QUESTIONABLE STUFF 😵‍💫

By bella! [Ignore] 25,Aug,23 12:05 other posts

My 85 year old "uncle" passed away Monday, August 21 after two months of CLUSTERFUCK doctor/medical care. On June 19, 2023, yes, that's the day my mother passed away in 2020, he went to urgent care because he had a pronounced amount of blood in his urine. His problems were beyond anything they could do and suggested that he go immediately to the hospital, which he did via ambulance. He was in the hospital about 10 days and was transferred to a rehab center because he now he had difficulty walking. He was in rehab approximately 17 days and then released to come home. On July 15, he came home and I was there to assist him in simple meal preparation, shuttling him to 2 doctor's appointments as well as overseeing that he continued to build strength. Heck, it's odd that on June 19, he was able to drive himself and walk into an urgent care and in 27-ish days he is unable to do either! Just an f.y.i., while in Ascension St. John Hospital, he was treated for malnutrition and dehydration.

I picked him up from rehab on Saturday, July 15 and he was home until Friday, July 21, when he demanded that I take him to McLaren Macomb Hospital's ER because once again, there was blood in his urine. That hospital determined that his one kidney, that's right, one of his kidneys was removed in 2019 because it was cancerous, was now failing. His nephrologist talked to him regarding dialysis however the son wanted him to come home with hospice care. My uncle wanted to live and chose dialysis. He spent 17 days in the hospital having dialysis every M-W-F and in the evening of Monday, August 7, he was transferred via ambulance to a rehab facility. He had dialysis that Wednesday and Friday, went to dialysis the following Monday but was unable to complete dialysis because his permanent "tunnel port" was clogged. On Tuesday, he was taken to another doctor to unclog his port, on Wednesday morning he went to dialysis but "complained" upon his return about being cold. He was running a 102 degree temperature yet rehab sent in their therapists to get him up and get him moving. Yeah, an 85 year old man that's running a temperature of 102 is really going to want to walk and put some time in on the recumbent bike! By Thursday, he said he wanted to die and on Friday he signed paperwork for DNR. Since insurance and Medicare would no longer pay, it was quickly determined that Monday he would be transported home with hospice care. Hospice care came in to see him on that Friday and said they would order oxygen, a wheelchair, a hoyer lift, a special mattress pad to aid in better circulation of his legs and bedside table as well as all the other incidentals needed for caring for someone at the end of their life.

So no deliveries of above stuff Friday, Saturday, Sunday and here it is Monday and still no stuff/supplies. So the ambulance has him home at approximately 10:30 Monday morning but can't bring him in because he doesn't have his delivery of oxygen so on the driveway he sits until almost noon. Th
A hospice care worker picks up an oxygenator from the nearby rehab center that he was discharged from and he was able to be brought into the house and put into bed.

We are still waiting on the table, wheelchair, mattress pad and hover lift but at least he's in his house no longer in a "holding pattern" on his driveway! A nurse comes and shortly behind her comes all the above "stuff". I held off making up his hospital bed because I was missing the special mattress pad so now it was delivered so now we got to get him out of bed and that's where the hover lift is needed! We got to get the sling under his body which requires that he assist by rolling from one side to the other so we we can stuff it under him. Job done and now we have to lift him. This hoyer lift isn't automatic, no, it's manual and best as I can describe it, it is similar to a car jack. The nurse gets him jacked up from bed, placed in the wheelchair that was too small (he was a 6'1" man and the chair they ordered was not deep enough for him) the mattress pad is on the bed and luckily, the deliver driver has an electric air pump that inflated the pad within a few minutes so now is the time he can be lowered into bed. That's done and the nurse moves on to show me how to give the medication that he was sent home with. I notice that he does not seem to be moving so I go over to his bed, don't detect any movement but believe I feel a faint pulse and let the nurse know. She comes with her stethoscope and determined that he died.

It's rather sad and my opinion that the last 2 months of his life had nothing but incompetence and the last three hours of his life he did not receive the dignity that he deserved!
--------------------------------------- added after 8 hours

My apologies as there are many typos in my above post! Please note auto correct/spellchecker continued to change hoyer lift to hover lift and apparently I didn't notice it.

QUESTIONABLE STUFF 😵‍💫

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