Another Rejection for Hospital Admission - Time to Wait for God's Direction Once Again
Another Rejection for Hospital Admission - Time to Wait for God's Direction Once Again
How To Help / Contact Info / What Happened that Forced me to Start this Cause.
SAVE SHEILA'S LIFE CAUSE
Note: During my blogs, you will see that I'll be talking about 3 different government medical facilities; their names will be changed to prevent me from being sued, and prevent interference with a possible future court case.
I will be calling them: Local Hospital 1, Clinic 1 and Clinic 2.
With excitement and anticipation, our family rose at 4 am to prepare for Mom's ambulance trip to the local hospital's Wound Care Clinic.
We had many reasons to be hopeful:
- Multiple medical professionals have advised that Mom's wounds require surgical debridement as soon as possible.
- After seeing photos and videos of Moms wounds, Clinic 2 Doctor told us a few days ago Mom would definitely be admitted at Local Hospital.
- The Local Hospital Wound Care Clinic assured us that Mom would receive a thorough assessment today, determining whether she would be admitted based on her ability to withstand surgery.
- After more than three weeks of effort, we finally secured an ambulance service at minimal cost to transport her there.
- We were optimistic that Mom would be admitted for professional surgical debridement, allowing her wounds to heal more quickly (un-debrided wounds lead to a lengthy, painful healing process).
- Lastly, we hoped Mom's admission would provide us with a brief respite and a chance for a few nights of uninterrupted sleep before her discharge.
Tsepo and Cayley, the Med-Evac employees who transported Mom, left a strong impression on me. They were well-coordinated, professional, compassionate, and most impressively, incredibly conscientious. They did their utmost to ensure Mom experienced as little pain as possible during the journey.
Upon arrival at the hospital, Mom was transferred onto a casualty stretcher— essentially means another hospital bed—and waited comfortably for three hours in a until she was seen.
God gave us favor - they placed Moms "stretcher" in a utility room since the waiting room was jam packed. Mom essentially had a private room all to herself for the entire day!
The first doctor to approach us made a puzzling statement that I'm still trying to process: "She (Mom) was referred to us only for the wound on her leg, not the wound on her back, so we will only attend to the leg wound."
medical assistance comprehensively to their patients. I wasn't aware that there might be a checklist dictating which parts of a patient's body a doctor can address based solely on paperwork.
Today, I learned that a doctor may focus solely on one specific wound and disregard other ailments a patient may have.
If you've ever encountered a similar situation, please share your experience in the comments below.
As I write this blog post, I feel like I've been transported to another planet, struggling to comprehend an unfamiliar medical practice!
In the end, two wonderful nurses dressed ALL of Mom's wounds, while another doctor caused her to scream by squeezing out infection. (No painkiller was administered before hand - sounded like medieval torture!)
They provided us with a bunch of dressings, some medication, and sent Mom home again.
Their reasons for not admitting Mom were rushed and somewhat unclear, but after I discussed with with my sister, Liz, here's what we gathered:
1. There are no available hospital beds.
2. Mom's current strength isn't sufficient.
3. They want to reassess her condition in two weeks to determine if she's ready for debridement.
4. We're instructed to perform debridement at home.
5. Despite our concerns about transportation costs, we're to take Mom to Clinic 1 every other day for wound dressings.
6. They suggested we could manage the dressings at home with help from volunteer nurses.
The information was somewhat incomplete, unconnected and disorganized, and the doctors and nurses seemed in a hurry to finish with us.
Nonetheless, we were treated with respect by the Local Hospital Wound Clinic staff, who are clearly under pressure given their working conditions.
As mentioned earlier, they provided a large quantity of gauze and dressings, but didn't supply debridement cleaner or gel, so we'll need to purchase those items. I'll call them tomorrow to see if they can provide some before we begin fundraising for those medications.
SOOOOOooooooooooooooo.
We're all back home now—exhausted, with dark shadows and bags under our eyes, and feeling astonished and dumbstruck by the day's events. We sat for a while looking at each other like a bunch of lemurs!
Amidst all that happened, I must share a wonderful miracle:
Mom started eating solid food again today. While we were waiting for her to be attended to, she asked for some boiled eggs we had brought along. She managed to eat two out of four before feeling full.
This is a huge milestone, considering she hadn't eaten solids for almost a month!
Later this evening, she even requested chicken and vegetable soup—farm-style, so it required quite a bit of chewing.
God is good—all the time, and all the time—God is good!
This is the scripture that came to me now:
Proverbs 3:5-6 explains: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight."
We will wait on God for further direction and understanding of the way forward, and update you once we know what's potting.
Thanks for reading
Christine Livingstone
We need help - if you wish to give a love gift large or small, please contact Liz or Caz for our bank details, Or click the How To Help link to find other ways to help.
I'm still reeling with incomprehension about them not admitting her for debridement, and the first Doctor only wanting to treat one wound because the other "wasn't referred" to them.
ReplyDeleteI have no words.
ReplyDeleteI think what Caz and Liz and Sheila experienced at the hospital was very very bad, and should Not have happened
ReplyDelete