Just How Much Pain Can an 80-Year-Old Woman Bear?

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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.

What a beautiful day! Today, Saturday 20th July 2024 -  started out wonderfully as Mom ate a full large strawberry, three tablespoons of yogurt, and a boiled egg. 

She even did "laying in bed" exercises—leg raises, body raises, resistance arm exercises, leg rotations, and more. 

Mom Sheila was in high spirits. Our hopes were up!

But then wound care time came in the afternoon at 2:00pm, and the happiness bubble shattered. 

The wonderful volunteer nurse duly came and did the wound care on Mom's wound AT 2:00PM, but the pain
became unbearable, and my mother started crying in pain non-stop. Real tears, guttural cries begging for the pain to go away. 

We waited almost an hour for the painkillers to kick in, but they had no effect.

Bear in mind that I had four ambulance trips left from the ambulance policy. I was trying to save them for Mom's special wound care review days, (she's bedridden and we can't take her in our car) but today I knew I had to use one ambulance trip to take Mom to the hospital to have her pain relieved. 

So, I called the ambulance, and they loaded Mom onto their stretcher and drove her to Local Hospital 1 with me.  The driver tried so hard, but Mom was in so much pain. Every bump on the road, every turn, every lean made her cry in pain, and my heart was hurting. But they took us to the casualty department of Local Hospital 1 -  and praise God, the hospital did not reject us (they have in the past due to zoning procedures). 

They admitted Mom to their casualty department and there she lay on the bed, waiting to be seen - still crying in pain.

However, the doctors could not get to her for three hours. She was lying in pain in casualty, crying for three hours, growing weaker and weaker. 

I felt so helpless; there was nothing I could do. 

The security would not allow me to stay by her side, saying that the hospital's procedure is that visitors must sit in the waiting room. 

So, I was bouncing between the waiting room and the casualty room, checking on Mom and waiting for a doctor to see her.

Praise God, a doctor finally got to her. He was wonderful—a diligent young man who knew what he was doing. He put her out of pain immediately using a drip. 

He took the time to inspect all her wounds properly and listened to my concerns. After an hour of looking at her with his team, he called me and said he believed she must be admitted for surgical debridement, but he was unable to admit her because of his station in the hospital; she could only be admitted by a surgeon.

He said he could only refer her to a surgeon - that is the extent of his influence - and it would be up to the surgeon to decide if she would be admitted or not. So, he asked me to take a seat while he found a surgeon.

I went to sit in the waiting room, assuming that he was speaking to a surgeon on duty. 

So, I waited and waited and waited, just so grateful Mom was out of pain.

Eventually, after about two hours, the Doctor came back and said he had made an appointment with the wound surgeon for Mom on Tuesday at the wound clinic. He said we must take Mom home and bring her back on Tuesday, and the wound surgeon would decide whether or not she would be admitted.

I remember looking at the doctor and saying, 

1. "Are you aware of how hard it is to bring Mom in? 
2. We do not have money for a private ambulance. 
3. We only have two ambulance trips left on our policy. 
4. If they do not admit her on Tuesday, there's no way for us to bring her back in. 
5. We've tried so many times to have her admitted over the last six weeks, and they just keep sending us home." 

I recall the doctor looked at me earnestly and with real compassion and said, "Please go on Tuesday. You have an appointment with the wound surgeon. The days are not the same."

He looked at me intently, and I thought he was trying to convey something he couldn't say out loud. 

Then he asked me to take a seat while they dealt with the discharge procedures. So, I went to sit in the waiting room ... and waited. And waited and waited.

Eventually, at 12:300AM I discovered Mom had "been discharged", (this means paperwork done, but she is still lying in the casualty bed) -  and nobody had told me. 

I called the ambulance to come fetch us and transport Mom home - and then the next attack from the enemy began.  The ambulance dispatcher said it would be a long wait as the ambulance had gone to Durban for a patient transfer.  They weren't sure when it would be available, saying it could be a few hours. 

So, I made Mom comfortable with blankets and pillows and made myself relax; I consoled myself with the fact that Mom was out of pain and fast asleep.  

I dug out some pillows from Mom's pile and tried to sleep upright against the wall in the waiting room.  I napped now and then but it wasn't what I would call true sleep. 

I wasn't the only one trying to catch a kip! Looking around, quite a few people were trying to sleep upright in the cold waiting room, in the hard upright chairs.

My alarm went off two hours later, and I called the ambulance to get an ETA.  They apologized and said the ambulance was still stuck in Durban. I found out that they could not leave Durban because they were waiting for a Doctor to accept the patient they had transferred.

A few hours later, I asked the ambulance for an ETA again, and they said they couldn't give me a time. They also confirmed they only had one team on duty that weekend. (which I think means one ambulance for the area?) 

I kept checking with them for an ETA every 30 MINUTES.

This went on for about another two hours. 

Eventually, I asked the dispatcher, "Please tell me what the problem is. Why is the ambulance unable to reach us, and can you give me a time?" 

She explained that the ambulance had transported a patient to another hospital in Durban and was waiting for a doctor to hand the patient over. 

They couldn't leave without the doctor's clearance. 

Realizing they wouldn't see the doctor until about 8:00 in the morning, I relaxed and did my best to rest.

Eventually, the ambulance picked us up around 9:00 a.m., and we got home about 10:00 a.m. 

I must confess, I have never in my life waited for 9 hours for an ambulance before - not even in Zimbabwe, my home country! This was an all-time new record!

Once we got home, I spent another couple of hours making sure Mom was sorted out, and dishes washed-  then I collapsed and slept for the rest of the day. 

To be clear, since I am the only carer on weekends and nights, resting for me means sleeping when Mom sleeps- basically living by alarms to ensure I don't miss out on carrying out important time-sensitive caring tasks, such as administering medication, diaper change or turnings.  

I kept on sleeping in between dealing with Mom for the rest of the next 24 hours so that I could recover my strength.

But I must tell you that God blessed us through all of this. The wonderful volunteer nurse helped to make up Mom's bed so that I did not have to do it when I brought Mom back from Local Hospital 1, and this nurse also brought us a cooked chicken so that I didn't have to cook that day. God is so good; He provides for us even in the small things

That concludes my tale of the 9th attempt to get Mom admitted to Local Hospital 1 for surgical debridement.

PRAYER REQUEST

we're taking Mom for her appointment with the Wound Surgeon on Tuesday.

The aim of this appointment is for the Surgeon to decide if Mom will be admitted for surgical debridement or not.

Pray she will be admitted for Surgical Debridement; if she doesn't get surgical debridement, then it's a long and excruciatingly painful process to debride her wounds slowly at home ... and we are not able to manage those levels of pain at home.  It's too much for us.  I don't think it's good for her heart to hear that type of pain either.

Alternatively, pray for supernatural healing and miraculous healing so that Mom doesn't have to go through this process.

John 14:13-14 NLT

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

Please stand in agreement with me that Jesus will do this, as we ask it in His name.

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.