I don’t know what’s happened to people.
When he broke his hip and had the two heart attacks last summer, the actual hospital rehab/physical therapy ran out pretty fast due to our insurance getting gutted by Obamacare.
So they stuck him in a nursing home for 3 weeks to get the rest of his PT with Medicare paying it.
Every day I went there, I got progressively more pissed.
The slunts in charge of him learned to despise me by the third day when I saw them handing him meds he was NOT supposed to be getting.
[it was not for nothing I called the place Jamaica North]
No amount of asking for the head nurse to come and straighten it out worked because she was “busy” so I tracked her sorry ass down and crowded her into a wall so she had no choice but to check his charts.
Lo and behold, I was right.
He had had one and half lungs full of fluid and was on heavy diuretics but only getting TWO cups of water a day, which he had to beg for and wait for for, forever.
The next night, I fired his “doctor” [quack] at 3AM and threatened abuse lawsuits via the 800 advocacy numbers listed on their own bulletin board.
[those vanished the next next day]
That day after, ‘suddenly’ the whole staff fell over themselves to get us a “care quality meeting” stat.
When they came in and sat down, I stood up and said “You all know why I’ve called you here today”, thereby taking command of the mess.
The last two weeks, they couldn’t do enough for him.
Every time I came in the double doors and stomped down the hall [I stomp a lot] there was nervous silence, because they knew if I found one damn thing out of place, there would be bloody hell to pay.
While I was in there with him, they made a show of popping in every few minutes, asking if he needed anything.
However, 90% of the poor soul marooned in that pit had no one like me to speak for them and the way they were treated was abominable.
When I got a chance, I ‘made suggestions’ for some of them too.
I despise cruelty and the abuse of helpless things, no matter the species so anyone who thinks I have “no heart” can GFT.
I am SO sorry about your mom.
He still has issues due to “pump head” from the triple bypass 10 years ago.
His frequent lapses may drive me crazy but I’ll be damned if I let anyone mess with him for it.
And no, I am not a bad ass or one ‘mander wrecking crew and I’m honestly puny and feeble myself BUT what I lack in physical strength I more than make up for with sheer crazy and no regard for myself.
The weird thing is, I will put up with an infinite amount of crap aimed at me and shrug it off, but the dogs and him, there’s simply no tolerance.
The people who love them have to stand up for the patient.
The staff expect it, and if it doesn’t happen they assume no one cares.
How about you imagine for a moment that the old lady that was approached from behind by the BLM water buffalo was your husband.
You are the best, Salamander, and your hubby is very lucky to have you on his side. And you are a badass even if you don’t think so.
I was very lucky that I never had to deal with the government, insurance or the health care system while caring for my Mom. I feared that I might at some point and don’t know if I could have handled it as well as you did. Mom and I got what we both wanted, me taking care of her in her (our) home until the end. And I got to return a small fraction of the love, care and compassion she gave me.
There is so much corruption and callousness and incompetence in society now it’s disgusting. And frightening. But there are still a lot of good people out there doing good things. The right thing. The press distorts the percentages IMO.
There has always seemed to be a disproportionate number of good caring people here in my small town/semi-rural county. But the strain of government burdens and societal breakdown everywhere is showing. The leftist garbage I read in the local papers makes me want to puke. It’s still not prominent but it’s gaining ground.