Hello all it's been a while since my last post, I have been looking after my aging mom who had to have some eye surgery this past week. It was supposed to be simple, but is anything every simple? Anyway she had cataract surgery along with few other things done to her good eye that I can't even explain but were necessary for her to re-gain some of her vision back.
Friday morning we went to St. Michael's Hospital for the surgery, everything went well apparently but in the present state of the health care they have these conveyor belt surgeries and kick a patient out a soon as humanly possible to make room for the next victim! From the long term care facility where she resides to the hospital is a good 45 minutes to an hour drive on a good day, so I booked a wheel chair transport to take us to and from the hospital to avoid any undue stress on my mom to climb up and down my vehicle worked well for us but expensive, whatever one does what one has to do in these situations...
On Saturday we went back for the post-op check up leaving the nursing home at 6:30 am only to find there was bleeding in the front of her eye causing her to have no vision at all. She was beside herself with worry, as was I, that she would not see again. We were told to go back to the surgeon on Monday morning at 8:00 am to find out what the next step is.
Monday morning we took the taxi back to the clinic across from the hospital to find out she had to go back the next day for a second surgery to fix the blood clot that was obstructing her vision making her completely blind. We went back to the nursing home on Monday night with the snow starting downtown only for it to get worse as the day progressed. I booked the taxi once again asking him to pick me up at my daughter's house at 5:00 am, he had been early for the previous pick ups so when he wasn't there on time I called him he said he was running late due to road conditions, understandable as there were at least 30 cm of snow on the ground, I walked outside to check how much snow had fallen only to find the road had not been plowed at all! I knew if the taxi would come to the house he would not be able to get out of the street so I decided to start walking at 5:00 am in -22 temps! Once I got to the main road I was relieved to see it was plowed so I called the taxi driver and told him I would be walking down the main road to meet him, all I could think of was my mom's surgery and the importance of getting her there on time. He also understood the importance of the surgery so he did his level best to get to me. I ended up walking 1+ km when we finally met, man was it cold!
We finally made it to the hospital for the surgery, a little late but we made it, the surgery went ahead and went well and once again it was a kick in the ass go home we'll see you in the morning! Well I would have none of that I was adement my mom was not going anywhere, she would need to be admitted to the hospital to stay overnight, even on a gurney in the hallway would be fine I would be by her side to look after her I just did not want her travelling. Do you know what the surgeon told me? He said that it was not medically necessary for her to stay in the hospital, if the family wants patients to be admitted then they should pay for the room to the tune of $3,000 for the night! I was floored! My mom has a whole host of health issues among which is very thin blood making her bleed easily, I can't help but think that if she would have been admitted the first time the second surgery would not have been necessary because she would not have been subjected to all the stress of the long, bumpy drive back home! He was ready to cancel the surgery if I insisted she stay overnight so I caved and told him to go ahead I would figure something out.
In the waiting area a kind gentleman mentioned that he booked a hotel to stay the night and said they give a discount to hospital patients so that is what I did is book a hotel room at a much better rate than the hospital and we stayed there seeing we had to be back the next morning for the post-op check up at 6:30 am. Best decision I made to stay over even though we were not prepared to stay overnight we made do and at least my mom got some much needed rest.
How is it that in a country such as Canada, the best country in the world to live, we have to put up with this type of treatment from our health care? I agree with most of the regulations but this kicking people, especially elderly people, out after a surgery is ludicrous! This practice is causing more harm than good not only to the patients and their families but to the health care in general. If my mom had stayed at the hospital for one night her eye most likely would not have bled because of little or no unnecessary movement, they would have saved the expense of having to use the OR, all the staff required in the OR, the meds to sedate her, the admitting staff etc all over again. I'm not sure what they think they are saving, it's cheaper to do the job right the first time than to do it twice isn't it?
Friday morning we went to St. Michael's Hospital for the surgery, everything went well apparently but in the present state of the health care they have these conveyor belt surgeries and kick a patient out a soon as humanly possible to make room for the next victim! From the long term care facility where she resides to the hospital is a good 45 minutes to an hour drive on a good day, so I booked a wheel chair transport to take us to and from the hospital to avoid any undue stress on my mom to climb up and down my vehicle worked well for us but expensive, whatever one does what one has to do in these situations...
On Saturday we went back for the post-op check up leaving the nursing home at 6:30 am only to find there was bleeding in the front of her eye causing her to have no vision at all. She was beside herself with worry, as was I, that she would not see again. We were told to go back to the surgeon on Monday morning at 8:00 am to find out what the next step is.
Monday morning we took the taxi back to the clinic across from the hospital to find out she had to go back the next day for a second surgery to fix the blood clot that was obstructing her vision making her completely blind. We went back to the nursing home on Monday night with the snow starting downtown only for it to get worse as the day progressed. I booked the taxi once again asking him to pick me up at my daughter's house at 5:00 am, he had been early for the previous pick ups so when he wasn't there on time I called him he said he was running late due to road conditions, understandable as there were at least 30 cm of snow on the ground, I walked outside to check how much snow had fallen only to find the road had not been plowed at all! I knew if the taxi would come to the house he would not be able to get out of the street so I decided to start walking at 5:00 am in -22 temps! Once I got to the main road I was relieved to see it was plowed so I called the taxi driver and told him I would be walking down the main road to meet him, all I could think of was my mom's surgery and the importance of getting her there on time. He also understood the importance of the surgery so he did his level best to get to me. I ended up walking 1+ km when we finally met, man was it cold!
We finally made it to the hospital for the surgery, a little late but we made it, the surgery went ahead and went well and once again it was a kick in the ass go home we'll see you in the morning! Well I would have none of that I was adement my mom was not going anywhere, she would need to be admitted to the hospital to stay overnight, even on a gurney in the hallway would be fine I would be by her side to look after her I just did not want her travelling. Do you know what the surgeon told me? He said that it was not medically necessary for her to stay in the hospital, if the family wants patients to be admitted then they should pay for the room to the tune of $3,000 for the night! I was floored! My mom has a whole host of health issues among which is very thin blood making her bleed easily, I can't help but think that if she would have been admitted the first time the second surgery would not have been necessary because she would not have been subjected to all the stress of the long, bumpy drive back home! He was ready to cancel the surgery if I insisted she stay overnight so I caved and told him to go ahead I would figure something out.
In the waiting area a kind gentleman mentioned that he booked a hotel to stay the night and said they give a discount to hospital patients so that is what I did is book a hotel room at a much better rate than the hospital and we stayed there seeing we had to be back the next morning for the post-op check up at 6:30 am. Best decision I made to stay over even though we were not prepared to stay overnight we made do and at least my mom got some much needed rest.
How is it that in a country such as Canada, the best country in the world to live, we have to put up with this type of treatment from our health care? I agree with most of the regulations but this kicking people, especially elderly people, out after a surgery is ludicrous! This practice is causing more harm than good not only to the patients and their families but to the health care in general. If my mom had stayed at the hospital for one night her eye most likely would not have bled because of little or no unnecessary movement, they would have saved the expense of having to use the OR, all the staff required in the OR, the meds to sedate her, the admitting staff etc all over again. I'm not sure what they think they are saving, it's cheaper to do the job right the first time than to do it twice isn't it?
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