The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
My Father Is In The Hospital
powerss
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, if anyone remembers my thread about my fathers severe diahreea (sorry, i dont feel like spell checking) my father has had for about 2 weeks now.
He met with a gastroenterologist, and he suggested tests to be adminstered a week from now. He's a nice guy, but my father is in a lot of discomfort and pain, so he said to go to the hospital.
I've never been to a hospital before, and to be honest I'm a little shocked at the whole process. Seeing my father admitted and brought up in a wheelchair made me, to be honest, break down and I really couldn't take it.
He's sharing a room with people who honestly seem really, really sick and it bothers me that his diahreea condition he doesn't have a private bathroom.
Is this the norm for hospitalization in the United States? I'm just a little surprised. Too much ER, Movies, and Scrubs for me.
What else should I do? I brought him some magazines, new socks, underwear, sweatpants, robe, and sweatshirt from Target (fuck that smock thing they give you) and he seems OK with it.
I dont believe a nurse has talked to him yet nor as a doctor seen him, and he's been there for two hours.
Again, any tips, advice, or experiences regarding hospitalization are appreciated. It's just seeing him in a hospital, with so many very, very sick others, makes me fear for his life even though it's probably not incredibly serious.
It's hard to take. Thanks in advance, PAHA.
He met with a gastroenterologist, and he suggested tests to be adminstered a week from now. He's a nice guy, but my father is in a lot of discomfort and pain, so he said to go to the hospital.
I've never been to a hospital before, and to be honest I'm a little shocked at the whole process. Seeing my father admitted and brought up in a wheelchair made me, to be honest, break down and I really couldn't take it.
He's sharing a room with people who honestly seem really, really sick and it bothers me that his diahreea condition he doesn't have a private bathroom.
Is this the norm for hospitalization in the United States? I'm just a little surprised. Too much ER, Movies, and Scrubs for me.
What else should I do? I brought him some magazines, new socks, underwear, sweatpants, robe, and sweatshirt from Target (fuck that smock thing they give you) and he seems OK with it.
I dont believe a nurse has talked to him yet nor as a doctor seen him, and he's been there for two hours.
Again, any tips, advice, or experiences regarding hospitalization are appreciated. It's just seeing him in a hospital, with so many very, very sick others, makes me fear for his life even though it's probably not incredibly serious.
It's hard to take. Thanks in advance, PAHA.
powerss on
0
Posts
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
As far as the gown goes, the doctor may request that he wears it.
I wish this were true. I've been through the hospitalization of many family members over the years, at excellent hospitals with the best insurance, and I've witnessed dozens of mistakes, from the mundane (did I forget to bring that extra blanket you asked for?) to the annoying (we're not quite sure where those records are, why don't you wait here in the waiting room for three hours while we grope around) to the serious (you're deathly allergic to iodine? Really? I'm sure they wouldn't have approved this iodine-based dye to be injected in you if it were a problem. Oh, you're going into anaphylactic shock? Lemme find some Benadryl. Oh, we, um, can't find any. Do you have some? (Luckily, yes)). Statistically, this is more common than not.
1. If something seems wrong, say so. If the answer isn't satisfactory, press the issue.
2. Time with the actual doctors is precious, ask lots of questions.
3. In a hospital, (only) the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but don't cry wolf.
4. In general, the nurses appreciate help and visitors to patients. If you can get your Dad a snack, they don't have to. However, a lot of busy-ness goes on, and so learn to jump out of the way when they're coming to take his vitals, administer medicine, etc.
Berkeley hospital, the night of a full moon and a cal football game. good times (not really)
No. no no nononononononno NO.
No they don't. Most of the time, yes, but believe me, something can and usually does (IN MY EXPERIENCES) goes wrong.
I've been to the hospital with a family member about 4 times in the last two years.
Sometimes they give the wrong medication.
Sometimes the nurse pumps morphine into your skin because she missed your vein.
And sometimes they accidentally puncture your lung during a procedure which causes it to collapse.
So yeah, out of the 4 hospital visits, 3 of these things happened.
My advice is to constantly ask questions, what are they giving him, why? What are their plans for that week, how are they going to handle treating him etc. More importantly, do research on the side.
I swear to god, if my sister wasn't a paramedic we would never have spotted some of these problems and shit would have hit the fan. Be educated, don't assume the doctors are infallible because with the sleep they are getting, most likely they are not.
Staying in the robe might be a good idea, though. It's not the most dignified garment, but it's the easiest thing for a nurse or doctor to shove aside and examine you in if there's a problem. You could probably ask about it.
Hope everything goes okay and your dad feels better soon.
If you're worked in retail, this will be easier for you to understand, but imagine that you work at a department store on Black Friday. People everywhere, everyone needs help, people are screaming and fighting and pushing and shoving. Now, imagine that some of those people are puking, a couple just passed out, some are bleeding all over everything, and one of them is holding his thumb in a sandwich bag filled with ice. And odds are you're on hour eleven on a twelve hour shift.
Basically, when you're a doctor or a nurse and you've got eighteen patients, each one needs multiple medications, most need specialised administrations (IV, SC, ID, tube, buccal, SL, rectal, patch, whatever) and you've got a constant in flux of new PTs it's really easy to make a mistake, and the fact that medical errors are so rare is a testament to the ability of the majority of the employees in the medical field.
Modern medical care sucks ass if you live in a busy city or your hospital has a larger than average coverage area (which is common). Medical care is expensive, Doctors make a lot of money (and you would want to if you went through eight or more years of schooling), along with technicians all the way down to cafeteria employees and janitors. It takes a lot of people to run a hospital and each one needs to get paid, which when coupled with the money required to buy new equipment and maintain old equipment means that most hospitals are operating on a very small margin between costs and profit (The power bill alone for most hospitals would make you head spin.) This is why they have to make do with the least amount of employees as possible, which is why ER waits are almost always ridiculous.
Sorry for the rant. I hope your dad ends up alright.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
I was just trying to make the fellow feel better. Now all of yous nay-sayers ruined it :roll:
...just kidding
I think the best thing you can do for your dad is just be as positive as you can and support him. sounds like you're doing that already, so just make sure he has everything he needs and visit him as much as possible. my grandfather is in the hospital right now and the couple of times I've made it out there to see him I know its really made his day. hospitals are boring and kind of depressing, so having a loved one stop in will do a wonder of good.
best of luck to you and your family. this'll all be over before you know it, he's in the right place and this problem will get resolved.
Yes, it might happen in cases, and it probably does, because medical staff are human too. That does not mean it will happen here, and all the OP did was ask for consolation on how to deal with the fact that his dad's in the hospital.
Powerss, I hate to break it to you, but they probably won't let him wear the clothes. That's fine, though, because it's a hospital, not a nightclub--you don't go there to look good, you go there to get well. Other than that, just keep it in stride. Hospitals can get behind, and urgent issues (life-threatening wounds, birthings) tend to take precedence. The lack of a doctor or nurse is not disheartening, only inconvenient, and it serves to stand that if they don't see him right away, they probably don't consider it to be a dangerous situation.
Keep up the reading material, visit regularly if he's infirmed for a length of time (if), and don't get down over what seems to be dehumanizing treatment. Again, it's a hospital--it's there to save lives, and people's opinions are of very little to them.