Family Update - Part the Second
Mar. 28th, 2005 09:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hiddenmuseSince my last post on the family (in January), things have gone weird for my stepdad.
Yes, his nerves have been regenerating since the stroke that affected the right side of his body. However, the Neurontin dosage was maxed out - and even with a Vicodin chaser - and he still had considerable nerve pain. So the medication was changed over to Tegretol (Carbamazepine). Yeah, my old seizure medicine.
For a while, he was doing okay - no real bumps, just a few ripples. Then, he ended up developing problems from the peritoneal dialysis (PD) - which resulted in a hernia, and an infection that landed him in the hospital, where he has been for the past couple of weeks.
The last time I talked to my mom, my stepdad had been told that he might have to go off the PD because of the infection - and back onto "standard" hemodialysis for a while - as well as IV antibiotics for the infection caused by peritoneal fluid getting into his system. In the meantime, he'd had his blood sugar tested one night by the nursing staff - and since it was a bit high, he was given a dose of insulin. Which caused his blood sugar to bottom out entirely - resulting in a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack, or mini-stroke), which affected his left side.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse - or weird - I talked to my mom on Easter Sunday, and heard some absolute horror stories about what has happened in the past two weeks at the hospital. It's enough to make me feel frustrated, guilty, angry, sad and so many other things ... that I can't help but feel distracted today.
Shortly after the mini-stroke incident, my stepdad was moved to a bed closer to the nurses' station, to be more closely monitored. During the day, this isn't a problem. In the evening, however, this seems to be a real issue. A week ago, in the middle of the night, he'd gone to use the bathroom next to his bed. Something apparently happened, and he'd either fallen asleep or passed out - because he was found face-first in the trash can with a gash on his nose. The nurses used butterfly closures to cover the gash - but he still had two black eyes.
My mom went in to see him the following morning, and when she asked about what happened, was told that it was "just a gash." Apparently, the night nurses assumed that because of his condition, he'd bruise easily. This didn't sit well with my mom - so when she went to see him in the evening, the nephrologist was (thankfully) there, and she expressed her concerns about his nose - how his face looked, and how the nurses treated it - after he'd examined him.
The doctor talked to the nurses, to see if a doctor had been called in after the incident - there wasn't. As you can guess, the doctor was upset, and called down to the ER to get X-Rays done ASAP. The first set were inconclusive - the second set found that my stepdad had broken his nose when he crash-landed into the trash can. So, we're looking at a livid doctor and a livid spouse here.
To make things worse, it took two days - and my mom's coming down - to get the room cleaned up *after the incident*. My stepdad's room had blood in the commode, shit on the floor from when he couldn't make it to the commode, and the sheets hadn't been changed.
Actually, my mom is the one that does the sheet-changing and gives him his baths *every morning* before she goes to work. When she has to leave, the nurses asked her if she could stay. She explained that she had to go to work. When she'd come back in the evening, they'd ask if she'd be staying overnight. She'd reply that she couldn't, because she has a daughter at home, as well. The nurses would say, "well, isn't there someone that she could stay with?"
Yeah ... really ridiculous, isn't it?
And to really pour salt into those wounds ... when my mom asked about other hospitals, the doctor told her that this particular hospital was the best one in St. Louis. That the prior hospital my stepdad was in is actually worse (and with the hell on earth he'd endured there, I'd agree).
As for the nurses, when my mom went to the Head Nurse to complain about the night shift nurses, and their ineptitude - the Head Nurse became defensive of her nurses, saying that basically, they wouldn't do anything like this ... so on and so forth. Never saying, I'm sorry - is there anything that we can do to make this better?
Is my mom documenting (and photographing) all of this? YES.
Do I think that they should get out of St. Louis for the treatment before the hospital system kills my stepdad? HELL YES.
Do I see a lawsuit coming around at some point? Well, yeah. Even though I think malpractice lawyers are slimy bottom-feeding bastards.
Will it be stopped before it starts by the insurance companies - to keep the hospitals from having their reputation tarnished? Well, Duh.
Now, I feel helpless. Being all these miles away from my family, and feeling like I can't support them in any way. Not that my being around physically would do much for them right now. I'm thinking of ways to help them, financially, or in other ways - because I know that they're struggling, since my mom is the only source of income.
Kellie and I are contemplating saving our money and offering to take Taylor for a few weeks this summer, so my parents can have some time to themselves. So my mom can have some time to not worry about having to be in 500 places at once. So she can focus on making sure that my stepdad gets better and healthier - and Taylor can have fun, and be a teenager for a few weeks.
Yes, his nerves have been regenerating since the stroke that affected the right side of his body. However, the Neurontin dosage was maxed out - and even with a Vicodin chaser - and he still had considerable nerve pain. So the medication was changed over to Tegretol (Carbamazepine). Yeah, my old seizure medicine.
For a while, he was doing okay - no real bumps, just a few ripples. Then, he ended up developing problems from the peritoneal dialysis (PD) - which resulted in a hernia, and an infection that landed him in the hospital, where he has been for the past couple of weeks.
The last time I talked to my mom, my stepdad had been told that he might have to go off the PD because of the infection - and back onto "standard" hemodialysis for a while - as well as IV antibiotics for the infection caused by peritoneal fluid getting into his system. In the meantime, he'd had his blood sugar tested one night by the nursing staff - and since it was a bit high, he was given a dose of insulin. Which caused his blood sugar to bottom out entirely - resulting in a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack, or mini-stroke), which affected his left side.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse - or weird - I talked to my mom on Easter Sunday, and heard some absolute horror stories about what has happened in the past two weeks at the hospital. It's enough to make me feel frustrated, guilty, angry, sad and so many other things ... that I can't help but feel distracted today.
Shortly after the mini-stroke incident, my stepdad was moved to a bed closer to the nurses' station, to be more closely monitored. During the day, this isn't a problem. In the evening, however, this seems to be a real issue. A week ago, in the middle of the night, he'd gone to use the bathroom next to his bed. Something apparently happened, and he'd either fallen asleep or passed out - because he was found face-first in the trash can with a gash on his nose. The nurses used butterfly closures to cover the gash - but he still had two black eyes.
My mom went in to see him the following morning, and when she asked about what happened, was told that it was "just a gash." Apparently, the night nurses assumed that because of his condition, he'd bruise easily. This didn't sit well with my mom - so when she went to see him in the evening, the nephrologist was (thankfully) there, and she expressed her concerns about his nose - how his face looked, and how the nurses treated it - after he'd examined him.
The doctor talked to the nurses, to see if a doctor had been called in after the incident - there wasn't. As you can guess, the doctor was upset, and called down to the ER to get X-Rays done ASAP. The first set were inconclusive - the second set found that my stepdad had broken his nose when he crash-landed into the trash can. So, we're looking at a livid doctor and a livid spouse here.
To make things worse, it took two days - and my mom's coming down - to get the room cleaned up *after the incident*. My stepdad's room had blood in the commode, shit on the floor from when he couldn't make it to the commode, and the sheets hadn't been changed.
Actually, my mom is the one that does the sheet-changing and gives him his baths *every morning* before she goes to work. When she has to leave, the nurses asked her if she could stay. She explained that she had to go to work. When she'd come back in the evening, they'd ask if she'd be staying overnight. She'd reply that she couldn't, because she has a daughter at home, as well. The nurses would say, "well, isn't there someone that she could stay with?"
Yeah ... really ridiculous, isn't it?
And to really pour salt into those wounds ... when my mom asked about other hospitals, the doctor told her that this particular hospital was the best one in St. Louis. That the prior hospital my stepdad was in is actually worse (and with the hell on earth he'd endured there, I'd agree).
As for the nurses, when my mom went to the Head Nurse to complain about the night shift nurses, and their ineptitude - the Head Nurse became defensive of her nurses, saying that basically, they wouldn't do anything like this ... so on and so forth. Never saying, I'm sorry - is there anything that we can do to make this better?
Is my mom documenting (and photographing) all of this? YES.
Do I think that they should get out of St. Louis for the treatment before the hospital system kills my stepdad? HELL YES.
Do I see a lawsuit coming around at some point? Well, yeah. Even though I think malpractice lawyers are slimy bottom-feeding bastards.
Will it be stopped before it starts by the insurance companies - to keep the hospitals from having their reputation tarnished? Well, Duh.
Now, I feel helpless. Being all these miles away from my family, and feeling like I can't support them in any way. Not that my being around physically would do much for them right now. I'm thinking of ways to help them, financially, or in other ways - because I know that they're struggling, since my mom is the only source of income.
Kellie and I are contemplating saving our money and offering to take Taylor for a few weeks this summer, so my parents can have some time to themselves. So my mom can have some time to not worry about having to be in 500 places at once. So she can focus on making sure that my stepdad gets better and healthier - and Taylor can have fun, and be a teenager for a few weeks.
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no subject
Date: 2005-03-28 07:34 pm (UTC)thank goodness your mom has been there and got things in control.
i think the idea of taking Taylor is a really great idea!
my thoughts and prayers are always with you and your family, lady.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-28 07:41 pm (UTC)The hospital that my dad was in after his heart attack...they didn't even send in a doctor for like 2 days.
I'm so sorry your family is having to go through this, and you are getting such horrid treatement on top.
You have all my good thoughts and prayers.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-28 09:53 pm (UTC)When I went for my Ictal Spect @ NY Columbia Pres., I was told I was in the best facility in the area. Yet, I was told that if two of the patients on the EMU had a seizure at tthe same time, only one of us would get the Ictal shot, becuase they were under staffed.
This was an elective procedure. I am paying for this, not my insurance. Not one told me that they were grossly understaffed. And I am actually a case study for the Columbia Institute for Epilepsy.
Yet, when I finally had my seizure, I was naked on the floor of the hospital bathroom, and my mother had to call a nurse in because they were not responding to my call.
I am not in anyone elses shoes, but all I can say is what I have been through, and that I have a file of names. And I'm not forgetting.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-28 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 03:15 am (UTC)