As Yogi Berra is reported to have once said, "This is like deja vu all over again."
Later today we are going to my aunt's, the same one we were returning from when the accident happened last year. It has now been one year since the accident and over a year since the ER visit for her PSVT episode, give or take a day. There will NOT be a repeat of the events of last year, despite the recurring theme that has already started.
Part of the recurring theme is Jan was admitted to the hospital for the second PSVT episode that would not go away. Since she now has a cardiologist, she called the office. We went there to get an EKG of the PSVT rhythm. Her regular doctor wasn't in and the other doctor in the office admitted her to the hospital for observation.
From there, people didn't have a clue. We thought they would just get her heart rate down and send her home like the last time. Instead, they kept her overnight when we were told the doctor would make rounds in the morning. Wrong again. The nurse came in and gave her a non-related medication that Jan told her she didn't need. She didn't want to take it but the nurse said it was ordered. As she took the pill, the nurse told her she could refuse it. Ah, a little too late!
And trust me, this pill is as related to a heart problem as eye drops are to a hangnail.
The next morning the cardiac nurse practitioner order her an antibiotic and said the doctor would be in at 3-4PM. Great, I went to work but we texted a few times throughout the day.
I returned at a little after 3PM, by 4PM there was still no doctor. Almost a full day in the hospital without a doctor. I started to get a bad attitude because too many people in the medical field answer questions they should not, their answers are so optimistic as to be fairy tales.
The second problem with medical treatment is patients, in general, are too timid or in such compromised situations that they will not speak up for themselves. I think doctors and nurses have gotten away with being subtle bullies for far too long. As I age, I need to keep this in mind.
I had Jan page her nurse and I wanted REAL answers. I told her in no uncertain terms that she was not staying another night. She couldn't rest, which is what she needs most, and they had to stick her four times for an IV! They brought her a dinner meal just as the doctor was arriving, which she did not eat. I'm obviously going to fight that one.
The doctor finally showed up around 5:15PM and stayed about 30 minutes. He said he would not have kept her overnight and would have sent her to the ER to get the heart rate down. GREAT! Another lesson learned the hard way. At least I can be the jerk and let Jan remain mostly unscathed by my dip into vitriolic behavior.
As soon as the doctor left, Jan was discharged. I think the nurse wanted me out of there because I was not satisfied with having to wait 4 hours for an ice pack or 2 hours to be told she can take her nightly meds when the doctor had already told her that several hours before. They wanted to dispense all of her meds, which I had retrieved so they could have the dosages, from pharmacy. It isn't about money, except to the hospital. Why would she pay $40 for a pill from the hospital when the whole prescription for 30 days was $10 and she already has it and takes it normally? Communication is the problem with medicine today. They talk and seldom listen.
Life has, more or less, returned to normal. She's very tired, bruised where the IVs were botched, blew a vein and she still has some neck pain if she sleeps funny, but don't we all? I'm not pushing the plastic surgery for scar revision. It is her decision on the incision for revision.
On a funnier note, we went out to eat at a Japanese place last weekend. It was one of those sit-down-at-the-grill places and it was very good and I ate too much. Several people commented out of the blue that I looked like that guy that does Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader. That is usually a signal that I need a haircut.
Later today we are going to my aunt's, the same one we were returning from when the accident happened last year. It has now been one year since the accident and over a year since the ER visit for her PSVT episode, give or take a day. There will NOT be a repeat of the events of last year, despite the recurring theme that has already started.
Part of the recurring theme is Jan was admitted to the hospital for the second PSVT episode that would not go away. Since she now has a cardiologist, she called the office. We went there to get an EKG of the PSVT rhythm. Her regular doctor wasn't in and the other doctor in the office admitted her to the hospital for observation.
From there, people didn't have a clue. We thought they would just get her heart rate down and send her home like the last time. Instead, they kept her overnight when we were told the doctor would make rounds in the morning. Wrong again. The nurse came in and gave her a non-related medication that Jan told her she didn't need. She didn't want to take it but the nurse said it was ordered. As she took the pill, the nurse told her she could refuse it. Ah, a little too late!
And trust me, this pill is as related to a heart problem as eye drops are to a hangnail.
The next morning the cardiac nurse practitioner order her an antibiotic and said the doctor would be in at 3-4PM. Great, I went to work but we texted a few times throughout the day.
I returned at a little after 3PM, by 4PM there was still no doctor. Almost a full day in the hospital without a doctor. I started to get a bad attitude because too many people in the medical field answer questions they should not, their answers are so optimistic as to be fairy tales.
The second problem with medical treatment is patients, in general, are too timid or in such compromised situations that they will not speak up for themselves. I think doctors and nurses have gotten away with being subtle bullies for far too long. As I age, I need to keep this in mind.
I had Jan page her nurse and I wanted REAL answers. I told her in no uncertain terms that she was not staying another night. She couldn't rest, which is what she needs most, and they had to stick her four times for an IV! They brought her a dinner meal just as the doctor was arriving, which she did not eat. I'm obviously going to fight that one.
The doctor finally showed up around 5:15PM and stayed about 30 minutes. He said he would not have kept her overnight and would have sent her to the ER to get the heart rate down. GREAT! Another lesson learned the hard way. At least I can be the jerk and let Jan remain mostly unscathed by my dip into vitriolic behavior.
As soon as the doctor left, Jan was discharged. I think the nurse wanted me out of there because I was not satisfied with having to wait 4 hours for an ice pack or 2 hours to be told she can take her nightly meds when the doctor had already told her that several hours before. They wanted to dispense all of her meds, which I had retrieved so they could have the dosages, from pharmacy. It isn't about money, except to the hospital. Why would she pay $40 for a pill from the hospital when the whole prescription for 30 days was $10 and she already has it and takes it normally? Communication is the problem with medicine today. They talk and seldom listen.
Life has, more or less, returned to normal. She's very tired, bruised where the IVs were botched, blew a vein and she still has some neck pain if she sleeps funny, but don't we all? I'm not pushing the plastic surgery for scar revision. It is her decision on the incision for revision.
On a funnier note, we went out to eat at a Japanese place last weekend. It was one of those sit-down-at-the-grill places and it was very good and I ate too much. Several people commented out of the blue that I looked like that guy that does Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader. That is usually a signal that I need a haircut.
