcotic drugs that she did not need.
Mom called the facility and told me that the people she spoke with told her I had misunderstood what I saw and Mom became afraid that if she pushed this it would some how go bad for her mother. Something about her generation that believes if one complains about something those in charge will make things even worse for whoever.
Mom and I got into one heck of a fight over Grandmas care and I ended going home early. Grandma fell being escorted to the bathroom a few weeks later , broke her hip and died on the operating table
FACTS, the people that get the best care in hospitals, nursing homes or home care are the ones that have family and friends that keep bugging the care givers. The more people that do the questioning the better care they get.
Doctors hate this as they fear a law suit if they over medicate a patient. Health facilities also hate this as they know when a Doctor orders a drug they know is contraindicated by other drugs, and dispense it anyway and patient dies-- if the family looks into this it will be the low end of the pole that gets fired, some young LPN just following orders.
Sorry to say this but for good care, get in there and drive the staff nuts, speak up, someone one with a catheter bag needs changing, Say something if the Nurse does not wash her hands first. Same if one is changing IV bags, or giving shots.
Remember no one is to touch a patient in Hospital or nursing home without first washing their hands.
This goes for the Doctors also, they come into your room and do not wash their hands, who knows what crap they have on them from the last patient. Don't just ask for it------DEMAND IT
