Debridement Done (Praise God!) - Yet Bruised, Scared, Exhausted, Dehydrated and Confused - is This the New Norm for Govt Medical Care?

Debridement Done (Praise God!)  - but Bruised, Scared, Exhausted, Dehydrated and Confused - is This the New Norm for Govt Medical Care?

27 July 2024

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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.

Summary

As I write this report, I’m overwhelmed with two opposite, yet very strong emotions.

I am so deeply grateful to our Father God in Heaven for facilitating the swift surgical procedure for Mom!

Having heard about the delays with our government hospitals, it seems like a miracle that Mom finally got admitted and within a day, had her operation!  

Once she is home, the real work begins and we can focus on helping her with the healing process.

This was definitely answered prayer, and I give all the Glory to our Heavenly Father. 

The other emotion I have is a deep sense of anger and confusion about how some people can treat the vulnerable ones in their care so callously and cruelly, especially as my understanding about the dedication of medical staff should be primarily the health and well-being of their patient

Maybe I’ve misunderstood the situation, and if so, I’m open to being corrected. But I ask you to read this report and let me know if my understanding of what I’ve witnessed is wrong.

So - what went down:

We were thrilled to hear that Mom’s operation was scheduled for Thursday afternoon (that's yesterday). 

It was a time of celebration for family, friends, and supporters of the Save Sheila's Life Cause. After a long and frustrating wait to get her admitted to Local Hospital 1, we were all elated when she was admitted on Tuesday. 

Certainly, none of us expected her operation to be so soon after admission, but we were thrilled  when we learned it was scheduled for Thursday.

On Wednesday, I visited Mom to ensure she had everything she needed. 

I noticed she seemed very dehydrated, and I thought it likely due to pain medication and possibly an antibiotic drip. I wasn’t sure if I would visit her the next day, but I advised her that her operation was on Thursday and mentioned that she probably wouldn’t have visitors then, as she’d likely be out of it. She agreed, and we planned our next visit for Friday.

When I visited Mom in Local Hospital 1 on Friday with my friend, D, I found Mom surprisingly alert and lively. She was still dehydrated and talking with a "cotton mouth" (I should have suspected some possible negligence then, but will explain later.)

Mom didn’t even realize she’d had the operation. While I was talking to Mom a nurse walked in and said that she would "do the wound care" now, and told me that the Doctor was coming to inspect the wound, and after that Mom would be immediately discharged. 

Like, discharged in literally a few hours.  The nurse expected me to wait a bit and take Mom home!

Shocked, I asked the nurse why no one had informed us before  that Mom would be discharged that same day? I explained to the nurse that I do not have transport, and that I’d need an ambulance to arrange transport.

The nurse then said that someone would call me later on that day to confirm that Mom is discharged,  I could arrange with that person for Moms transport home the next day.  (My lighting fast brain realised that this meant being "discharged" didn’t mean physically leaving Local Hospital 1 immediately, it just meant the paperwork.)

I asked my friend D if she thought it was too soon to discharge Mom, given her condition, recent operation and age.  Surely Mom should be monitored first?  D said she had called Local Hospital 1 that morning and the Sister had said Mom's wound would only be looked at after 48 hours, and only then discharge may happen. As you can imagine, both D and I were both confused by the totally different story from the nurse now! 48 hours certainly had not gone past yet!

 D and I both thought Mom should stay in for monitoring for one more day so I decided to wait until the following day to bring Mom home.  Plus I wanted one more chance to sleep through the night before entering the recovery battle ... it also involves waking up every two hours to turn Mom over. 24/7.

After all, I had only slept through the night three times now in 2 months - I was craving just normal sleep.

On the day of discharge, I traveled to Local Hospital 1 with my friend CS, who generously refused a contribution towards fuel.  I had also organised the pickup time with the ambulance.

When I arrived at the , I discovered "the wound care" hadn’t been done the day before; when I questioned why, the nurse said its because we did not take Mom home yesterday.

Confusion reigned once again!  Why was this not communicated to me yesterday?

I was horrified, knowing that wound care is extremely painful and time-consuming. 

Think about this - I had arranged for the ambulance to pick Mom up at a specific time - and now I had to apologise and reschedule with them, hoping they would not be called away to an emergency in that time! 

Ambulances are busy - they are not a taxi service waiting on our beck and call!

The nurse said "the wound care" procedure would take about 30 to 40 minutes and that she would give Mom a pain injection afterwards for pain relief

However, when I returned after 40 minutes Mom was just lying in her hospital bed, sobbing and crying weakly in pain. 

When I begged the nurse to give her the pain injection - reminding her that she said she would give Mom an injection earlier - the nurse denied ever saying she would give Mom an injection. Instead, the nurse immediately gave Mom 2 x  Paracetamol and 1 x Tramadol tablets on an empty stomach.

Those painkillers were inadequate. My mother continued crying in pain.

I then begged the sister to give my Mom something for pain, and after dithering for about 20 minutes (and then promptly forgetting to administer the injection) the sister finally administered a stronger pain injection. By then, the ambulance had arrived.

Then, as if the above was not bad enough, the ambulance was further delayed because I discovered the medical staff had not removed Moms catheter and she had no diaper on. And yet they had "discharged" her.  Go figure.

So - further time was wasted waiting for the Sister to sort that out for us.

Despite the pain injection, Mom was in pain for another hour and a half approximately. It was very hard to watch and have no idea how to relieve her.  She travelled home on a hard stretcher on a bumpy road in a vehicle with standard suspension hitting potholes and all sorts of bumps and turns. The ambulance driver drove as carefully as she could,  but in the South Coast of KZN there is no avoiding potholes and bumps; we'd need a hovercraft for that! .  

Watching Mom in pain during the journey home was like being in a torture chamber.

Bruised, Scared, Exhausted, Dehydrated and

Confused 

Once we were home and Mom safely ensconced in her bed (around 2:45pm), I was able to pay closer attention to her.  To my horror, I found the following - which seems to my mind, to be medical abuse:

1.  Bruises on her arms from her shoulders to the tops of her hands.  Finger marks on her arms. Bruises on her right shin area.

2.  Oedema of her legs; I immediately realised that throughout her hospital stay, she had not been given her medication to control Congestive Heart Failure (CHF).  The tablets prevent the build of of fluid in her lower limbs and lungs.

3. No urination at all. Mom was severely dehydrated. Her mouth was all collapsed at the lips, stuck to her gums. I realised she was severely dehydrated. I made up a rehydration drink for her using a combination of water, Himalayan Salt and Xylitol sugar and made sure she sipped it every time I woke up to turn her (every two hours). I kept checking her diaper through the night, and urination only became evident around 4am.

4. Difficulty breathing, gasping for breath now and then.  Pain in her neck and unable to correct her head position.

5. Extreme fear every time I approached her throughout the night for turning. . Turning must be done every 2 hours when someone in her condition is bedridden - to encourage circulation, which prevents pressure sores; turning also helpsexciercsing  which promotes healing. 

When I approached Mom for turning, she would stare at me in fear, cringe away from me, gasp loudly.  I waited for her to recognise me and then I could turn her.

6.  Hallucinations.  Mom kept talking about moving pictures and dark spots moving around in front of her eyes.

7. Swollen right foot - as if the bandage had been wrapped to tight. This could be a
combination of factors including the Oedema mentioned in No 2. above.

8. Blood on her diaper at the back - the wound at the back was obviously beginning to bleed, even though they said that the wound care had just been done a few hours earlier.

As I am writing this, I'm seething with anger and sorrow, but I am not letting those emotions detract from my gratitude to our Heavenly Father God for the miracle of Moms operation being done so fast, and all the things that God has provided for Sheila - and our family - during her journey.

Have you ever found yourself in this situation - with these types of emotions? If so, maybe this will help:

One of the many things God has taught me is this; emotions are fickle.  

Emotions come and go, and I cannot allow emotions to govern the decisions I make in my life.  

I have found that when I am emotional, I tend to make rash decisions and actions - and often regret them afterwards - having to scramble to fix the mess I made.  

By being aware of this tendency to make wrong emotionally based decisions, it enables me to take a breath and seek God in the situation.

By taking that breath, I find the Holy Spirit guiding me into a time of praying and then waiting for
guidance from God before taking actions.  

The time involved with the "praying and waiting" can be anything from a few seconds to a few months.  

However, I have found that there is a clear signal from the Holy Spirit that helps me to recognize when I am making the right decision.  

The clear signal is this: I don't have emotional upheaval at the time of making the decision; I'm not making it under pressure and disturbance. I make the decision from a place of peace or calmness - and assurance.  

Please comment on this situation I described above, I'm very interested to hear your opinion!

PRAYER REQUEST

I also request your prayers for wisdom in how to proceed to help Mom heal quickly and reduce her pain. We know Jesus is the healer, but we also have a part to play in looking after hour bodies.

Additionally, please pray for strength for me, as I need to wake up every two hours to turn Mom, both day and night. I do not have a relief carer at night or during the weekends, and during the person who assists me during the week can't do it on her own until Mom is stronger.

Philippians 4:13 Amplified Bible (AMP)

I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]

Thanks!
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.

How To Help / Contact Info / What Happened that Forced me to Start this Cause. 

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The author, Christine Livingstone is a businesswoman and ministry leader based in South Africa, known for her talents in teaching, content creation, graphic design, and business acumen. No part of the content on this blog may be reproduced without written permission from Christine and full accreditation. For permissions and accreditation, please contact Christine via the contact link on this blog or any of her websites. Copyright (C) 2024 christinelivingstone.com. All Rights Reserved.