Time LIne:

This should have been posted yesterday, but it's my first time blogging:


10/5/09: Jeff has flu and so does Psycho Bitch Wife (PBW). PBW asks friend Todd, AKA Ass Kicker, to transport Jeff (guts all still in tact) to St. Joes ER. He is given fluid and sent home.

10/6, 10/7 Jeff gets worse. PBW works but feels horrible and ignores that Jeff (and his guts) need more medical attention. Decides Jeff needs to tell PBW if he needs a doctor. On 10/8 PBW finally asks him if he needs a doctor and takes him to B--- hospital. It is not a good experience:

Examples of ER high jinks:

Jeff is described as: bellyache/upset stomach patient
PBW had to wheel him in wheel chair around several sharp corners with no offer assistance from staff. Had to make 3 attempts through Triage door because there is so much equipement it doesn't open all the way.

After several hours in ER PBW is told he is being admitted so she goes to work.

Later Jeff states that young resident walks in and Jeff tells him, "get the bed rail down I have to get on that toilet now!" (He is admitted with really loose icky stool) so doctor nods and begins to put on gloves (we all know how often one comes in contact wtih body fluids in the course of lowering beds. Frequent risk of the rail spewing blood or semen). Jeff repeats himself and gets a "one minute finger" as he carefully works the gloves down one by one.

Walks over, hits a button and the rail falls. Ok, glad he got those gloves on.

They put him on a floor and Jeff notes he is really bloated in his belly. Ok, so they run some fluids and then on 10/11 they discharged him (5pm on Sunday)

I noted that he should have antibiotics and steroids. The lovely nurse said that it was 5pm on Sunday, there were no doctors to talk to. Jeff (and his guts, still intact) was desperate to leave because the bed was causing him a great deal of back pain (for which they gave him morophine). He was afraid if I made a sceen they would make him get back in the horrible bed.

Jeff goes home and tells me. .. Yes tells me, because he agreed it was his job to say "I need a doctor. . . "I need a doctor." Goes to primary, goes to ER.

Portly resident wanders over and asks why he is back when he was discharged yesterday?

"Because he was "all swollen" in pain

So she demands to know why we didn't follow our discharge instructions. Since they said "follow up with doctor in 2 weeks" we did follow them

FYI hospitals are dinged big time for 24 hour re-admit for the same condition. It causes them money and street cred. So it was full on "blame jeff" tilt.

She did say he could have pain med. So did the other dude in scrubs (they don't say their name and I couldn't read their little printed badges when I was 20 years younger). The x-ray tech arrived. I said no pain drugs, no x-ray. I had to stand between her and him.

And none of the nurses and aids knew jack shit about the pain med. But the tech was happy to tell me I couldn't leave.

I figured out why because they didn't want to help him to the bathroom.

We get him admitted and my mother in law calls me on my way to work. She has drive to my house and get his c-pap machine and drive back with it because the hospital won't give him one.

Ahh but see he had one the last 4 days why not now? I called his primary. He wouldn't even talk to me. He has no say over what happens in the hospital.

I called the patient advocate. And wow he got a c-pap to use for that night.

Oh it gets better. Doctor A and B are talking. No one is telling us why meds are initiated or stopped. I go off. I get a nurse manager.

"Ideally the doctors should talk with each other and read all the charts-- but they have 50 or more patients." PBW interprets that as; "They are too busy and important to do their job". PBW says; OK and oh I have drafted a complaint to the state and will make one to the OAO, that is your accreditor, not JCHO, right?"

I had 9 white coats in his room in less than an hour explaining why none of this is their problem.

OK so his mother and I have to stay with him all day/night so that he gets to bathroom, bathed etc.

And one day social worker comes in all bouncy.

Is there a word to describe the "I'm talkng to a very language challenged child-- and must speak in small falsely bright tone with that sort of 'isn't the pony pretty?" tone we use with irritable kids?"

So she starts with; "I see you came back after less than a day? I wanted to see what sort of factors we can address."

OK so that is her rather condescending way of going: "you are obviously deficient in some way and I will fix it"

I said we didn't have any needs. But she proceeds to ask if we can afford the medication? can jeff understand when to take it? before he became ill could he get around? Did he ever drive.

I did a psycho social. Told her I was discharge planner in the past and it was not an economic, psychiatric or social problem. It was medical malfeasance. And she could leave. Which she did with the same look I see in eyes of long time AA sponsers when a new member says "I don't have a drinking problem."

Later one doctor told me Jeff's colon had to come out. Another doctor said it didn't. Then they sent him home on 10/19 with this hugely distended belly and some antibiotics and steroids.

on 10/24/09 at 2:0something am I heard him yelling. Jeff was on the stairs screaming for help. He demanded I call 911. They came and took him to St. JOes.

When I got there I was told he had to have his colon out, right the fuck now. I freaked told her I was gonna' lose my home, everythign was over and someone lied.

Jeff told me stop it and told her do it. So he was taken to Surgical ICU and the very effecient Dr. Eggenberger came and did surgery.

All of Jeff's colon was removed as was part of his small intestine, which had perferatored (possibly due to CMV)?

He crashed that night in ICU and had 2 units of blood and tons of other things. He was septic.

Monday he was extubated and transfered to regular room ( they had taken 9 liters of fluid out of his belly).

Jeff can't walk because his belly is so full.

Then Wednesday 10/28 Jeff tells me that he was told "you are in renal failure" and "we can hope it will turn around" Ok so I'm thinking transplant, dyalisis. So is he

No we get the docs up there. It is having decreased renal function but (as I was aware) in shock and trauma kidneys can be less effective, but later they ramp back up. But it wasn't said that way.

Ok so now the issue is he can't sleep, beep because the stupid IV pump beep just keeps beep beep beep beeping. This is annoying and he is getting more and more irritable. And all of his problems will go away if he just walks. Now his belly is back to the pre-9 liters out dimension and some lovely resident says "I don't think you are swollen, I think that is just your belly."

OK so basically all of his problems are because he is a fat slug and won't walk. So sat he gets up and 7 liters pour out of his belly onto the floor. He feels great and his feet (swollen to 3x their size too) can support him. Sunday he is all swollen again, but hey again resident assures us we have never seen his feet before and we are confused if we think they are swollen, they is just how his feet are.

OK so today he calls and (see first entry).

And I realized that I was saying the same thing over and over.