Been here since early... nurse last night made it sound like my mom was dying and told me to be here really early... 7:30 at the latest. geez needless to say I'm running on what's left of my energy which isn't much these days. Got myself some breakfast while she's down getting another chest x-ray. Poor old woman is going to glow in the dark soon.
I have not seen her Dr. yet. She is in a room with 2 others, one male and one female. She is in the stroke section of 14 even though she has had no stroke. Kind of freaked me out when I noticed where she was but I ran into Bev, her old nurse and she told me if they wander or are a safety threat to themselves they put them there now. There is a sitter in her room, a lady. On her break now and I don't care for the fill in really. I went down to get some breakfast and got 3 sausage and a scrambled egg and doesn't she ask me to move up the room more, the food is bothering her! It's making her hungry. Really? So what the hell did you do when you had to feed a patient their breakfast???? So I moved not 2 feet up and I swear she said that was better. Freakin neurotic. I really don't have the patience for these people today.
Oh my god.. these f'in people. Want me to leave my scooter out in the hall. This is a room for 4 people, there are only 3 in it. My mom is in a space big enough for 2 people but it's just her. So there is a lot of empty space here. Don't these two sitters get all uppity telling me to leave my scooter in the hall. I tell them no way, it has all my id in it, food in it, everything I need for the day while I'm here. They have the nerve to tell me to take it all out and bring it in with me. Yea, sure, with no bags yet.. I tell them that there is only one sitter in this room, why do they need 3 chairs in the way? Felt like telling them to shut the fuck up. It's taking everything I have right now to bite my tongue.
Anyway, seems that her super shakes are not coming yet. I got here and there was some kind of orange gel (she hates orange other than the sherbert), a cranberry juice, an apple juice (everything is very acidic) and a tea. She drinks coffee. No one fed her any of it although the calories wouldn't really count.
When I got here I gave her a wee sip of apple juice. She won't even take her meds for anyone and actually tried to bite a nurse last night and they took her damn teeth out for it!!! I found them this morning sitting out on her little dresser, dried out. I hope they're willing to pay for a new pair if they break.
A volunteer came in and asked to pick up the menu's but she doesn't have one. I heard the nurse say she is on a cardiac diet, no salt. No mention of the super shake.
2 pm and I'm still here. It's been a long day. I'm trying to type on a slant because the regular sitter is gone again for lunch and miss neurotic is here and is more concerned about my laptop than anything else in here.
Look, this place wants to get rid of the sitters. They bitch that they spend a million a year on sitters yet it's proven not to prevent falls, etc. Well no shit Einstein. That's because they are so damn busy feeding their faces, reading their books, doing puzzles, reading newspapers and talking on their freakin cell phones what the hell do you expect? You think maybe they would prevent situations if they actually did their job?
These people are useless, they run in and out of the room they are suppose to be in to yak with each other and joke around. It's also wrong how they care for these folks, most of which are elderly. They antagonize them literally and lie to them to get them to do something they don't want to do. It's just wrong.
The regular sitter, I admit, has her hands full with one particular patient here, a man. He wants to get up and go for a walk. Of course they can't allow that but he is also anxious. He really wants out of bed. He's been here 6 weeks now and he has to stay in bed or sit in this chair that has a tray that they can snap on and restrain him. At times he is quite lucid. He told her he didn't want to be restrained in the chair. His words. She forced it anyway. Then she proceeds to tell him if he sits there for a while she will let him out to go play the piano! Really? No.. she's bullshitting him. I think this floor does have a piano on it on the other side. She keeps reinforcing this lie to him. Now he's getting agitated because time has passed and he wants the piano. She told him he could go play it. Has she no experience with people with dementia or delusions? They fixate on things. Although they tend to forget everything you want them to remember they remember things you want them to forget.
The next thing you know she's on her cell phone talking to her contractor/painter about painting around her windows. Then she takes yet another call from a friend who it seems is also a contractor and she's chastising him about not telling her because she would have hired him instead. I'm just sitting here rolling my damn eyes when all of a sudden you hear a loud crack and I turn around and here is this elderly man snapping off the restraining table.
So... why is there no fall prevention when there is a sitter in the room? That one story should tell you something. But.. it's a way for this hospital to cut their budget and of course the cut seriously effects the patients but hey.. it saves them $1 million a year now doesn't it?
2:30 pm and my mom is gasping for breath and is looking even paler if that's at all possible. I get the nurse, ask if she can have oxygen and am told it's not prescribed. I explain she has it at home and is having a problem breathing. She takes her bp and it's down too low, tries the other arm and it's almost ok. As is her heart rate so I don't know what's going on but it's not good. She is getting agitated at times but I told the nurse she is weaker now then when I came in this morning.
Dr's came in, her blood pressure is low and she's getting dehydrated again. One Dr is trying to tell me she is looking better than she did yesterday when she saw her. ya think? I certainly don't. She looks worse than yesterday and much worse today. She seems to be struggling at times. I'm getting afraid to leave her.
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