MyDD :: My Mother the Roadrunner

My Mother the Roadrunner

by linfar, Sun Aug 03, 2008 at 09:54:24 PM EST

I'd like to introduce you to my mother, the roadrunner. Remember that cartoon---beepbeep. Whiz!!

Unfortunately a roadrunner is a problem in the modern hospital and they get tied up-- to a wheel chair, or lashed down in their bed. We have cute little names for these restraints: a bed-vest, a wrap around, and wrist restraints.

My Mom has experienced all of these since Friday when I took her to the emergency room about 6 p.m. for shortness of breath, and a high temperature. She also had been doing her own particular roadrunner routine, non-stop since 6 a.m.

In the emergency room early tests showed the possibility of a tumor in her lung. But that was ruled out. And while they were doing more tests her blood pressure hit 213 over 160. And her cough, did I forget to mention the cough? It was escalating by the minute. As was her temperature which hit 101.4.

However, when no problem could be found other than labored breathing and blood pressure indicating imminent stroke--the temperature wasn't even mentioned--the ER doc, rather than admit her to the hospital, decided to send her home. My Mom's caretaker and I dug in our heels. Nothing doing. So The ER doc sent in a different doc, the Admitting doc, to talk to us.

This fellow had quite a good routine: she will be with very sick people and you risk exposing her to disease; are you wanting to dump her here because there are very good facilities we can recommend. And--we probably don't even have a bed.

When we could not be dissuaded, he found her a bed. By then it was midnight. We had arrived at 6 p.m.

The next morning we found her tied to her bed, no intravenous fluids, and no doctor. The nurses agreed her cough was getting much worse. And they agreed she needed fluids. They also agreed that she needed something to calm her anxiety which had escalated again. But nothing could be done without the doctor.

Who is the doctor??? And where is he??

They didn't know. Finally Edith, my mother's nurse, spent about 45 minutes on the phone, found the doctor who would be attending my mother and put a call in. When he responded to her page he said:

I'll be there when I get there.

He got there at 6 p.m. Saturday night.

This was 18 hours after she had been placed on the ward.

And until that time nothing could be done for my mother. A catheter had been inserted in the ER and one could see that there was barely 2 inches of dark urine for the entire day. This for a woman who if she did not have pneumonia had an escalating case of bronchitis.

In response to our prompting and urging, the Dr. did request all that was needed after he arrived. But his orders could not be executed immediately. An anti-anxiety medication had to be ordered from the pharmacy, the floor was out! And the IV also took time.

And thank heavens Mom's new caretaker is knowledgeable because I would not have known what exactly to ask for.

By this time the nursing staff and I had forged quite a bond. They hated the position they were in. Sure write it up one of them said with a smile. Someone should know what goes on here.

Yeah, someone should. And if you have no one to lobby for you, intercede for you, and take care of you in the modern hospital you are ignored and neglected.

Health care reform is as pressing as any other domestic issue in this campaign.

I liked Hill's plan best. But I will take Barack Obama's plan over McSame's any day.

We need it desperately.

Tags: health care, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Tri-city Hospital, Vista, California (all tags)

Permalink :: 15 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: My Mother the Roadrunner (2.00 / 3)

"We need it desperately."

Amen.

"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." Samuel Johnson

by MS01 Indie on Sun Aug 03, 2008 at 11:24:42 PM EST

This is yet another reason (1.80 / 5)

why healthcare is my top issue. I liked Edwards' plan best, but Hillary's was a close second and I thought she was the better candidate overall. Obama's plan isn't all I'd like it to be, but I'm encouraged that he's working with Elizabeth Edwards. Regardless, it's a pretty solid plan, and I'd vote for Obama over McCain on this issue alone.

My grandmother and I had much better luck with hospitals. She had great specialists and great care, and she was fortunate enough to have wonderful insurance. Without it, we would have had hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. The fact is, a lot of people with my grandmother's problems would have been sh*t out of luck. She was fortunate that she had doctors who were able to make the last months of her life less miserable than they had to be, but I can't imagine what we would have done without adequate coverage.

As always, I'm sorry about your mom. I know you must be stressed to the max.

Even John McCain lusts after teh engels.

by sricki on Sun Aug 03, 2008 at 11:33:37 PM EST

Re: This is yet another reason (2.00 / 3)

The care of demented elders in hospitals poses special problems. Leaving them alone is like abandoning a toddler in the hospital. If they are lucky, they have a competent roommate, who has to combine being a nurse and an aide with recovering from their own illness. Once when the hospital staff forced me to leave, my mom's roommate stayed awake all night to prevent her from falling.

Too often Alzheimer's patients decompensate during a hospital stay and never regain their previous level of functioning.

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?"

by redstocking on Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 12:03:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

My grandmother always got something (1.80 / 5)

called "Hospital Psychosis" when she was in the hospital (14 or 15 times while I was caring for her). It was a form of temporary dementia, and it was especially bad at night, which meant that I had to sleep up there a lot. Sometimes I'd go home and they'd call me at midnight letting me know I had to come up there or they'd have to put her in restraints. Something about the restraints... I've seen them used in mental institutions, and it's always bothered me. I couldn't stand the thought of seeing her strapped up. So I spent many, many nights sleeping (or more often, not sleeping) in hospital chairs. They wouldn't let me stay with her in ICU, though, so that was sometimes a problem.

Even John McCain lusts after teh engels.

by sricki on Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 12:17:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: My Mother the Roadrunner (2.00 / 2)

Tragically none of the discussions and proposals on health care concentrate on improving geriatric care. My late mom had great health insurance--Medicare, Empire through her teacher's union, and long-term health care insurance. But her hospitalizations were exactly like your mom's. She suffered from a worse-than-Parkinson's neurological disease that attacked her balance. At my brother's, she fell down the stairs (which she was forbidden to climb without help) and landed on her face. When we tried to hospitalize us, they kept accusing us of trying to dump off a late stage Alzheimer's patient. The week before, she had been leading the Alzheimer's support group she had led for 15 years.

The US has a criminal shortage of geriatric doctors. If you are over 70, you absolutely have to have a tireless, well-informed advocate with you 24/7. Usually you have to fight to be allowed to stay. Once I was threatened with hospital security because I wouldn't leave until they gave my then delerious mom some meds that would prevent her from getting out of bed and constantly falling. Advocacy is that much harder because they harrass you about using cellphones and usually have no internet access whatsoever.

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?"

by redstocking on Sun Aug 03, 2008 at 11:38:33 PM EST

Re: My Mother the Roadrunner (2.00 / 3)

If you have a laptop computer it's a good idea to signup for a dial-up isp so you can use the phone line in a hospital room if you have no other choice. You can also use your cell phone as a modem, if you are in an area where cell phones are allowed. You can usually use a cell phone in a single patient room without trouble. I spent probably 1,000 hours in a hospital room with my fiancee in 2007. I'd leave the laptop with her so she could do some research during the day. I signed up an account with AOL so she could use the phone line. It was slow, but it was better than nothing.

"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." Samuel Johnson

by MS01 Indie on Sun Aug 03, 2008 at 11:52:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: My Mother the Roadrunner (none / 0)

What excellent ideas MS01. At least three separate times my mom was kept in the emergency room for several days and did not have a phone, however.

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?"

by redstocking on Sun Aug 03, 2008 at 11:59:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: My Mother the Roadrunner (2.00 / 2)

That sounds like a horrible hospital. One that oversells their beds. Are there any others in that area? I suppose that's the one her insurance covers.

One thing I always did was to take my fiancee in by ambulance. That allowed her to bypass the ER waiting room. She was admitted every time, although there was a young doctor who tried to send her home the first time we went up there. He didn't get far with me. One week later she was still there and they had to perform emergency surgery to do an arterial bypass and a bowel resection. If I'd had to take her home, we would have been back up there in a matter of hours.

This is something everyone should be aware of when dealing with hospitals. They don't want to admit anyone unless there is no other choice. It seems counter-intuitive. You'd think they'd want to fill their beds. The thing is, they are usually already full and they know the insurance companies will give them a hard time unless there is a clear-cut reason for the admission. Don't let some intern or first or second-year resident in the ER browbeat you.

"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." Samuel Johnson

by MS01 Indie on Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 12:10:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: My Mother the Roadrunner (none / 0)

You are absolutely right about taking an ambulance. Thanks for giving us such fantastic advice. I have learned the hard way that you have to talk to consumers, not doctors, to find out what your local hospitals are really like.

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?"

by redstocking on Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 02:17:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Great diary! (2.00 / 1)

How any Democrat can support a candidate who does not support a complete overhaul of our healthcare system is beyond me.

Your mother is lucky to have you, Lin!!!!

Another Clintonista against John McCain

by psychodrew on Sun Aug 03, 2008 at 11:53:07 PM EST

Re: My Mother the Roadrunner (2.00 / 1)

One problem that is largely ignored regarding the American health care system is the workload of the doctors themselves. All the insurance in the world won't do you any good if you are undergoing a life or death procedure being performed by a doctor in his/her 110th hour of work that week (or 36th continuous hour). Of course, you'd never see that such a doctor worked more than 80 hours in a given week - the industry-imposed standard - because the overage is not reported (hospitals don't want to lose their accreditation, after all). Were more doctors to come on the market, however, incomes would presumably go down, and so there is a self-preservation aspect to keeping the number of doctors low, even if that means that they must work an insane number of hours (medical school accreditation is also tightly controlled by industry groups - no new schools equals no new doctors).

by rfahey22 on Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 12:48:07 AM EST

Re: My Mother the Roadrunner (2.00 / 2)

I had fairly major surgery about two years ago and even though I had very good health insurance, if my mother and my partner had not been there almost constantly, I would not have received very good health care. Nurses do not want to bother doctors and there are not enough nurses.

I am absolutely shocked that your mother was treated so abysmally. To be left tied to a bed without an IV is malpractice in my opinion.

My sister in law was hospitalized last January with a burst appendics. It took them three er visits and another ten hours to diagnose what was wrong with her and then it took another 12 hours to get her into surgery. She could have died. I am beyond grateful and extremely surprised that she is now fine. And she also has very good health insurance.

In the area in which I reside, I have noticed that the quality of health care has declined precipitously over the past couple of years. The better health care providers have left, and the clinic doctors and NP/PA's we are left with are not very good.

I am becoming very concerned with the state of health care in our nation. I saw that wonderful post a few days ago that said that we spend 217 million dollars an hour on health care and yet we rank 37 in the world in quality of health care. All I can say is WTF is going on?

The Moose is on the loose. "And I scream at the top of my lungs, what's going on?"

by Hollede on Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 01:44:34 AM EST

Re: My Mother the Roadrunner (2.00 / 2)

linfar, thank you for the diary and the cartoon. I don't think people are aware of the truly gruesome state, the US health care system is in. Guess I feel like Wile E Coyote all too often. I want to be the Roadrunner for a while.

The Moose is on the loose. "And I scream at the top of my lungs, what's going on?"

by Hollede on Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 02:21:04 AM EST

These kind of stories.... (2.00 / 1)

...should make us all step up and realize how important this election is.

Despite having universal health care, and a lot of investment in it since Labour took power in 1997, my mother ended up in a poorly staffed badly run hospital in Brighton while she was dying of lung cancer four years ago.

Part of the problem was also the medical profession's inability to cope with the fact she was dying, plain and simple. They kept on moving her wards - general, respiratory, gynae - as different facets of that dying locked in. My sister would go to visit and find her bed empty - assume the worst - and then just discover she had been moved.

Despite all this, my mum treated the whole thing with amazing dignity - after all she was 77 and could remember BEFORE there was an NHS - but to myself and my sisters we felt like they were treating her like a bag lady. The hospital was actually exposed by a BBC undercover report a few months after she died.

My feeling now is that I want to avoid hospital at all costs as I decline. I think I'm going to take up bungee jumping and parachuting when I'm 70.

Sorry to hear of your experiences Lin. It's a tough time, but your political commitment to change things for others is impressive

by duende on Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 07:31:44 AM EST

Health care reform must be front and center (none / 0)

for ALL Democratic candidates this election cycle. I recently did a quick review of the Dems running for Congress and state level offices in my state and I was quite surprised at how conservative (ie, regressive) their campaign platforms were on health care reform.

Not sure, but I wonder if the DLC is duping them with cash to adopt insurance industry friendly reform plans. Most are very bad and few address quality, accessibility or affordability. None proposed solutions that were sustainable for the long term.

Be sure to have a heart to heart with the Dems running for Congress and the statehouse. It appears some bad health care policy is slipping by under the radar.

by Betsy McCall on Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 08:43:41 AM EST

You are not logged in.

In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.

If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.