BuckyB93 wrote:Dad was released from the hospital Tues afternoon and is at home, which was very confusing for us (as of this past weekend we were told he was weeks to a month from death). Mom, brother, and cousin were there for the release. Past couple day's reports from Mom: he's getting stronger and can shuffle around the house a bit better which is a good sign.
Dr. initially set up a family meeting in late May (WTF? Again, I thought you guys were talking weeks to up to a month for the inevitable). Family meeting is now set up for next week. Sister talked with the kidney Dr today and she, doctor, says kidney function is stage 3, not stage 4 (again WTF?) and people can live at this level, as long as it's kept stable and monitored. Said many folks can live several years like that but will also need to monitor his heart (he's on a pacemaker).
Seems like there was some crossed signals and misunderstandings between the various doctors, the tests and results from those tests, and then communicating this with the family. Maybe the treatments he was getting over the weekend did help fire up the kidneys a bit more and the doctors were not working with the most recent data. Maybe the prayers helped. Hopefully they are right this time and the doctors are now on the on the same page using the most recent test results and have a better picture of his status.
Hospice will be paying a visit to them at home at least a couple times a week, actual schedule TDB. This makes me breathe a bit easier and my stress level is down a few notches.
Silver lining: This scare was enough to push my stubborn mom to get one of those life alert alarm wrist watch things. I'm not sure what brand she settled on. A friend from her church helped to walk her through the various options that are out there and got her set up with one within a day. Dad is still a bit lethargic and confused so he doesn't have the wrist band on yet. When his clouds clear, we'll strap one on him too.
The hospital communications are subpar. Friend of mine had a heart attack last year (early 50s). They needed to do a multiple bypass. Three consecutive days the said they couldn’t do surgery because his glucose was too high. What did they feed him for breakfast each of the three days?
Pancakes with maple syrup.
Ideally, there is a Patient Advocate there most of the daylight hours. Between my sister and I, we caught more than a small handful of miscommunication. .
Doctor A enters at noon. We are going to keep you on these meds today and overnight.
Nurse A comes in at 4:00 without the afternoon meds. When asked where the meds are, they say doc was discontinuing the meds.
Night Time Rounds doc comes in at 8:00 wondering why the blood work isn’t improving. Orders a double dose of what Doc A ordered. Doc A is now off and won’t be returning for three days.
…. Argh