More on Dad
Dad made it and has been admitted to Caesar-Sinai. I'm very tired and I have a pounding sinus headache, but I slept better last night than I have since learning that my dad's health was deteriorating.
The difference between this hospital and the VA is phenomenal. The nurses and doctors providing dad's care are very knowledgeable. His main Doctor specializes in his particular cancer…that's ALL he does. He said that the next two or three weeks are critical, but once we were past that point and if dad responds to treatment he was confident that he would be able to proceed with the stem cell transplant. Another doctor on his team was asking questions, getting his history and dad made the comment about being a witness and "NO BLOOD" and she smiled at him and said "We know; it is documented already on your file. Don't worry." What a relief!
My brother said that when he was telling the head doctor about how the VA hospital and staff were treating dad, it made the doctor visibly upset. Apparently he rolled his eyes several times. He even said he was going to call the nurse that was particularly problematic and "enlighten her." Here are a couple of examples; dad has had a low grade to high fever continually for more than a month. Did the VA do anything about it? No. They just said that it was his body fighting off the cancer. That may be true, but it was something the new doctor considered serious enough to have him admitted to the hospital. Also dad has had a stiff neck for months and it has been very painful. He has complained about it every time he went to the VA doctor and they told him it was probably his arthritis acting up and they gave him pain pills that didn't work. The new doctor said it was probably the cancer affecting his neck and ordered an MRI that they did last night AND got him pain medicine that actually worked. Dad said that it was the first time he didn't feel pain in four years.
My brother also met up with the financial department. One of the threats the VA hospital gave us is that his care would not be covered if we took him to Caesar-Sinai. The way they handled it was to treat it as a second opinion which led to an emergency admittance into the hospital. Apparently under those circumstances the VA would be responsible to pay for the care. My brother said this really was a shock to him. He's used to financial departments being where the buck stops and getting nothing but "NO" yet they were very helpful and made it clear that they would be going after the VA to get payment.
Dad will likely be in the hospital for two or three weeks. We still have things to
figure out i.e. where exactly will Shirley (dad's wife) stay while down here.
She has an offer but it is an hour away from the hospital, but I'm sure the details
will fall into place.
Oh one more thing…I didn't know this, but this apparently is the hospital where all
the celebrities go for urgent care or rehab. We were actually walking thru the
Betty Ford clinic on the way to dad's room and wondering if we'd see any celebrities. 8)