The Rant~

August 14, 2015

Friday

1:00am

Cindy:

Here's my rant....

We've been here in the hospital almost 2 weeks and here I sit counting the hours until they attempt to put a stent in my mom's esophagus anytime between 8 & 3 like she's having cable installed.

Hoping they're able to get it in and give her some comfort for whatever time she has left.

It's funny the things we take for granted like eating without regurgitating.

My mom woke up yesterday and said she was dreaming she was eating a big juicy steak and baked potato and all I could offer her in its place was red jello and chicken broth with fingers crossed she didn't throw it up right away.

More ironic was that the doctors were totally ready to release her Sunday even though she couldn't stop throwing up, after much insistence on our part they finally took her down for an endoscopy. 

It turns out they discovered a mass engulfing her esophagus so they're going in again to try to place another stent this time in her esophagus.

I want to say I'm not angry but I would be LYING!

From not getting a correct diagnosis, or pain managed to being denied food for 3 days while they tried to figure out what to do next not realizing they still had her Npo.

It takes a certain degree of patience to be a warrior, first you have to be 

Prepared to answer the same stupid questions 100 times, first to one attending doctor and then to 99 students.

Then await the 4 different teams that will come in throughout the day and give you completely different stories & scenarios and look at you like your an animal at the petting zoo.

And most of all Prepare to Wait!!!!

Wait for pain medicine, ice water, an enema so you can go to the bathroom, wait to eat, to get your pic line covered so you can take a shower and feel human, prepare to be at the mercy of anyone in a uniform.

If your the warrior's caregiver prepare yourself to almost be given an enema or mistakingly have your blood drawn in the middle of the night when your warrior decides you should take the hospital bed because their more comfortable in the window bed.😳

Prepare yourself for the nurses that never stop talking and laughing all night long. And are bothered when you call them for pain or nausea medicine because your interrupting their yapping and laughing that woke your loved one from the first good sleep she's had all week reminding her of her pain.

Not to mention seeing a (cna/patient care tech) in this place is like seeing a unicorn... unheard of.

Good luck getting something decent to eat from the 24 hr cafeteria on the 2nd floor where no one cooks after 9 and you can't find a cashier to save your life.

Prepare yourself to deal with a staff that wants to be in and out and on to the next patient and then prepare yourself for the exhuberant bill.

Some days I think the only way you can tolerate this place is if your going straight to the morgue. Enough said, in my mother's words "the food's probably better down there, see ya there!" 

Having said all of that there are still great doctors and nurses that have made this stay bearable, being kind beyond words and staying those extra few minutes to make sure we understand everything that's going on while giving us hope that even in these scary times everything may turn out ok.