Unfuckingbelievable!
So, right now I am persona non grata as far as my father is concerned. I know it is due to a combination of the brain trauma he received in the accident, and high ammonia levels (due to his heavy drinking for the last 50 years and liver damage). I am no longer allowed to receive his medical info from the doctors or nurses - by my fathers request - it is his belief that I have been conspiring to keep him in the hospital, and that I have been lying about his confusion, false memories, etc.
In the mean time, he had an orthopedic appointment on Friday to remove the sutures from the surgery he had 3 weeks ago to repair his broken ankle. Even though I'm not supposed to get his medical info, the social worker from the rehab hospital called me at 8:40 AM on Friday to let me know that dad had an appointment and the doctor likes to have a family member present. Mind you, the appointment was in Springfield, I live in Ware - at that time of day, even had I been ready to walk out the door when she called, it would have taken me at least 45 minutes to get there. Needless to say, I didn't even try - I did however call the orthopedic doc and left a message for him to call me after the appointment.
Friday afternoon I had not yet heard from the Ortho, so I had no way of knowing if dad was allowed to bear weight on his foot or not. Dad called my mom and said he was full weight bearing again and would be getting out of the hospital Monday or Tuesday, and he wanted to be discharged to a hotel since I am a liar and he doesn't want to live with me. My mom and I visited my dad after that call - trying to convince him that he didn't need to be discharged to a hotel, that it is not me keeping him in the hospital, and that I haven't been lying. We told him I couldn't let him come home, however, if I was not able to get his medical info from the doctors as his memory has been muddled since the accident. He invited us down to his PT session, where they had him walking full weight (with a walker and escort) on his broken ankle/leg. He walked up and down the hall a few times, then up and down a small flight of stairs they use for therapy. The plan was to give him as much PT as possible over the weekend so he would be ready for discharge early in the week.
He refused to let me get the info from the docs and nurses - so I told him that I could not pick him up (the last report I had gotten from the docs is that he would need sub-acute care for a few weeks before he could come home). Fast forward to Monday - I received a voicemail while I was out. It was from the Ortho doc that dad saw on Friday (the first I'd heard from him). He left a detailed message stating dad was healing well, but would not be able to bear full weight on his ankle/leg for another month. That until then, he needed to put as little weight as possible on that leg. This is after the hospital had him doing full weight bearing PT on his leg all weekend long. I called the hospital, talked to the PT lady and she told me "I was told he could bear full weight" - uhmm... didn't you read his chart yourself? Obviously not. Now there is a scramble to clarify the docs orders as I had the PT lady listen to the message the doc left me.
I believe what happened is my father either never gave the doc the consult sheet he was supposed to fill out, or when he saw he wasn't allowed to use the leg as much as he wanted for another month, he threw it out. When he got back to the hospital, the social worker (who is a MAJOR ditz) asked for it, dad said he didn't get one so she asked what the doc said (from a brain trauma patient, mind you) and filled out a new consult sheet or just verbally told the PT lady. Mind you, this is speculation on my part as to what happened, but the message the doc left on my voice mail was VERY detailed.
I have filed an official complaint with the hospital administrator for that, among other reasons - including the social worker refusing to give my mother and I any options when we asked what could be done about my fathers mental status - if we could get him evaluated or any help, or could she direct us to someone who would know - her response has always been "That is not my area, I cannot answer that".
The social worker is paid for by the insurance companies - her job is to get people out of that place as quick as possible. I believe that is a conflict of interest. I think the administrator I talked to today was sympathetic, he seemed to be anyway - and said he would start an investigation in to my complaints immediately.
Sorry for rambling, but damn, this fucking sucks!
In the mean time, he had an orthopedic appointment on Friday to remove the sutures from the surgery he had 3 weeks ago to repair his broken ankle. Even though I'm not supposed to get his medical info, the social worker from the rehab hospital called me at 8:40 AM on Friday to let me know that dad had an appointment and the doctor likes to have a family member present. Mind you, the appointment was in Springfield, I live in Ware - at that time of day, even had I been ready to walk out the door when she called, it would have taken me at least 45 minutes to get there. Needless to say, I didn't even try - I did however call the orthopedic doc and left a message for him to call me after the appointment.
Friday afternoon I had not yet heard from the Ortho, so I had no way of knowing if dad was allowed to bear weight on his foot or not. Dad called my mom and said he was full weight bearing again and would be getting out of the hospital Monday or Tuesday, and he wanted to be discharged to a hotel since I am a liar and he doesn't want to live with me. My mom and I visited my dad after that call - trying to convince him that he didn't need to be discharged to a hotel, that it is not me keeping him in the hospital, and that I haven't been lying. We told him I couldn't let him come home, however, if I was not able to get his medical info from the doctors as his memory has been muddled since the accident. He invited us down to his PT session, where they had him walking full weight (with a walker and escort) on his broken ankle/leg. He walked up and down the hall a few times, then up and down a small flight of stairs they use for therapy. The plan was to give him as much PT as possible over the weekend so he would be ready for discharge early in the week.
He refused to let me get the info from the docs and nurses - so I told him that I could not pick him up (the last report I had gotten from the docs is that he would need sub-acute care for a few weeks before he could come home). Fast forward to Monday - I received a voicemail while I was out. It was from the Ortho doc that dad saw on Friday (the first I'd heard from him). He left a detailed message stating dad was healing well, but would not be able to bear full weight on his ankle/leg for another month. That until then, he needed to put as little weight as possible on that leg. This is after the hospital had him doing full weight bearing PT on his leg all weekend long. I called the hospital, talked to the PT lady and she told me "I was told he could bear full weight" - uhmm... didn't you read his chart yourself? Obviously not. Now there is a scramble to clarify the docs orders as I had the PT lady listen to the message the doc left me.
I believe what happened is my father either never gave the doc the consult sheet he was supposed to fill out, or when he saw he wasn't allowed to use the leg as much as he wanted for another month, he threw it out. When he got back to the hospital, the social worker (who is a MAJOR ditz) asked for it, dad said he didn't get one so she asked what the doc said (from a brain trauma patient, mind you) and filled out a new consult sheet or just verbally told the PT lady. Mind you, this is speculation on my part as to what happened, but the message the doc left on my voice mail was VERY detailed.
I have filed an official complaint with the hospital administrator for that, among other reasons - including the social worker refusing to give my mother and I any options when we asked what could be done about my fathers mental status - if we could get him evaluated or any help, or could she direct us to someone who would know - her response has always been "That is not my area, I cannot answer that".
The social worker is paid for by the insurance companies - her job is to get people out of that place as quick as possible. I believe that is a conflict of interest. I think the administrator I talked to today was sympathetic, he seemed to be anyway - and said he would start an investigation in to my complaints immediately.
Sorry for rambling, but damn, this fucking sucks!