Feb. 16, 2005

I lost my Mom to COPD/Emphysema early in February. I am devastated by her passing. I miss her desperately. And I also want to tell you all something that you may already know but took me entirely by surprise.  If you or a loved one who has to go to the hospital for any reason, know that your idea of  hospital care may be formed by watching doctor shows on TV  and couldn't be further from the truth. Right now, I am sitting in a living room in Cape Coral, Florida and am more likely to be able to acquire the services of a doctor at this moment than most patients in the HOSPITAL. The doctor assigned to you or your loved one will be the one who happens to be on shift at that particular time. If your hospital stay is 2 weeks - there are likely to be 4 or 5 doctors and 5 - 10 nurses during that time who will be 'responsible' for your care. The doctor will know much less about your medical history and the history of whatever put you into the hospital than you will. She/he will flip through your information rather quickly on the way into the room and greet your warmly, ask you for a brief summary of how you're feeling and head on out the door. Not to be seen again for at least 24 hours and, if it's a Friday afternoon - probably 72 hours.  A lot can happen in the twenty two hours in any day when the doctor is no where in the neighborhood. And the weekend - nowhere to be seen....

The nurses will be extremely limited in what they can tell you or your loved ones. The response will most likely be, 'Ask the doctor' and so you'll compile a list or questions.  My family's list sat unanswered for 20 hours while my Mom struggled for her life - the doctor assigned to that floor (CRITICAL CARE!!) was not in and was called, but didn't show up in the hospital till mid-morning - a half an hour after she died and approximately 12 hours after we began to frantically write our questions.. I looked over at that list after my Mom took her last breath. Questions hastily scrawled by family members when we could bear to step away. I couldn't believe it.

During my Mom's course of treatment there - her oxygen (which she was on for four years) was left off, by mistake, three times. Twice, hours after her 1 a.m. 'nebulizer' treatment - My Dad arrived in the morning to find they had forgotten to re-connect her oxygen - she was literally blue - her blood oxygen had fallen to 30 !!!!  Once, when it seemed days since she'd seen a doctor I inquired at the nurse's station and was told that a doctor had been to visit a few days back but the nurse couldn't make out what he had written on her chart. The nurses hadn't looked at her chart in 3 days so they hadn't noticed the doctor had written anything let alone whether they could tell what it was they were to do to care for her.

I could go on and, if you get me in person sometime, I will. I am hoping that you'll take control of your health care - and take control for anyone for whom you are caretaker. The hospitals aren't what we think they are. Doctors there don't take the responsibility we have been led to believe they do. It's simply not their job. It's yours.

D.C.