International normalized ratio. A number that is used as a report of the ability of blood clotting in someone's system that is on Warfarin. 2 - 3 is good. That's what is aimed for. Under two means you can throw a clot possibly, 4 or 5 means you can bleed. Your blood is too thin basically.
Many people are sensitive to this drug. My mom is one of them. Ever since she's been on this Warfarin (yeah, rat poison) I am forever getting calls from the Dr. to change her dose. She uses between 1/2 mg to 1.5 mg but never more to maintain a Prothrombin time (pro time) of 2 - 3. I'm used to adjusting her medication, been doing it a long time now however for some strange reason she is up to 4 or 5 mg of this drug for a few days now and is only got a PT of under 2. What the hell is going on?
So today, the nurse comes in with her Coumadin again (Warfarin) and I ask her what my mom's INR is. She is unsure since it wasn't taken yet and I question the amount my mom is getting. I know what her INR's were a couple of days ago so ask her to check with the Dr. She does and the Dr says to take it any way. Now, I'm concerned that even though her INR's are low that inevitably they are going to spike with all this Warfarin in her. So we give it to her.
The nurse decides I should talk to the Dr and he comes in and I question him because now it's discovered her INR is over 4 !! 4.16 and I've just given her 5 mg of warfarin again! I'm not happy. He says it will be ok. I guess we'll see but if they don't hold her Warfarin tomorrow I'm really going to start asking questions.
What if she falls again? She can get a bleed with that high an INR. I want her off that damn drug, I hate it and so does she. We are both sorry we agreed to give it a try for her. Her Plavix was doing a great job and now she doesn't have it and she has this crap. Nothing but a pain in the ass.
Monday, November 15, 2010
On Friday November 12th, 2010
My mom fell out of her hospital bed around 3 am'ish and wasn't found until pretty much shift change at 7:30 am. I need to speak to her nurse. She was in excruciating pain. Both her back and her hip. She said she was screaming and crying for most of the time. Mind you she's in isolation so there is a double door and a long space between them and her voice isn't all that strong so I'm sure no one heard her. But why didn't someone peek in on her in all that time? She fell on the other side of the bed from where her call bell was.
What's really pissing me off though other than the fact she fell out of bed are the following matters:
1) Not a freakin person in that hospital picked up the phone to call me and tell me! I am her Power of Attorney. They are all told to call me of ANY changes. One would consider falling out of bed and not being found for an extended period a "change" worth calling about. I found out when I didn't hear from her in the morning and at 10 am called her! It was my birthday and she never forgets my birthday. Imagine my surprise when this weak little thing answered the phone in a lot of pain crying telling me what happened. She was in sad shape to say the least.
2) My brother decided to call the hospital to find out why no one called to tell me too. He decided to go to the Patient Advocacy. A useless waste of space as far as I'm concerned. And I told him so. But he talked to them anyway and the only thing they seemed concerned about was asking him 4 times if anyone called me. Nothing like watching your back (the hospitals) instead of the patients.
3) My brother called back. This time he was told a "Kim" would be contacting me. He told her that I was in the room then. This was 4 pm Friday. I guess Kim is on a long weekend because it's 10:30 pm Monday now and I've yet to see Kim and neither has my mom.
4) No one, not a freakin single person that is administration staff has approached my mom to ask her a bloody question. Not even if she is ok. "Urban Angel my ass".
5) They knew the bed she had was defective. While she was out getting checked out to see if she broke or fractured anything in the fall guess who took out her camera? You got it. Took 43 pictures. Of every freakin sticker on that bed, twice over. Every inspection sticker, serial numbers, every everything including the broken bed rail. And the distance from her bed to the doors.
I'm talking to my lawyer.
What's really pissing me off though other than the fact she fell out of bed are the following matters:
1) Not a freakin person in that hospital picked up the phone to call me and tell me! I am her Power of Attorney. They are all told to call me of ANY changes. One would consider falling out of bed and not being found for an extended period a "change" worth calling about. I found out when I didn't hear from her in the morning and at 10 am called her! It was my birthday and she never forgets my birthday. Imagine my surprise when this weak little thing answered the phone in a lot of pain crying telling me what happened. She was in sad shape to say the least.
2) My brother decided to call the hospital to find out why no one called to tell me too. He decided to go to the Patient Advocacy. A useless waste of space as far as I'm concerned. And I told him so. But he talked to them anyway and the only thing they seemed concerned about was asking him 4 times if anyone called me. Nothing like watching your back (the hospitals) instead of the patients.
3) My brother called back. This time he was told a "Kim" would be contacting me. He told her that I was in the room then. This was 4 pm Friday. I guess Kim is on a long weekend because it's 10:30 pm Monday now and I've yet to see Kim and neither has my mom.
4) No one, not a freakin single person that is administration staff has approached my mom to ask her a bloody question. Not even if she is ok. "Urban Angel my ass".
5) They knew the bed she had was defective. While she was out getting checked out to see if she broke or fractured anything in the fall guess who took out her camera? You got it. Took 43 pictures. Of every freakin sticker on that bed, twice over. Every inspection sticker, serial numbers, every everything including the broken bed rail. And the distance from her bed to the doors.
I'm talking to my lawyer.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
This happened Thursday Nov. 11th 2010
I'm trying to get out of here that morning to go see my sister in East General first then down to St. Mike's to see my mom and I'm hunting dead mice (a whole other story and other blog), answering the phone to St. Michael's bill collectors who are hunting down my mom for her $45.00 ambulance bill !!!! I gave them her hospital # lol then threatened them if they call her. They threaten her, with collection agencies and court for not paying her lousy $45.00 ambulance bill. Excuse me, she's still in hospital!! I've said it once and I'll say it again, St. Mike's, "Urban Angel" my ass. Imagine, threatening an 85 year old woman over a $45.00 ambulance bill. Morons.
Here is the story... happened April 3, 2010 @ St. Michael's Hospital Toronto
On April 3rd/4th a Toronto hospital (St. Michael's Hospital @ 30 Bond St.) put my mom at serious risk by putting a male patient in her room with her that is in detox. I wanted him out but I was told no and that he was no threat, he wouldn't even get out of bed. I almost lost my mom on the Wed. that week and then again this day. Critical care had to literally sit in her room for an hour and a half monitoring her, etc.
So they move this guy in the room against my wishes. A half hour after I'm assured that not only will this guy not get out of his bed, that even if for some strange reason he managed, he would pull off all his leads (he's monitored, cardiac, etc. like my mom) and they would see it on the monitor and come running. I told him I still didn't like it. I'm told he's in detox as if that's some kind of comfort.
No sooner was I given this reassurance when I was sitting watching my mom and talking to her doesn't he get up out of bed! He rips off all his leads, he walks over to almost the foot of my mom's bed, he the pulls out a packaged syringe from the dead syringe box (have no idea why there was a good syringe there) and he then pulls off the wall the large container of anti-bacterial hand gel and stands there with one in one hand and the other in the other hand staring at us. Looks like he may club us or stab us for all we know. He finally starts back for bed!! No one comes.. I tell my mom to hit the button, someone comes on and asks what I need, I tell her the guy is out of his bed and she says "ok"......... and no one comes!
The guy is delirious, he was seeing bugs, hallucinating and was holding complete conversations with himself. What if he took that syringe and stabbed my mom?? Anything could happen. I demanded they remove him from her room. Long and short of it, they didn't. I had to argue with them about what they were going to do to protect her. I had to remind them that her safety is first and foremost. I told them again to remove him but they wouldn't. I told them to put him back downstairs in Major Trauma where there are monitors and monitor him there. They wouldn't do that. I then suggested they move him to another floor. They wouldn't do that. I suggested they call security and have them sit in the room with them and again, that wouldn't work either. I was told security wouldn't do that! I reminded them that there are facilities across this city for those in detox and he should be sent there or even to another hospital via ambulance which is done a lot in Toronto. Still they wouldn't.
The charge nurse tells me she'll figure something out and in a half hour I go looking for her.
The plan was to have a "sitter" sit in the room with them all night long. I had to wait for 90 minutes though, around 11 pm by then. I guess they needed to replace her. It was a small young woman. He could have overpowered her in a heartbeat. Regardless of the sitter my mom was too scared to go to sleep. My mom jumped and yelled that he was out of bed again when she saw a pair of shoes. The shoes belonged to the person sitting in her room to watch. My mother almost died that day, I was told to call my siblings and this is how she is suppose to get her rest now they have her stats somewhat under control? This is how she's suppose to keep her blood pressure stable? And her heart? She called me around 2 am that morning, wide awake. She thinks she managed to get 3 hrs sleep that night if she was lucky. My mom has arrhythmia, dangerous arrhythmia. They can't get it under control and her blood pressure is out of wack too. Her safety is at risk as is her life as far as I'm concerned if she's kept up all night from fear.
This isn't the entire story. I left out the part where the nurse confronted him. He was going to drink that damn stuff because it's made with alcohol. I also left out the part why he was in her room, which is bull, as far as I'm concerned. I left out many parts of this story, like when a lawyer friend of mine had to show up the next day to get him removed from the room. And the part where the next evening a Hospital Director showed up apologizing profusely and remarking that he wasn't contacted and no one followed hospital policy/procedure in this matter, etc.
This should ever happen in any hospital. No woman or senior citizen should ever be put in this kind of harms way. He could have stabbed her, raped her, clubbed her to death with that big bottle of anti-bacterial gel. There is no telling what a large man in detox having hallucinations could do. He was far too unpredictable and unstable and my mother was defenceless. Especially since no nurses came. Who the heck was watching my mother's monitor if no one was watching his??? And no one will ever convince me that if my mom was a young woman that this man would have been put in that room with her. She had 2 Dr’s that continually told me “she’s old you know”.
Not 2 months after they tried to put her from a “step-up” unit into another room with a man again! Needless to say, she got very upset and I said flat out No.
So they move this guy in the room against my wishes. A half hour after I'm assured that not only will this guy not get out of his bed, that even if for some strange reason he managed, he would pull off all his leads (he's monitored, cardiac, etc. like my mom) and they would see it on the monitor and come running. I told him I still didn't like it. I'm told he's in detox as if that's some kind of comfort.
No sooner was I given this reassurance when I was sitting watching my mom and talking to her doesn't he get up out of bed! He rips off all his leads, he walks over to almost the foot of my mom's bed, he the pulls out a packaged syringe from the dead syringe box (have no idea why there was a good syringe there) and he then pulls off the wall the large container of anti-bacterial hand gel and stands there with one in one hand and the other in the other hand staring at us. Looks like he may club us or stab us for all we know. He finally starts back for bed!! No one comes.. I tell my mom to hit the button, someone comes on and asks what I need, I tell her the guy is out of his bed and she says "ok"......... and no one comes!
The guy is delirious, he was seeing bugs, hallucinating and was holding complete conversations with himself. What if he took that syringe and stabbed my mom?? Anything could happen. I demanded they remove him from her room. Long and short of it, they didn't. I had to argue with them about what they were going to do to protect her. I had to remind them that her safety is first and foremost. I told them again to remove him but they wouldn't. I told them to put him back downstairs in Major Trauma where there are monitors and monitor him there. They wouldn't do that. I then suggested they move him to another floor. They wouldn't do that. I suggested they call security and have them sit in the room with them and again, that wouldn't work either. I was told security wouldn't do that! I reminded them that there are facilities across this city for those in detox and he should be sent there or even to another hospital via ambulance which is done a lot in Toronto. Still they wouldn't.
The charge nurse tells me she'll figure something out and in a half hour I go looking for her.
The plan was to have a "sitter" sit in the room with them all night long. I had to wait for 90 minutes though, around 11 pm by then. I guess they needed to replace her. It was a small young woman. He could have overpowered her in a heartbeat. Regardless of the sitter my mom was too scared to go to sleep. My mom jumped and yelled that he was out of bed again when she saw a pair of shoes. The shoes belonged to the person sitting in her room to watch. My mother almost died that day, I was told to call my siblings and this is how she is suppose to get her rest now they have her stats somewhat under control? This is how she's suppose to keep her blood pressure stable? And her heart? She called me around 2 am that morning, wide awake. She thinks she managed to get 3 hrs sleep that night if she was lucky. My mom has arrhythmia, dangerous arrhythmia. They can't get it under control and her blood pressure is out of wack too. Her safety is at risk as is her life as far as I'm concerned if she's kept up all night from fear.
This isn't the entire story. I left out the part where the nurse confronted him. He was going to drink that damn stuff because it's made with alcohol. I also left out the part why he was in her room, which is bull, as far as I'm concerned. I left out many parts of this story, like when a lawyer friend of mine had to show up the next day to get him removed from the room. And the part where the next evening a Hospital Director showed up apologizing profusely and remarking that he wasn't contacted and no one followed hospital policy/procedure in this matter, etc.
This should ever happen in any hospital. No woman or senior citizen should ever be put in this kind of harms way. He could have stabbed her, raped her, clubbed her to death with that big bottle of anti-bacterial gel. There is no telling what a large man in detox having hallucinations could do. He was far too unpredictable and unstable and my mother was defenceless. Especially since no nurses came. Who the heck was watching my mother's monitor if no one was watching his??? And no one will ever convince me that if my mom was a young woman that this man would have been put in that room with her. She had 2 Dr’s that continually told me “she’s old you know”.
Not 2 months after they tried to put her from a “step-up” unit into another room with a man again! Needless to say, she got very upset and I said flat out No.
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