Hi Dan You are so right. I agree. Basically, the problems is he has stage IV ulcers on his sacral area, cannot turn, and no one will put him under anesthesia with those wounds. He also has coded a couple of times while at this Somerset County hospital in NJ. They also said the surgery will take time to heal, and his healing with his wounds are so slow.
I also agree on the intensive PT. However, the problem again is his wounds. Kessler told me they will not take him because they are an acute care rehab hospital, and cannot take in someone with chronic wounds. They are not equipped for this. Wounds are very very expensive to take care of. It may take 10 months to years, or never heal, before someone gets worse, septic and dies. If his arms were released, he would be able to turn. My hope is to get him home, get his new primary care doc who will be visiting him at home to be aggressive and active on his behalf. It is going to have to happen as an outpatient. Now mind you, this poor guy has been through he#@ and back several times. This hospital he is in now is the cause of his stage IV ulcers because they had him sitting in the ICU for 9 months. They are not even communicating with the family about discharge, and won't be helping. The doctor from there had pushed for him to be a DNR and hospice, and told the family to allow him to die peacefully, nothing could be done for him. So they are not now going to turn around their decision. The scary thing is also, if and when he goes home, the closest hospital to him is this horrible hospital! So if the ambulance has to bring him in an emergency somewhere, he ends up here...ugh! Robert Woods Hospital is much better, so hoping this can be arranged. I really think you got it right though about his arms. Just not sure how to get past this because of his very fragile health right now. I am just so appalled at this hospital system and our healthcare crises. Unbelievable. He was dumped at 6+ hospitals and 2 nursing homes in about as many weeks and then they dumped him back to the same hospital which caused all the pressure sores and contractures to begin with. As someone told me from a major hospital's admissions office, ... No one wants to take responsibility for some other hospitals mistakes. He is now seen as a big mistake- ...lawsuit waiting to happen. How many other patients before him are now gone as a result of their negligence? How about in other hospitals ICU's where they just leave the patients who cannot turn themselves? No nursing home wants to take him in now, not in his early 20's and with a voice to see and speak about what is going on. Thank God his mom is there with him everyday. Without her love and devotion to him, I would not be visiting him at the hospital, it would be in a large piece of land... I want to thank everyone for the emails you sent this past week about mattresses and in response to this. You are terrific!!! I have sent this information along to the family, and also along to his medical staff, to see if we can get him home for Christmas. Paying for home health aids at $25.00 an hour is now another issue. He may get 12 hours a day of care with the CRPD Medicaid Waiver program, but would need to pay for additional care at home, or a live in. This will take time to set up. Anyone with suggestions? He will only have one adult with him during the day (family) but needs two. Thanks!! ________________________________ From: Dan <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Fri, December 11, 2009 8:07:36 PM Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] Stage IV wounds mattress suggestions? At 06:18 PM 12/6/2009, medethics Cvlrights said something that elicited my response: Your friend certainly is in a mess! As far as the arm contractions go, I always thought that this could be corrected with a simple surgery. I know that when I was 15 I had the contractions in both my hips released. I assume this has been discussed with the doctors. What did they say? And if not surgery, what about intensive physical therapy? It just seems to me that this is one of the first things that should be addressed. If his arms are preventing turning, I don't see how he is going to heal his pressure sores. Not to mention how uncomfortable he must be without being able to change the position of his arms. Dan
