Saturday, November 7, 2009

Blazing Cat Fur blog: TGH - Toronto Generally Hopeless

I suppose I should have been tipped off by the fact that the surgeon who performed my Mom's angioplasty last Friday couldn't be bothered to check up on her afterward. This same surgeon discharged her Saturday morning from TGH, Toronto General Hospital - by phone.

Tuesday afternoon my Mother suffered a "False Aneurysm", this, the paramedic explained, is a fairly common side effect that may have been caused by the anti-clotting medication she has been prescribed. However I read now that "The most common cause of pseudoaneurysm is femoral artery puncture during cardiac catheterisation." Hmmmm, thanks for that followup Doctor. An angioplasty requires that an incision be made in the groin in order to access the femoral artery via which they transport the stent that keeps a plugged heart artery "open". Her femoral artery opened up like Hoover Dam. The thigh and groin swelled with the mass of blood that collected till it looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to her, inflicting perhaps the largest bruise you ever saw.

She was scared, in a great deal of pain and very weak by the time she hit TGH's ER, though commendably the paramedics had stabilized her - this was 6:20 PM. The paramedics stayed with her, monitoring her vitals and answering my questions as best they could until well after their shift ended at 7. At 8:30 PM, in order to release the paramedics my 84 year old Mother was officially admitted to TGH. Admission consisted of moving her from the ambulance gurney to a hospital gurney and pushing her 20 yards down the corridor, next to the homeless guy with the festering sores on his legs. The attentive care of the paramedics was replaced by - nothing.

We waited nearly an hour for a resident to finally stop by and enquire what the matter was. Appallingly, she had no prior knowledge of why my Mother had been admitted. My shock increased after she asked, in all seriousness, if the angioplasty had been a success. I can only assume that the look on my face caused her to retreat and summon the physician on duty. Exhibiting Solomon like wisdom, the attending doctor suggested that a physical examination was in order. She then disappeared with the resident in tow. A nurse was dispatched who informed us that my Mother would have to be undressed for the examination. Since this Angel of Mercy made no offer to assist, I took it upon myself to undress my bedridden mother in a public corridor, in full view of the passing parade of visitors, patients and staff. (Truth be told, the homeless guy was pretty discrete, or at least preoccupied.)

Mom was eventually examined, in the public corridor, and an ultrasound ordered, all while a street person dumped a filled adult diaper on the floor and replaced her own soiled bed linens in the ward next to us. At this point we were informed that the vascular surgeon would be called in to interpret the ultrasound. The Ultrasound technician showed up earlier than anticipated and Mom had her pictures done shortly before 11 pm. This procedure afforded Mom some privacy as they chose to conduct it in the unused examination room next to her "room" in the corridor. Our Angel of Mercy, the nurse, made her second appearance, sticking her head in to enquire "Who left her like this?" - -Mom had been left in a partial state of undress, uncomfortably positioned and without the recommended bags of saline solution in place to compress the swelling. I replied that the Ultrasound technician had just left, having finished her session. Five minutes later I watched our Angel of Mercy clock out to end her shift- - but thanks for asking, Florence Nightingale.

More ...

http://blazingcatfur.blogspot.com/2009/08/tgh-toronto-generally-hopeless.html