Please Pray

[Terri]

I am so glad to hear he is doing better, Prayers keep coming for the entire MDS forum family

[Sandy L]

Caroline

What a wondeful ending to such a horrific story. It is amazing that the nurses and other personell at the empergency room have no compassion. To them it is just a job that ives them a paycheck. I would call the administration dept of that hospital on Monday and talk to them. I would not let this go.

Again I am glad that all our prayers were answered.

[Caroline]

Sandy,

About the only place where people in this town can go to complain about the hospital is to the newspaper, which they do on a regular basis. Our Editorial Section is always full of horror stories. A lady in the waiting room last night told me that she brought her Dad up to Emergency one night. He was in his final stages of Cancer. He had the flu and needed rehydration. They made that 90 year old man sit in the crowded waiting room for FOUR hours before they would even assess him even though they knew that he had Cancer and was so old. The man finally got care but it was too late. He died the next morning. It does no good to complain but I am sure that in the next few weeks I will read that story in the paper.

Staff all complain that the ‘cutbacks’ are the reason why they are all overworked. Fine…but why so bitchy???? Evidently, the reason why a very large portion of our hospital staff are so miserable is because of the Administrative Powers-That-Be. There has been a huge overhaul over the past 2 years and they cut funding dramatically. Alot of staff members seem bitter. The odd nurse is there for compassion. Some of the floors have got a great crew of nurses. They are absolutely marvelous…just like the nurses of old. Thank Goodness !!! It is such a political football game. Our hospital applied to the government for a large sum of money for upgrades and they were denied. The money was given to a different hospital. Now it seems like the patients get punished.

Having government funded Medicare can be a blessing. It can also be a curse. It depends on your situation. I think that US patients may get treated with a bit more respect by medical staff because the patients are the ‘consumers’. Here, in my experience, they look at us like they are doing us a favour by allowing us to be treated by them. If I am wrong, please correct me.

Monday morning I will call the doctor who sent us to the hospital. I will ask him if he would like ME to FAX him a copy of Dad’s report which will probably blow him away since it is protocol for the HOSPITAL to send reports to the referring doctor. Then I will detail my own ‘report’ about how the night went and FAX it along with the test results. When he sees the shoddy way that things were handled after HE sent one of his patients over there, I think that he may say something. Actually, he already knows that things didn’t go well because I had to get his own Emergency Dept. to hunt him down by telephone at 10pm and have him phone our hospital a second time just to get the doctor to acknowledge Dad. And then they sent him home !!!!!….YIKES.

Thank you for all of the concern everyone….

Caroline

[patti]

Caroline,

You are absolutely right about government run health care. Liberals in America swear it’s the only way to go. I say if they want everyone to have health insurance, move to Cananda, they already have it. Let those of us who know better live in peace here! Sorry, can’t help but get political with that issue because it’s such an American hot button issue. You are 100% right when you say it’s the consumer that benefits when it’s the consumer paying for it.

Glad all worked out with your dad (except sorry for the hideous ER visit). God is good.

patti

[Caroline]

Thanks Patti.

We’ve been rejoicing all day. Dad has been eating like a horse since thismorning. Mom said that he ate more today than he did all of last week. She can’t seem to fill him up. I finally convinced him on the way home from the hospital last night that if he breaks each of his 3 daily meals in half and eats 6 times a day, it may increase his appetite instead of him always feeling so weighed down in the tummy. He tried it today and it worked. Maybe just one day but it was a GOOD day. He got out of bed a few times. Maybe tomorrow I can take him for a walk outside if it is warm.

Yes Patti, God IS good.

Caroline

[Bec]

WOW Caroline

My prayers will continue… You sound like you have the same type hospitals we have here in Savannah. Our only LIFE SAVIORS that we have now are “little birds” that we have planted all over the hospital. We have problems we call on them and of course pray alot.

I hope your asthma cleared up too..

Take care of yourself and DAd.

Bec

P.S. I always say the squeaky wheel gets the grease.. Way to SQUEAK Caroline!!!

[karenkay]

caroline,
I am so happy for the good outcome, but it is entirely too bad about the medical staff. How many times people have the opportunity to do something small that can make a huge difference and they choose not to. Compassion is so important, at least it makes the difference for me. I am sorry your dad wasn’t shown it right away.
However, I rejoice with you that he is doing so well and eating. I will continue to pray for all of us.
karenk

[Ensnee]

Caroline,Caroline!!

I just read your story! First, I’m so happy that your dad is doing better. I’m appalled to hear how blase and if you ask me, criminally negligent, these people were. It’s DISGUSTING.
I can tell you that when my dad was taken to emergency, and it turns out, was DYING, and I was called to the hospital by my family, when I walked into emerg and asked where my father was,
they couldn’t FIND HIM. Then some person was told to take me to him, and went loping off, barely waiting for me, and when he found him lying on a gurney in a hallway, waved his hand at my dad as if he was fine and called out to me,
“Oh! There he is!” My dad looked dead already. I was horrified and immediately broke down. Some nurse came along and took him back to his emerg spot, behind a curtain. I stood outside of the curtain sobbing, (which is not like me,) and NOBODY paid any attention, until the doctor who was looking after him came along. HE asked me if that was my dad, HE went and found my brother in the lobby with my family, and brought him back to me. That doctor was a saint, in my book; it is horrifying to me that so many other people in a “caring profession” can be so callous.

Caroline, you must by one of the strongest people I know, to have gone through that experience, and kept your wits enough to deal with those idiots, and advocate for your dad in such a stressful situation. You must be absolutely drained. Many, many more prayers for you and your dad, and the rest of your family.

hugs,
Esme

[Caroline]

Again..many thanks Guys.

Bec…The Asthma is better but the cough will stick around for a few more days. Thanks for the well wishes.What are the “little birds?”

Karenk…You think like I do. A little compassion can go a long, long way.

Esme… I am so terribly sorry that you and your Dad were treated that way. It makes my skin crawl when I read stories like that. At what point did human nature stop caring for the weak and dying????? Know that there are others who would have treated your family and your Dad much nicer than what you received. We are not all morons.

I am only strong as long as I can keep things clinical in my mind. There was no way those idiots were going to see me cry last night. I gritted my teeth a few times but I never let them see how upset I was…It is an Austrian thing. We are a bunch of hard heads. hehehe I will advocate for anyone I love and I become such a pest that I think people just give in to get me to shut my mouth. I used to be so shy that I was afraid of my own shadow. The past 5 years, I have become a different person since I have been the prime caregiver for both of my parents, my husband and 2 of my children all of which nearly died IN HOSPITAL. I have realized that we have to help ourselves and each other because not too many give a darn what happens to us as long as they are being paid money to care for us. Occasionally I have come upon a doctor or nurse, such as the one at Guelph’s Emergency Dept last night who took pity on this Asthma stricken, coming-apart-at-the-seams woman who was standing in the middle of another hospital Emergency Department who’s terminally ill father was being thrown out because he ‘isn’t really sick’. When I picture it now it seems rather funny. Me standing there saying to a team of 4 nurses…”Hey, take this number down…I need some more paper…Pass me that pen would ya? Why isn’t there a dial tone?” A doctor came by and said to me, “Excuse me Ma’am, this telephone isn’t for public use, it is for the nurses.” I squinted my eyes and nearly hissed at him and one of the nurses said, “Ummm..Dr. So-and-so, Don’t Go There!! She is really ticked off.” He looked at me kind of funny, shrugged and walked off. My poor Mom was horrified watching me. All I heard was, “Caroline you’ll get us kicked out of here.” Well, we managed to stay and we got Opa treated. That was all that mattered.

Good Night All,
Caroline

[sugarwhale]

Dear Caroline,
I am so glad that your poor dad finally got help and is now much better. I’m just very sorry you had such a rough time with the hospital staff. Since I was a little girl, I have loved Canada and have tried to learn all I possibly can about it. There are many things in Canada that I really envy. But I felt very sad about your hospital experience. It shouldn’t have happened. We have sub-standard treatment here too, no kidding. The last time I was in a hospital, they insisted on calling emergency reviving equipment, because a nurse had declared me dead. I wasn’t. I was…dreaming! They are too stupid to live.
I’m so sorry you were treated so shabbily, especially by…Canadians. But I’m so happy your dad is OK now!
~~~ Janet

[DonUK]

Caroline, sounds like an awful time, but the right result in the end no matter how unprofessional, uncaring and unfeeling your loacal ER was.

Take care & best wishes to your dad,
Don

[Luke and Margaret]

A friend of mine suggested that I imagine all of the prayers being made for us floating up into the sky, and then all of the energy coming to us in the form of what we needed.

When I did it, I got goosebumps.

Prayer is keeping our loved ones going despite all of the nonsense our medical system gives out. That, and us standing bodyguard over our dads, husbands, loved ones.

You were awesome, Caroline. Simply awesome!
Margaret

[Ensnee]

I just wanted to add that the care Hans has and is receiving at PMH has been great. No question is too stupid, and nobody minds when you call. They keep written records of what happens at appts, what was disucussed and what was said. I would say the main complaint we have is the WAITING, for everything from appts (often 2-3 hours past the appt time) to blood to being admitted (waiting for a bed.)The doctors are kind, honest, and don’t talk down to us. They explain things well. They are enthusiastic. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend PMH to anyone.

Esme

[Luke and Margaret]

I agree, Esme, Princess Margaret is a world apart. If you can get there for treatment, the difference is amazing. Even having the docs there as consultants to your local oncologists helps a lot.

Luke had an “interesting” experience in our doc’s office on Friday afternoon. The scretary said “you are lucky your wife is so intelligent and persistent”. Translation – “Your wife is a pain in the ass, and particularly annoys us when she turns out to be right.”

Some day I’ll tell them I have a whole TEAM of folks here that I rely on to keep things moving along. These boards are a real life line.
Margie

[Ensnee]

Margaret — HA! That’s funny! Keep on being intelligent AND persistent!

love,
Esme

[Author]

Posts