Juanita's Year

One year ago today, Juanita fell while cleaning the patio window. Her upper femur just gave way. She sat there for 45 minutes, realizing she could not move...but finally dragged herself to the sunny spot so she wouldn't get too cold. When i arrived, i was stunned to see her out there, askew and stunned herself! pursuant to that moment, we spent nearly 6 weeks in the system of healthcare that we applaud when it works and attack when it doesn't. My only defense in this was to take copious notes on every moment i was at the hospital.

what i learned from the experience:
1. The person in the hospital may or may not be really aware of the big picture. Yes, even an adult. There should be a family member with the patient at nearly all times...and that with a notebook and a lawyerly look!

2. Don't expect that the people caring for your patient have a clue or give a care. the LVNs and Such may not be awake, aware or as educated as you'd like to think. And when you get the report of the "standard" drugs that are pre-approved in pre-approved amounts for your loved one (in this case, a woman who doesn't even take aspirin!)...well, you begin to see where things went wrong. In her case, it was a morphine button (and she didn't know what it was for except for pain, no one told her it was powerful and addictive!) and then WAAAAY too much of another drug...BP went to something over 30 and she herself was cognizant that she was probably about to die. Pursuant to this debacle, the bowels refused to work, the heart raced, and lo and behold we were on more meds than a junkie and had surgery to boot!

3. Concerning testing and surgery: be aware that the traditional medical establishment can do only three things: diagnose/test; prescribe drugs; do surgical procedures. That is what they do. There isn't any thing else.
And once you realize this, you have to tak intiative for your own health or for that of your loved one (for instance, they will give you meds for the thrush you're getting from too much antibiotic...but give you lactobacillus in your milk? yogurt? why on earth do that when we can give you more drugs?). I had to buy and bring in the yogurt.

4. DOWNLOAD A DESIGNATED POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR HEALTHCARE (DPOAHC)FORM TODAY. (legalzoom.com should have it.) Sign it and have it witnessed. If Juanita had one of these instead of signing for herself in great cooperation with the medical people who rushed into her room and made it sound like she was going to die imminently if she did not sign for this procedure, she would have had many fewer tests (they brought these forms to her every single time there was NOT A RELATIVE PRESENT)...she had close to 30 x rays alone, not to mention CATscans, MRIs, etc. which could have been avoided in some measure. when a colostomy was proposed, the family finally went into action. Thank you linda! :)

5. Be aware of tired, angry, or otherwise distracted medical personnel. In the case of Juanita's poisoning by amiodarone (remember, we expect old people to die, so it doesn't much matter how)...the woman who took the ultrasound was leaving for lunch and was not happy to be doing this...she was ticked, in a hurry, and she and the doc decided that Juanita had not only congestive heart failure but also a hidden MI (heart attack) and were ready to admit her. When i asked about the amiodarone poisoning (GET A PHYSICIAN'S DESK REFERENCE!)...he said, "no it couldn't be, but i'd take her off it anyway."
So we left. And took her off the amiodarone. And she's getting ready right now to go to lunch with some friends. She could easily have died of amiodarone poisioning and who would be the wiser? (She could have died of several other things too but that's another rant.)

Long and short of it?
Use the internet to research your patient's condition right away. Get a handle on what the medicalese means.
Then get the DPOAHC signed and witnessed and be sure the hospital has a copy and that YOU have the original.
BE THERE or have other concerned people be there nearly all the time. It's too easy to let people who can see profit to be made take advantage. (Juanita had Medicare, the old kind, and she hadn't been to a doc in about 40 years...lots of profit issues there!)
TAKE NOTES and don't take niceness for actual caring. There are people out there who would just as soon poison your loved one and be completely medically under the doctor's orders. Some may mean well, but the latitude in prescribing drugs is astounding.

CONGRATULATIONS MOM! YOU SURVIVED THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM! And you're healthier today than you were when you went in! Praise God!