Karen, I do not think any of us have her sister's phone #
Daily Kitten Chat Forum » General Chat
IAM HOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
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Posted 6 months ago by Tigerlilly #
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Y'all, it is so complicated these days with the privacy acts. Had MC left any one of our names as having permission to receive information, or to act on her behalf, we wouldn't be hamstrung the way that we are. I have been trying to think who could be contacted but have yet to come up with a reasonable plan short of MC calling herself to request home care.
Think how this would appear to the discharge planner or the social worker at the hospital where MC had her surgery. I, or one of the others, calls and reports that Amy is home alone and we feel that it is an unsafe situation. The person there would of course ask for the physician's name. We don't know that. They would ask about next of kin, and we don't know their names or if MC even listed them. Essentially, we have none of the information, or the permission, that they would require to interact with us.
If we could somehow reach MC's co-workers, I think that since they are actually there, they would be much more effective in getting help. They could call from MC's and she would be there to give permission. Home health care cannot begin without the patient's permission.
The unit where MC was a patient will no longer have her chart on the unit and it would have been closed and sent to Medical Records at the time of her discharge. So the nurses there wouldn't be in a position to do anything. And unless that hospital owns its own home health care agency, and some of them do, there would be no avenue for anyone from the hospital to physically go and check on MC.
If DM is able to go we could at least get some of these questions answered and get some phone numbers.
Posted 6 months ago by WillowandWindismom #
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This may be a wild and crazy thought WWM, but is it possible that she does not want home health care? I've been thinking about how this dischrage without help does not make a lot of sense, but maybe we should ask MC if she wants help. Again, maybe I'm just having crazy thoughts Lol
Posted 6 months ago by Tigerlilly #
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...of course, we could only ask her if we could reach her somehow!!!
Posted 6 months ago by Tigerlilly #
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{{{{{Karen}}}}}}} As Terri Garr's character said in Young Frankenstein, "The feeling is mootuchal"!
TL, that thought has crossed my mind because I did speak to MC about home care before her surgery. What I sort of suspect is that she didn't realize that the post-op period would be this difficult. Which means that she didn't have any patient instruction from the nurses or from her doctor as to what to expect. Yes, if we could only talk to her! There's so much going on with DM, but it sure would help us to have some "boots on the ground", even if just for a short visit. We are really lacking most of the critical information that we need to even try to help.
I guess we could keep callig the sheriff's office :-)
Posted 6 months ago by WillowandWindismom #
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TL - that thought crossed my mind. We are all saying she should not have been sent home knowing she'd be alone. Perhaps she did not indicate she would be alone and without help. MC sounds like a strong, independent woman; and I'm guessing this turned out to be a bigger surgery than she anticipated.
I'm in the same boat as all of you... wishing I was closer and able to assist.
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It sounds like MC does have some help through her co-workers checking on her. She posted three hours ago on this thread: http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/topic/17226
I wish she could stay online long enough to respond to some of our concerns.Posted 6 months ago by Kitten Whisperer #
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2P and WWM, the reason I have been unwilling to say negative things about the hospital staff etc, is precisely because I am that kind of person, the one who would not want help that is. I had major back surgery when I was 24 weeks pregnant adn was in a very bad shape, my husband was at work 15hrs/day and I preferred to be home with my 2 kitties and just be. Now having said all that, I DO STRONGLY feel that MC needs a phone, so I pray that anyone who reaches out to her today (did she mention a co worker going today for lunch)will take care of this one issue.
Posted 6 months ago by Tigerlilly #
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Actually, TL, I fault her doctor and his staff more. I used to run a general surgical practice and was the RN for my surgeons as well as the office manager. It was really my job to do patient teaching on the surgery and recovery period, rather than the nurses in the hospital. The truth is that they often don't have time. But it is odd about the discharge planning. I am wondering if MC did lead them to think that she would have someone at home to assist her.
It is so unsafe for MC to be there alone and without a phone. Of course, if she doesn't tell her co-worker who comes over about the phone, he won't be aware that she needs help. I am praying that he will see that she isn't quite with it, and will realize that she needs help.
Posted 6 months ago by WillowandWindismom #
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I guess I just don't know what they did or did not do really. My experience with discharging patients from an ICU or step down unit setting is so very different from what this, at least from afar, sounds like. God willing her co worker will be of some help.
WWM Did anyone ever tell you, you have a heart of gold?Posted 6 months ago by Tigerlilly #
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*blush* Thank you, TL. I sort of thought the same thing about you....
Before her surgery, I had told MC that perhaps I could come and stay with her to help her, if she would like. She said then that no, she would be fine. Sometimes it's just awfully hard to ask for help. And I think that those of us who have been in health care are the worst of all!
BTW, have you got any ortho experience? I have done something to my right thumb and it hurts like crazy - especially when I lift weights. (Which brings to mind that old joke where the doctor says "Does this hurt?"; patient says yes and doctor says "Then don't do it") Now the joint is swollen and the pain radiates down to my wrist. I have begrudgingly made an appointment with an orthopedic guy for Friday. He's a friend and I trust him. Surely I'm not old enough to have the beginnings of arthritis?????? *checks birth certificate*
Posted 6 months ago by WillowandWindismom #
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Not only are we Worrier twins separated at birth, but now we are both going to the orthopod on Friday???!!
I am so not good with orth things. Just this morning I reluctantly scheduled a follow up appointment ( now probably about 3 mos late!!) for my neck injury, now I have a new knee issue, of course this happened about 2 weeks ago !! I wish I could say I was rock climbing or something sexy like that...no, just sitting in bed, bent my knee to get up and felt a click...knee has not been right since.
I'll give you a full report on Friday if you keep your appointment.Posted 6 months ago by Tigerlilly #
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Advancing birthdays just plain suck.....
Posted 6 months ago by WillowandWindismom #
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TL - your knee sounds like meniscus tear. How do I know? Had a medial menisectomy about 6 years ago. I asked how mine happened, since there was not one specific incident such as yours. I was told - all my past atheletic adventures (hiking, backpacking, hockey, etc) and age. Gee thanks! He also told me he had done surgery on a man who tore his getting up from the toilet. Go figure.
I want to turn back the aging clock too. Where do I go???
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Oh 2P, I hope not, I really don't want surgery...you know Moms aren't allowed down time. Age...oh yeah, I have a big birthday this summer and it's really beginning to bother me.
Posted 6 months ago by Tigerlilly #
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I will say there was very minimal down time with this surgery. The day of the surgery was really all I was down. I was told to stay on the first floor of my house... yeah, that lasted about 1 day. The knee was stiff and sore (mostly because the surgeon had to really crank on it, as he said, because I'm not a very larger person). If this is the case, and you do have surgery, go for the physical therapy afterwards.... it helps. This is one of those laparoscopic surgeries. :) Do keep us posted, 'k?
My birthdays have never bothered me... even 50 came and went without a problem. The only one that was hard was this year.... because it was my first one without my Mom.. and she is the only one who ever fussed over me on my birthdays. I missed that.
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Emma, we pretty much exhausted every one of our leads yesterday. We ran into disconnected phone lines, etc. Too late we all realized that we should have collected vital information from MC, like the name of her doctor, her place of employment, the phone numbers of a few co-workers, her sister's name and phone number......... We've learned what to ask beforehand if this comes up with anybody else. It was both frightening and frustrating yesterday trying to figure out what we could do. Guess we all picked a bad day to give up drinking :-)
Posted 6 months ago by WillowandWindismom #
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It's true - I've never encountered so many disconnected phone lines! I guess that lots of people just don't have landlines anymore with cell phone coverage being so good. But if you drop the cell phone as MC did...... well, it's just very frightening to me to think that she is not only alone, but might not have the means to call out should she need to do that.
Posted 6 months ago by WillowandWindismom #
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