Hello All;
Thanks for the confidence in me - and the compliments as well.
Yesterday did not turn out like I had planned. I came home on Wednesday night, got both bags packed - and some extra things I thought I might need. Had to drop more dog food off for Hannah in the early AM - then I went to the hospital - I was there around 7:30 AM - thinking we had everything in order from the night before.
Lo and behold - they tried to change hospitals again - and again - I had to insist on where he was going. By 10 AM - Earl was getting antsy - and they kept telling me that AGH didn't have a room. I found that hard to believe due tp the size of the facility - but okay - we will wait - for a while. His lunch tray came, and we still didn't have an answer. It's now 1:00 PM.
I finally called the hospital patient advocate - and she came up to the room - the heads turned when they saw she entered his room - and we closed the door and had a frank conversation. I told her of the obvious medical errors, the poor communication, and other things that I don't even have the energy to mention. She was taking notes, and then left the room after an hour or so.
More time passes - and it's 3:00 PM. I told Earl I was going to go to the hostess shop and grab something to eat since I hadn't had anything all day.
Here I am in the hostess shop ordering when the patient advocate, the Director of Nursing, and the floor charge nurse surround me, and ask if we can further the previous conversation, of course I said yes. They took me across the hall to the C.E.O.'s conference room, and we talked. They were aghast at some of the things I told them, and promised to correct the problem, and get Earl on his way to Pittsburgh as soon as possible. They gave me a $5 voucher to pay for my lunch - and when the volunteer saw it - and I knew what I had came to over that - she said "I have never seen one of these before - you must have some pull" - and I told her "No - I just rattled some chains." and she left me have the coffee, sandwich, Earls candy bars, etc. for the $5.
So - I get up to the floor - and he says the sandwich looks good - and he ate about 1/3 of it, and his candy bar. Then the eveing meal came, and he ate part of that too.
Finally - at 7:10 PM - the paramedics arrived - and we were on our way to Pittsburgh. Got there about 8:30 PM, and they did get the ball rolling quickly. Saw the cardiologist fellow - and she said she did not know whey they sent him - but that she would discuss it with the actual Doc - and see us this AM. A hema/onc fellow also came in - and we had to go through the entire history. I went prepared with his med list and a copy of his advanced directives. Long story short - his platelets dropped from 38,000 yeterday to 24,000 today, and his Hgb was 9.8 yesterday and dropped to 8.6 today. In essence - they did not want to touch him with his levels, and said what they saw on the reports - he did not have a heart attack, his cardiac enzymes were normal, so they sent us home - after all the Docs got their ducks in a row - we were on our way home at 2:30 PM. A wasted trip, and a lot of apprehension on Earl's part. The only good thing about it was that he had a large room - complete with a couch that folded out into a bed, and I slept better than I had in nights - just knowing I was next to him. He said I snored, and I probably did. LOL
So - we stopped and picked up Hannah - came home, and he went right to bed for a good hour and a half. She was very happy to see us - and has not left us out of her sight since. Thank You All for your positive thoughts and prayers.
((((HUGS))))
Beth