From today's Billings Gazette: “It’s rare in Montana that we have something occur in a nursing home that would put patients in jeopardy,” Jon Ebelt, spokesman for the state Department of Public Health and Human Services, wrote in an e-mail.
I am floored by his statement. The nursing home refused to let my mom see my dad until it was too late and the infection had spread to his brain. He went into a coma and died. The nurse at the hospital told us point blank...if Dad had been brought in 24 hours earlier he could have been treated properly with antibiotics and been fine.
I think the people in Helena need a reality check. |
Not to throw gas on your obviously tragic fire Kacey, but he did say it was rare. He didn't say it never happens. We all need to understand that medicine is a science. Unfortunately it will never be an exact science. I know several people that MIGHT be alive today if the doctors in charge had found something earlier that they did. My little brother might be alive today, IF they had done a c-scan earlier than they did. And if that scan found nothing, I would bitch about the cost of the procedure they put him thru with obviously no reason, since they didn't find anything. A dear friend here in Bozeman died of Hanta-virus a few years ago, only the 3rd case ever in Montana. How could I expect doctors that never see such a thing to get the diagnosis correct, in time to save her? See what I mean? We can all play that blame game, but it really gets us nowhere. And trust me, I have played that game myself. Blame might be the most destructive of the stages of grief. It clouds our judgment, and impares our thinking. All we can do is be vigilent when it comes to our health care, and the health care of our loved ones. The system will never be perfect, and that is something that we all just have to live with, hopefully.
We are not talking about gross cases of malpractice here. That is a chat for another day. Unfortunately, bad timing is all it takes in some cases. Please know that I am sorry for your loss. |
| When the nursing home refuses admittance to family members when a patient is ill, and then doesn't send him to the hospital until it's too late and the infection has spread to his brain that is more than putting a patient in jeopardy. And it's not a rare occurence, unfortunately. I am sitting here tonight praying for another woman I know from another home who had the same thing happen. The infection is now in her bloodstream and she is in critical condition. |
| I just got a phonecall from my mother in Texas. She tells me that my aunt Mary who is only 61 years old, had to have her leg removed on Sunday. See she had fallen at Christmas time and broke her hip. Before then she was extremely active. She had to go to a nursing home for care and rehab. The doctor told them to bring her back in 10-14 days. They took her back on friday, over a month after the accident, and found she had gangreen. Not sure on the spelling of that word so don't rip me apart on it. The infection has spread through her body and now they aren't expecting her to make it. I don't know if this story will do anyone any good, but the other side of that coin is she is on medicaid. Therefore the nursing home provides substandard care to those who can't afford it. |
Nursing homes in Montana, Kacey, 2/5/2010 10:47:42 AM
RE: Nursing homes in Montana, Matt - Schmitz, 2/5/2010 6:47:34 PM
- MT