so... gigglemom is still in the hospital. i was hoping that they would send her to a rehab for a little while (not because i am heartless, just because i think that she needs to have exercise and some care and all that ------ okay, yeah... and MAYBE a tiny bit so i can have a brief break and focus on work so i don't lose any clients.)
in 2005, they sent her to a rehab after she was in the hospital for low blood oxygen levels.
but, they took the catheter out (OOOOW!) and have her eating solid food and stuff and she seems a little better. my gut feeling is that they are going to ship her home soon.
so... while she is still out of the house, i will post the BULLHOCKEY that happened in the ER on friday night.... i am probably calling the patient advocate tomorrow...
so Friday night at the ER... let's just say the nurse handed me a jar and told me to get a stool sample from my mother then walked out.
besides the stool incident, the nurse came back and my mom was still on the commode thing... (where i had been trying to get the "sample" with a frigging tongue depressor (from the bowl. not from my mom's person.)
could not get anything really and the nurse came back in and i handed her a jar with barely anything in it and said "that's all i could get" and she looked at me and said "yeah, that's not good enough" and so i said "well, there's an entire sample in the commode. it's all yours"
so my mom needed help "cleaning up" and there were flimsy tissues... the nurse then grabs gauze and some sort of spray and then says to me "spray this on this and then clean her up"
at this point i was floored. i wanted to farking scream at the nurse, but, i didn't want to upset my mom either - who was sitting there embarrassed as hell.
the woman hands me the gauze and the spray and then walks out.
okay. so i clean her up. (i have SUCH a weak stomach, it's not cool. they're lucky i didn't throw up on her)
now - at the risk of sharing too much info - my mom wears adult diapers. the pull up kind - and she's not a small woman.
anyway, after the commode incident, i threw out the one she had on.
asked the nurse if they had any adult diapers - to which she replied all wishy washy "ohhhh, i don't think so"
and i said "this is a hospital. we've been here before. you have them"
so she looked in the cabinet and found one that is one of those kind that has the sticky tabs and is flimsy... and seemed to be for a 120 pound person - of which my mother is not.
she handed me the diaper.
i said "what's this?"
she said "it's the diaper"
i said "can you help please"
she said "oh, i don't know how.... " and trailed off.
fark!
i took the thing, laid it out on the bed, mom's in pain at this point and is very hard to move - but i spread the thing out on the bed, and set her on it - it was SMALL.
the nurse is standing there. standing and staring.
i said "do you have a larger one?"
nurse: "no."
now they were about to take mom to get a chest x-ray and she was really embarrassed because she wasn't covered up down there and had no protection.
i said "i'll be back in a few minutes since they can't find you even a pad." and i went to wal-mart for depends - right down the street.
by the time i got back she had gotten the x-ray and was back in that ER "room" with pads all over the ground, her nightgown (that she wore into the place) wadded up in a ball and the place reeking - mom's incontinent and had coughed thus peeing all over the bed and the floor.
which sucks so much for her because it's mortifying.
this was right before the shift change... the "nurse" says to me. "she urinated all over the floor. you don't need those" (pointing at the depends) and then said rather agitated "we're going to have to put a catheter in.
good.
unfortunately they didn't put it in for 45 minutes.
anyway... that was part of the ER story (not to mention the doctor who initially checked her out --- my mom wasn't really totally coherent during the questions, and she likes me to help her remember stuff. but i don't just jump in and belt out all the ailments... usually i let her talk and if she's struggling to remember something i chime in. anyway. the doctor was evaluating and he then said to me "please step outside while i ask her and closed the curtain." --- of course, mom forgot to tell him about 5 things that were hurting etc and i spent the rest of the night hunting this guy down to let him know stuff. it just pissed me off. a lot.)
that's my rant.
arrrrrrrrrgh.
Whatchoosayin'?? (7 yapped)
you are a great person, i hope my children will take care of me like this when i get sick. best wishes to gm.
Posted by furiousball | February 10, 2008 8:05 PM
I can SO empathize with you. I also went through my mother being in the hospital last Christmas for six weeks, then into a rehab center for two months afterwards. She has similar ailments: COPD, emphysema, on oxygen 24/7, heart problems, and degenerative back problems. Between the nursing staff treating everyone like they are idiots, doctors that don't want to listen, the insurance companies saying "you're not THAT sick," and worst of all, your mom saying "don't worry, I'm fine" when she can't breathe and can barely move, its a wonder I didn't wind up in the rehab center in a room with nicely padded walls! But, hang in there, all of us fans out here are praying for you and your mom.
Posted by jenibee | February 10, 2008 8:48 PM
Yeah - this happens all the friggin time here, too. My mom, like yours, takes coumadin (sp?)and has these "dizzy spells" because she doesn't eat what I give her, (she's trying to loose weight)and falls alot. Anyhow, as her primary care giver, (although, she is ambulatory)I keep a log of all her meds, what happend that resulted in the latest visit to the hospital and all her surgeries, etc. I give this to the doctor or whoever's taking her history. and keep a copy or two to give to whoever else needs one. I also get the name of who I gave it to, and their position, so I'll have the amunition I need when I go to patient advocacy. Names, dates and times are also very important. Sorry to go on and on about this, but I also have a child affected by autism and I have to do the same thing with all my son's teachers, too!
As a small aside, what's that nurse's job, anyway? It's NOT a patient's family member's responsibility to gather samples for labs! Were you supposed to draw her blood, too?
Posted by Carol | February 10, 2008 9:12 PM
UN FUCKING BELIEVABLE....why isnt there some kind of test nurses and dostors have to take to show they are COMPASSIONATE and have some kind of HEART and a GD Bedside manner.....it pisses me off when I go to the doctor and he/she acts like they could be bothered by my concerns or questions and I dont even HAVE any major problems....it must be awful for people who are going thru stuff and then in their worst moments they get treated like an animal or Im sorry....some animals probably get treated BETTER.....sorry, for going off but really....what made that nurse go into such a profession if she didnt like HELPING PEOPLE??????
It must have been hard for you to have seen your mom treated like that and even harder for her to be treated like that in front of you....Im sorry both of you went thru that....and sorry for the flip out....its just ridiculous....and there's no need to treat another human that way.
Posted by Stacy | February 10, 2008 9:28 PM
I would have kicked that nurse's ass...or found her supervisor. You should have not been the one to have to collect the stool sample, let alone go to walmart to buy depends, that nurse was a lazy cow..I would bother with the pt advocate I would call the ceo of the hospital. no one should be treated as you mother and you were..I worked in an ER for four years. inner city Detroit. We did not treat our patients that way..What they did to you is outrageous and a formal complaint should be filed..I know what you mean about the rehab. I went through what your going through and I often wonder if my Mom went to rehab first would she be here with me today...
Posted by catherine banker | February 10, 2008 10:24 PM
GC, Sorry to here about GM. I know exactly what you are going through with those nurses. I went through that with my grandma. I had to do everything for her, those nurses are so lazy!! Be strong GC!!
Michelle
Posted by Michelle | February 11, 2008 10:04 AM
Holy Cow! What incompetence and DISrespect for patients AND their family!! I don't think I could have held it in, and would have been saying something right straight away! I hope you get something resolved when you complain. Sorry it was such an awful experience for you and your mom.
Posted by SusanB | February 11, 2008 7:42 PM