"It's Dangerous To Be Sick"

A friend of mine has been having problems with his knees lately. One of them got so bad that he agreed to have a total knee replacement operation. I was concerned about this because he is divorced and lives alone. I worried about the surgery, about the after surgery treatment he would receive, and then how he would fare when he came home.

I have had people tell me over and over that in this day and age if you don't have someone with you at the hospital when you are sick, you will be in a heap of trouble. These people have told me you need a family member or friend to be with you for the duration of your stay in order to make sure you are taken good care of by the hospital staff. Luckily I have not been hospitalized recently so I don't know if it is true or not. However I believed it enough to be concerned for my friend.

The surgery was a success. That is what my friend told me when I called him on his cell phone. He was a little groggy but otherwise doing okay. The next morning it was a different story. He told me that during the night his temperature went up to 103 degrees and that his heart started racing. The staff gave him some medication and it helped. Thank goodness.

What amazed me was that none of his doctors ever explained to him the reason for the fever and/or the heart palpitations. They brushed off his inquiries or laughed it off. Later my friend's eyes began to burn and became sticky. He thought he had pink eye but the hospital gave him some eye medication again without any explanation.

After two days my friend was supposed to be moved to a rehabilitation facility - but there was no room available. And there was no room the next day or the next day. Finally the doctor came in and asked if my friend wanted to go to rehab or go home. My friend answered that he wanted to do whatever was best for his knee. After assurances he would get physical therapy at home my friend checked out of the hospital.

When he got home he had a health care assistant coming in four hours each day. She came the first day and tried to do as much as she could, but she only spoke a small amount of English. This meant in addition to having a bum knee and some pain, my friend also had to try to communicate with the woman sent to assist him at home. 

Hopefully his knee will get stronger as the days pass by, and to tell you the truth I am glad he is out of the hospital. With so many scare stories circulating about staph infections you have to be concerned. It seems in some cities in our country the hospital is not somewhere you want to be when you are sick, and that is a shame.

I can remember when hospitals were places of care and service. You got lots of "TLC" from the beginning of your stay until the end. Today many hospitals are understaffed and overbooked, and you enter at your own risk.
 

 

 

 

 

©2007 Jackie K. Cooper

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