On Thursday, at 10:30 am, my mom called me and said she
needed to go to the hospital. This has never happened before. This is a tough
woman. She's been battling a horrific lung disease for almost four years and is
doing a remarkable job.
She was also an obstetric nurse for 43 years who told us, "You're
fine and you're going to school!" and unless we were bleeding or vomiting,
we didn't get away with feigning any illnesses because she'd seen it all.
So for her to say she needed to go to the hospital was
incredibly scary for me.
In the interest of protecting her privacy, I will keep the
medical details to a minimum, but what I've learned in a very short amount of
time is the unbelievable difference in the quality of care provided by two
different hospitals.
Thursday
10:30 am – my mom called me stating she needs to go to the
hospital
11:00 am – I picked up my mom and drove her to the emergency
room at hospital #1
12:00 pm – I went to the get the car after inquiring how
much longer we would be waiting and being told "we don't know how long it
will be" – obviously I was livid and I decided I was going to take her to
another hospital – she was in acute abdominal distress and suffering greatly –
I went to get the car to pick her up at the door and they had somehow
miraculously taken her into a room after I made it known we were leaving – I
should have followed my gut and left at that point, but part of me was just so
relieved someone would finally be seeing her
4:00 pm – after a long afternoon of heavy meds that did
NOTHING to ease her pain, a CT scan, an EKG, a chest x-ray, and countless labs,
she was admitted because they couldn't tell us what was wrong
4:30 pm – she was moved to a regular room where we went
through answering the same questions for seemingly the millionth time – such a
frustrating process
7:30 pm – C and my brother G arrived to visit where they
witnessed that all the staff was doing was giving her pains meds that weren’t
working without actually getting to the bottom of anything – we were ultimately
told she will see a gastroenterologist the next day and they might do an
endoscopy
9:00 pm – C and I left to go to my mom's house – C picked
up my mom's dog to take her to our house and I gathered a few things my mom had
requested before I returned to the hospital
Overnight – my brother and I took turns sitting up with her
because her pain was worsening and she could not sleep
Friday
6:00 am – we spoke to the charge nurse and asked when she
would be seeing a specialist – we were told they didn't know – at this point, my
brother and I were very angry and we began discussing the possibility of
signing her out to go to another hospital – the charge nurse made some remarks
about how if we leave against medical advice, insurance might not pay her bills
at the next hospital and you can imagine how we felt about such a passive
aggressive message
7:00 am – the regular doctor came in and we did not hold
back in expressing our displeasure – we were assured that the
gastroenterologist would be called and that in the meantime, my mom needed
another x-ray – she was trying to be a compliant patient, but my brother and I
were not having it – we requested the paperwork to sign her out and one nurse
laughed while another rolled her eyes – since I always attempt to follow the
"if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all" approach, I will not share here what I thought of those two nurses
8:15 am – a tech finally showed up to take her for an x-ray
and my brother and I said no – that was it – we could not believe the treatment
(or frankly, LACK OF treatment) my mom had received – we demanded the AMA
paperwork and after it was signed, were told they were burning a CD of her CT
scan to take with us
8:45 am – after standing at the desk inquiring multiple
times about the CD, we left because my mom was in such excruciating pain
9:45 am – after an hour-long drive, we arrived at hospital
#2 – my mom was immediately taken to a room, immediately assessed, and was seen by
an emergency doctor within 30 minutes of arriving who had already read all of
her files and test results and had some specific ideas about how to proceed
11:30 am – my brother J, sister R, and baby niece arrived to
see mom, but because it was the ER, only two people were allowed to be in my
mom's room, so we had to take turns
12:45 pm – my niece needed to eat, so we decided that my two
brothers would stay with my mom, while my sister, niece, and I went to get
lunch and go to my house so I could shower and rest for a while
2:00 pm – we weren't even at my house yet and my brothers
texted to tell me that my mom was being taken to the OR for emergency surgery –
my brothers were told that if we'd waited another day to bring her in, it would
have been fatal for my mom – I have never been more proud of a decision than
the one G and I made that morning to leave hospital #1 against medical advice
3:30 pm – my brothers saw my mom for a few minutes in the
recovery room, but were told that they were going to keep her sedated and
intubated, and with an open incision until a SECOND surgery on Sunday – keep in
mind it was Friday afternoon at this point - terrifying
5:00 pm – my sister, niece, and I headed back to the
hospital, but since my mom was still in recovery, there was nothing for us to
do but wait, so we ended up meeting my brothers for dinner
7:00 pm – my brother J, sister, and niece left to go back to
my house for the night (C was there with the three dogs), while my brother G
and I went back to the hospital
8:30 pm – we were finally allowed to see my mom in the
trauma intensive care unit – two people are allowed in the room, but after 9:00
pm, only one person can stay overnight
9:00 pm – my brother G headed home and I settled in to the
reclining chair – my mom was hooked up to so many machine and was on a
ventilator – I fell asleep quickly due to sheer exhaustion, but was woken
countless times as nurses were in and out of the room to adjust meds, give her
blood and fluids, and monitor her vitals – there were some concerns about her
blood pressure dropping, and so ultimately they lowered the sedation meds as a
result
Overnight – with the sedation meds wearing off, my mom was
coming around a little bit, so I stood at her bedside and talked to her and
sang to her even though I wasn't sure she knew it was me or could even hear me
 |
| This is just a small sample of the equipment she was hooked up to on Friday night |
Saturday
8:00 am – at this point, she was fairly awake and able to
communicate through squeezing my hand and slightly nodding or shaking her head
– and because she was mostly awake, they took her off the ventilator to have
her breathe on her own even though she was still intubated
9:00 am – unexpectedly, I was told that they would be taking
my mom back to the OR – because she was awake, and overall doing well, they
decided to go ahead and do the second surgery – I immediately told C and my
siblings, and before I knew it, she was being wheeled away, but not before
giving me the "I Love You" sign, which brought me to tears – I sat in
the surgical waiting area and waited for updates
12:00 pm – C, J, R, and my niece arrived to wait with me,
and it wasn't too long before a surgeon came out and told us everything went
well, which was music to our ears, and that we should go get lunch because it
would be a few hours before we could see her
2:30 pm – my brother J and I were finally able to see her in
the TICU, and G joined us shortly thereafter – even though she was very drowsy,
for someone who had two serious surgeries in less than 24 hours, she looked
spectacular
What a physically and
emotionally draining 52 hours.
Since then…my brothers spent the afternoon with her, and
then C and I went to visit her this evening – she was able to speak for herself
(although her throat is very sore from the intubation) and is making jokes and
smiling! What a difference! She'll be in the hospital for several more days,
but will be moved to a regular room when she is stable enough to do so. J is
staying overnight with her so that I can hopefully get some sleep because I am
just about running on fumes. I've been working hard to keep my family members
in the loop and answer everyone's questions and keep track of everything that's
been happening with my mom.
I will never, ever, ever be able to adequately thank the staff at
hospital #2 for their expertise, their care, their professionalism, and their
effectiveness and efficiency. I shudder to think what could have happened if we
had stayed at hospital #1.
And I really do have the best two brothers in the world.
My mom is amazing. That's the only word for it. And I know
she will continue to improve and be back to her usual amazing self in no time!
Happy Tails to you!
