I'm glad my mom has been able to vent a little on the site. This whole situation is getting ridiculous. Yesterday, after mom did some complaining, she was heard and some directer of PR called the ER and asked the charge nurse to talk to her. Mom had called me at work since she was very upset about things, so I came up and was able to join in this conversation.
She was actually quite lovely, and informed us of numerous services that my parents could possibly tap into. Physio, nutrition, mental health etc, as well as standard homecare. The problem was his doctor sent him home, basically they called mom to pick him up, no instructions etc. I made a bad assumption that these things were in place...I won't do that again! Anyway, I was also put as "primary" for discussing the case as I have a medical background, and we were told we could have a "family meeting" prior to discharge that could include all of the physicians, primary nurses, as well as the homecare, physio etc. and get a "plan" sorted out, rather than saying "ok, he's ready to go!!
I bought dad all the supplies he would need at my veterinary ICU, I was going to buy them at a medical supply, but they wanted $2.60 each for the syringes, whereas I got them for $.30 buying them from work. Ridiculous!!
A home care nurse also came into to see us as well, to discuss a "discharge plan" and what we really wanted from a nurse. I said even if dad didn't have any specific "treatments", if someone could just check on him daily and actually do a little physical exam. He can be very quiet about his condition because he doesn't want to worry. None of the talking that most of the couples dealing with this do on the forum, about bodily fluids and bowel movements etc...he keeps that to himself. If you ask if he's ok, it just "yep". I think that is where part of the trouble is lying, as he doesn't want to say anything, hides it, until something really gets bad.
Oh yeah, apparently his white blood cells are back up, he has a urinary tract infection, and probably if the constipation had not brought him to emerg, he would have been readmitted septic...deja vu of two weeks ago (to the day).
Oh boy! this has been a nightmare.
Anyway, I haven't had a chance to read the forum for a few days, and I'm off to work. Good luck to those of you facing surgery soon, and I hope everyone who is recovering is feeling well! andrea