A Setback

Mom went to the ER last night (Monday) and was admitted to the Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville.

Craig (my brother, the baby in the family) suggested that in hindsight we should have been running a video camera throughout this entire process. He said we could make the next "SICKO" movie with this stuff. While we are all trying to be as understanding as possible when complications occur, it is very frustrating when it feels like we were lead to expect one thing and the reality is something completely different.

Mom's oncologist had told her on Friday that their main concern leading up to surgery was to keep the pain under control. We were told that if the pain could not be managed at home, to call the doctor, take Mom to ER and that she would be admitted to the hospital so that we could get her the right meds to relieve the pain.

Well, it didn't happen like that. We called, just like we were told to do, but we found out that our doctor was out for the week. I am still really struggling with this. I have to assume that something came up unexpectedly that made it impossible for Mom's doctor to tell us she was leaving or to prep the doctor filling in for her. But, I have to say, that even if that is the case, then I feel a bit like the clinic as a whole messed up. The doctor on-call Monday night was an arrogant, rude, asshole. (Please forgive my language.) First, my sister called the clinic and got the "answering service." The doctor called back. My sister said that we needed to take mom to the hospital and could he call ahead and get the admittance started so that they could get her pain meds right away when she got there. His response was to yell at my sister. He told her it didn't work that way. When she asked how it did work, he yelled at her again.

When Mom got to ER, she was in excruciating pain. ER was not ready for us, and they had to call the doctor Ann had just called. He then yelled at the ER doctor. They did admit mom, but when she got to the right floor, and into the room, they did not have any orders for pain meds. It took several hours to get mom meds, then when they finally came in they didn't have the right anti-nausea medication. I ended up taking the prescription we had from the other doctor out of her purse and giving it to her (much to the irritation of the nurse in the room.) It took another 30 minutes after that to get the morphine figured out.

Mom was such a wreck from what appeared to be a complete breakdown in communication between the people who we rely on for help, that she was insistent that she go home. That really wasn't a possibility, but it was indicative of mom's frustration level.

I ended up spending the night in the hospital and became quite a pain in the rear for the nurse. By about 4 am, we had everything down. Anti-nausea via drip, extended release morphine in the right doses at the right times, instant release morphine via IV, and ativan to help with anxiety and it works well for anti-nausea too.

I suppose I sound a bit ungrateful to the medical professionals. I am not really. It took some time, but it all go worked out. I just really struggle with the balance... this is MY MOM suffering here and yes, I know they need to follow procedures, care for others, etc... I value that. It just felt like it shouldn't have been so compliocated to get to the point we arrived at around 4 am.