Mary Stetler
Well-known member
Theoretically I knew this with regard to hospitals etc. Don't go by yourself if you can avoid it.
But
But
Health advocates; We must have them
- Thread starter Mary Stetler
- Start date
Ed Wilson
Well-known member
My last trip to the hospital made me distrust hospitals. Many of the doctors were foreign born and even had difficulty with English. What I thought were nurses were nurses aides and seemed to be faking it as they watched the clock. One "nurse" tried to give me insulin and I am not a diabetic. Good thing I was awake and still had my whits.
Don Alaska
Well-known member
While you are ultimately in charge of you health decisions, you should always have someone you trust accompany you any time you are compromised in any way, especially in emergent situations but sometimes in routine times as well. A spouse, offspring or trusted friend is the best choice.
We have a family rule that if anybody is in the hospital for something serious, there will be a family member staying with them 24 hours a day.
I would have lost my youngest sister (M) several years ago if one of my other sisters (N) hadn't been there. M had had surgery earlier that day and had seemed to be recovering well. N was spending some time with her and had dozed off in a chair by the bed. She woke up when she heard M moaning, switched on the light and saw a horrible sight. Blood was dripping off the bed onto the floor.
She screamed for a nurse, who grabbed a passing doctor and they whisked M off to the operating room. Apparently the surgeon had nicked an artery during surgery and it had finally "popped". If nobody had been there, she would have bled to death before anyone knew anything was wrong. The artery was repaired and she had blood transfusions (which was a scary thing in itself) and recovered completely.
So that's why there is always a family member sitting awake by the bed until we feel that the patient is on the mend.
I would have lost my youngest sister (M) several years ago if one of my other sisters (N) hadn't been there. M had had surgery earlier that day and had seemed to be recovering well. N was spending some time with her and had dozed off in a chair by the bed. She woke up when she heard M moaning, switched on the light and saw a horrible sight. Blood was dripping off the bed onto the floor.
She screamed for a nurse, who grabbed a passing doctor and they whisked M off to the operating room. Apparently the surgeon had nicked an artery during surgery and it had finally "popped". If nobody had been there, she would have bled to death before anyone knew anything was wrong. The artery was repaired and she had blood transfusions (which was a scary thing in itself) and recovered completely.
So that's why there is always a family member sitting awake by the bed until we feel that the patient is on the mend.