Good Lord...what did we do before computers?. The medical profession has surely started shaking in their boots at the thought that we...normal, average folks have the world at our fingertips. I mean...even three years ago Wes's sister, brother in-law and I googled the shit out of anything to do with cancer...or any medical terms that they would non-chalantly throw out there and it helped us understand what was going on...what the next procedure was about...and on and on.
Last night I received a call about 1:00 a.m. from the nursing home that they were taking my Dad to the ER. He had been feeling woozy and nauseated for the last couple of days but multiple attempts to ease the symptoms were always delayed because of having to check his chart...or contact the doctor. Last night his oxygen level dropped in the 70's and he was having electrical charge-like spasms going through his body.
My ballsy sister, Dawn, and my niece Jessica (who live in Birmingham) rushed over to the hospital. Dawn went barrelling in there and said she thought that he was probably over medicated...that she didnt know if he was just a pain in the ass to them or not...but that they she always thought they gave him too much pain medicine. Long story short...whoever the nurse was that changed out his 125 mg worth of fentanyl pain patches had either did it twice...or failed to remove the older patches. So there we have it...an 82 year old man...with 250 mg worth of pain patches attached to his body...and that doesnt count the Loritabs or the Sleeping medicing that he gets everyday. They said they were going to call the doctor to see about taking some of the pain patches off. Well...Dawn said .."call the doctor hell...I'll go in their and rip them off of him." I am sure they realized she wasnt kidding...my sister doesnt kid around much...they removed them and he almost immediately started feeling better.
He is back at the rehab/nursing home today.My sis had me on speakerphone while she was recording the conversation with the "staff" there...and rightly so...giving them hell. She made it very clear that she did not want the tip of that nurses shoes to make one step into my fathers room.
So whether or not you are comupter literate or not...have the kahunas to step up and ask questions...and better yet...to demand answers when it comes to medical care for you or your loved ones.
You go Hurricane Dawn!!!! Love ya.
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