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  • Mom's Medical Misadventures

    My mother, whom I've mentioned before in various posts on the site, has had a variety of medical issues over the last twenty years. From severe arthritis in her knees and hips (she's had a hip and a knee replaced), to recurring bouts of cellulitis, to lymphedema, it's never something simple with my mother. Any little bug that comes through the household, she will inevitably contract. And yet, her doctor insists she's got a very strong immune system.

    At any rate, Mom's been hospitalized a number of times for issues related to the above, and generally her experiences have been ... good. She hates being in the hospital (less so now that she has a laptop with Wifi and isn't stuck watching whatever's on TV), but her nurses have generally been good people.

    Except for one stay.

    This was several years ago, when she was hospitalized for one of her cellulitis flare-ups. As my mother was on some other medication when she checked in, this was supposed to be taken by the nurses and logged so it could be dispensed to her by the hospital pharmacy.

    ...but the nurse who took Mom's meds forgot to do this. And went home with them. It took many calls and some frantic scrambling before this was discovered and the nurse called up at home to return Mom's meds.

    This was the same stay where the nurses were late in giving Mom her antibiotics for the infection. They either didn't respond to her calls, or responded and then left to supposedly track down her meds and never came back. It eventually took Mom calling her doctor (who wasn't at the hospital) on her cell phone, and said doctor calling the hospital and raising hell before the antibiotics were dispensed.

    However, this was one bad stay out of several positive ones, so we generally have a positive view of those in the medical profession.
    PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.

    There are only Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because I choose to walk!

  • #2
    Yeowch. There's no excuse for not making sure antibiotics are given on time.

    And no excuse for going home with someone else's meds. What did she think she was supposed to do when she got home and found her pockets full of meds that weren't hers?

    I accidentally took the narcotic keys home with me once (before the automated dispensing machines call the Pyxis we used a lock box for narcs). Charged nurse called and told me to bring them back (even though my set was one of many). I did.

    It was a 45 minute drive one way. So, I ended up spending over 2 hours on the road that afternoon just to return the narc keys.

    Needless to say, that never happened again.
    They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

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    • #3
      But at least you remembered you had them, called the charge nurse, and brought them right back.
      Customers should always be served . . . to the nearest great white.

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      • #4
        Quoth Kristev View Post
        But at least you remembered you had them, called the charge nurse, and brought them right back.
        Actually, my phone rang as soon as I got home. It was the charge nurse, looking for the keys This was in the days before cell phones were common place.
        They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

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