As the World Turns....

I seriously feel like sometimes (lately) my life is resembling a soap opera!    I wake up this morning all "Pumped" to go re-launch "81" at Gold's, so I was in a great mood and ready to take on the day.  I called mom's room at the hospital and there was no answer, then spoke to the nurses station and they told me she was still out for her test but that they will be taking her to ICU after.  I found out that she wasn't expected in the ICU until close to 11am.   I went and taught my class and afterwards things were starting to sink in - why were they taking her to ICU after and why has the Doctor not called me?

I went to the hospital and she was in the ICU, the nurse greeted me and filled me in on the status of things.  Well turns out that during the Arterialgram this morning they discovered a blood clot in her upper left leg near the surgery wound and had to intervene with a catheter procedure.  I've no idea what this procedure is, but basically it's a wire thing in her right upper leg that connects through her body to the veins in the left leg and pumps her veins with blood thinner to break up the clot.  She was in ICU because this requires a lot of supervision to make sure she keeps her legs as straight as possible.     Tomorrow they will do the same Aterialgram to see if the clot is gone and determine if the catheter can be removed, if so, then she'll be moved out of the ICU.

She was in pretty good spirits actually and her pain was being managed.  The staff at Sequoia is just so AMAZING, it really is a relief to have her here.  I can honestly say that many nights I went to sleep worried about my mom in the CPMC facilities.   Not the case now that she's here.

So my brother visits tonight also and then he & I have a discussion on the phone because we are trying to figure out how could she get a blood clot and when she was released from the hospital on 3/23 to Woodside Terrace her foot was normal- not swollen and she was being more active with walking to/from the dining room three times a day.  Well we determined that she started to experience problems after the first visiting home nurse who came to see her twice.  Mom has complained that the nurse was not gentle at all, that she really hurt her and was not listening to her.   She had also used an ACE bandage on her thigh (surgery wound) just above the knee - something no other nurse had done during her entire re-cooperation period.  It was so tight and painful that a few hours later my mother yanked it off and after complaining to me, I called Sutter Care at Home and complained about "Patrice" and told them we needed a new home visiting nurse.  It looks like now though that the damage had already been done.  It's a bit peculiar that this clot happened just above where the ACE bandage was placed and the part of her body to stop receiving blood flow was her lower leg and foot!

I'm pissed and disgusted at this!  It's an outrage!  I am also pissed at her Dermatologist who continued to "treat" her skin ulcers and waiting much too long to admit her into the hospital, when she should have been sending her to a Vascular Specialist at least a month prior.  She never once stated that there could be a circulation issue, she's a Doctor- she should know these things and not expect a patient to know.  Quite honestly, my mom's eyes aren't that great- so she could never tell just how swollen her legs were or the fact that her foot was red or purple - but the Doctor should have picked up on this and sent her immediately!   I will be seeing what grounds we have for a lawsuit, she has gone through an incredible amount of pain and suffering and it's looking now like a good portion of it was never necessary!  Incompetent SOB's!