Please read - Just got back from visting Rae in the hospital

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lol aw. smiling is good. I remember these awful slippers I found at home later that were made of an almost styrofoam material. I freaked out and flung them and they lay on the floor with a tiny smily face printed on them. they looked so sinister. lol i have a phobia of styrofoam.

but apparently, this one night nurse who was taking care of me while I was in and out of the last week was super nice when chad explained the styrofoam thing and went and found me a straw and a paper cup! he was calling me sweetie chad said and would dry my eyes when I cried.

and thank you eric I think I will. Well, I will get Chad to because he remembers it and I dont. so it would have to be from him on my behalf. That sounds like a good plan. I wasnt going to bother because you right, I was too busy worrying about being sick and getting better and didnt wanna waste my time with things like that. If the hospital hadnt charged the paramedic, we probably wouldnt have. I think they charged her with abuse and something else regarding her profession. I odnt think she will be a paramedic anymore.

Also, I should be in bed, but my sleep schedule is SO SO SO out of whack. SKype anyone? lol
 
You've been through so much Rae.. you are so strong and I'm very glad to see you're getting better.

There was definitely some serious mistreatment by the doctors nurses and paramedics. Eric has some great points, you and Chad could write it all down and definitely send a formal complaint.
 
Rae, how are you doing hon? Hope you continue to heal.

Couple of things:

1) sternum rub..I believe is supposed to be done with knuckles over sternum. Had it done several times and its a test of alertness/responsiveness. Its supposed to be done..BUT NOT LIKE THAT PARAMEDIC DID.
Now CPR chest compressionsl, YES that can hurt and break ribs but its worth it if they save your life. THIS person was just cruel.

2) YES I agree. YOUR treatment, or lack of, in the hospital has to be documented and sent to 2 places: the hospital, esp Head of Nursing, etc
and to the LICENSING BOARD. Here in the States, you contact your State Licensing board and there is an investigation. ITS VERY VERY SERIOUS !! Individuals, AND the accreditation of the hospital could all be fined and/or and lose their LICENSE~!!!

If it were me, I would obtain an attorney to assist in the process, down the line. ALL OF THIS WILL GET THEIR ATTENTION.

My concern is, where are you to go if you are in any kind of emergency? Where would Chad /ambulance take you? In a 911 the medical personnel HAVE to take you to the nearest open ER.

Let me know what you and Chad think.

Again, I am so sorry for ALL you AND Chad went through.

Hugs, Jan
 
It breaks my heart to read this Rae, and also scares the bejeezus out of me. I can't even imagine what the two of you have felt and struggled with since this whole ordeal.

More hugs from nightfighter and me. He keeps asking me how you are. I think your experiences have concerned him enough to work toward getting off his AD, and potentially starting tegretol (offered as a potential replacement AD... go figure. We can't get them to recognize seizures, but we can sure squeeze seizure meds out of them. Whatever works).
 
epileric said:
A neurologist once told me to be aware that if a headache was a constant pressure rather than a throbbing it was a neurological headache.

Glad you're at least better, even if not in perfect health yet.
Click to expand...

...this I did not know, but is good information to have since my headaches have all been like this for the past few years (sorry to sidetrack, Rae)
 
OH Rae and others.. my husband had weird complex partials which got more and more strange, psychotic like whenever his levels were too high.

First sign was being off balance. He'd deny..but that was always an indicator for me. AND he'd just act..crazy..and stay that way.. until the med levels detoxed down to a safer level. Geez.. I had more ER docs yell..yet his neuro would say his levels were fine.

I mean his whole personality would change. BUT I could tell by his eyes..and how he responded. YESS its scary..but he needed someone to ADVOCATE for him. His docs HAD to listen to me. Yet it could come on unexpected and he'd go into status seizures like you did.

Its amazing how your brain survived as well as it has this early. GOOD for you Rae!!!

We were ALL so worried..and now so upset and mad for you.

Warmly, Jan
 
Chris515 said:
I got a call from Chad, Rae's fiance. She's been in the hospital since Sunday. She is stable for now.

It started with a migraine, and it progressed to constant seizures. They just won't stop. She's been having around 10 every day, some at the 5 minute mark and some even at 10 minutes.

She's been taking valporic acid I hope it will start to help. They are transferring her to another hospital soon and I pray to God that the seizures will stop for her.

I'm very worried about her. It's breaking my heart writing about it I'm trying not to cry. She's such a wonderful person and she doesn't deserve any of this crap. She's in a very rough state, and when I arrived she asked me how I was doing. She is a great person.

So please everyone keep her in your thoughts and prayers, I'll keep you updated as I know more.

Chris
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I haven't read to the end of the thread yet and I'm a "Johnny Come Lately" but I've prayed for her!
 
You've got to be kidding? Only people who have NEVER had a seizure would accuse someone of faking one. God bless you and hang in there. And may the person who accused you of faking a seizure never have one themselves...I wouldn't wish it on anyone!
 
All I want to add...

hg001.gif


Hang in there. Don't be so hard on yourself, take time to heal. You've been though so much. And get a lawyer. Sounds like several medical individuals need to have more training and and others need to be flipping hamburgers or cleaning toilets instead of dealing with others health.
 
My heart goes out to Rae. I wish her well and hope this is the turning point in her life. Go Rae!!!!!!!!!!
 
Jan4you said:
1) sternum rub..I believe is supposed to be done with knuckles over sternum. Had it done several times and its a test of alertness/responsiveness. Its supposed to be done..BUT NOT LIKE THAT PARAMEDIC DID.
Now CPR chest compressionsl, YES that can hurt and break ribs but its worth it if they save your life. THIS person was just cruel.
Click to expand...

True about CPR, but thats CPR not a sternm rub. Cruel is a great word for what she did. Torture and vicious I would accept too.

Jan4you said:
2) YES I agree. YOUR treatment, or lack of, in the hospital has to be documented and sent to 2 places: the hospital, esp Head of Nursing, etc
and to the LICENSING BOARD. Here in the States, you contact your State Licensing board and there is an investigation. ITS VERY VERY SERIOUS !! Individuals, AND the accreditation of the hospital could all be fined and/or and lose their LICENSE~!!!
Click to expand...

I agree. but at the same time, they werent doing anything because it was my neurologist that had to guide and direct them, so when he wasnt answering pages, the other doctors had to wait. some sort of "chain of command" or some bullshit. although one doctor mentioned that there was a compassion clause that allowed her to help me because I was in so much pain that it would be considering suffering and torture if they let me sit in the room.

Jan4you said:
My concern is, where are you to go if you are in any kind of emergency? Where would Chad /ambulance take you? In a 911 the medical personnel HAVE to take you to the nearest open ER.
Click to expand...

See thats our dilemma right now. We are smack dab in the center between 2 hospitals. One hospital is the Victoria, which is the one that I have always gone to as it is a bit easier to get to, but not quicker. its more of a straight line path rather than a winding path to the other hospital. But the other hospital *the St. Boniface* has the on staff/call neurologist, plus is head quarters for my neurologist. I dont understand that the last 2 times chad told them to go to St. B, they wouldnt and said the Vic was closer and it was at the time considered urgent. something about different classes. one time chad said I was deemed amber and only had the minimum lights. and the other 2 time I was deemed red and had all the lights and a siren. the amber time, they took me to st b like he asked.

So I think it depends on how urgent I am. I also dont understand why the Vic would not just stablize me and transfer me to the St. B because the Vic cant do anything on their own for me, They had to make phone calls to St. B before they did anything for me. Which meant I had to wait longer for treatment. and the only thing that they gave me was Ativan at first. Not sure if its cuz they were too inexperienced with seizures to try other methods right away or that it was the only drug cleared to use on me there. The ambulance drivers used Mizadem (?) and it stopped them almost the second it reached my brain. but I later found out that they cant give too much of that because its one of the 2 drugs used in carrying out lethal injection. Ugh.
 
Midazolam, AKA Versed, is a heavy duty benzodiazepine. It's in the sma class as Ativan and Valium but it's usually only used in thr OR or ICU. It's used for sedation before surgery or while people are intubated. When you hear of someone being in a "medically indcued coma" this is often what they're using. At the OR where I worked, we called it "Milk of Amnesia" because it also makes people forget the pain/fear they felt pre and post anestesia. It's usually only used in critical care settings or ER's because it depresses or even stops breathing. I can see why they would turn to it as a last resort to stop your seizing.
Incidentally, I'm pretty sure it's the drug that was given to Michael Jackson, thus causing his death because he wasn't in a setting where his breathing could be monitored or assisted if needed.
It is one of the drugs used for lethal injection, so the person doesn't feel the pain and terror of the potasium stopping their heart. It's actually the pottasium that's killing them. Sorry to go on and on, but I'm a nurse and pharmacology was one of my favorite sujects
 
But Rae, the more I hear of your story, the more angry(and sad) I feel. I can't believe that in this day and age you were treated this way. They did wrong by you in so many different ways. Thank God you had Chad with you because given all you told us, these "health care workers" might very well have killed you. And I mean that quite literally. You are lucky to have gotten out of that cluster#### alive! I don't know how different the laws are in Canada, but if you were here in the US, I would say you have one heck of a lawsuit.

So sorry you've had to deal with all this. You don't deserve it. (((((((hugs))))))))
 
Ok Rae.. now I hope Chad knows what to do..IF..(and hopefully never again)
you need an ER. But unfortunately IF its PARAMEDICS or EMTs THEY have to go to the NEAREST ER.

BUT Please either fill out the surveys the hospital will send you. These surveys are life and death to an agency, clinic or hospital. It compares then Nationally to other facilties as they are RANKED.

Now, I would still encourage you, when you feel better, to write the Chief of Staff and Head of Nursing. THEY will need to address this very serious matter AND provide training since they did not provide the comfort and care necessary for someone in your condition. PSEUDO seizures..now I would like to know who decided that. ONLY a doctor can make that decision, mostly a neuro.

AND the fact that the Neuro was not available...definitely needs to be addressed. NOT all neuros know about seizure activity as you know.

SURVEYS letters, and reporting the to licensing boards GETS their attention.
AND you need them to place an notation about your kind of seizures..because they wrote and spoke to others that you have PSEUDO seizures..this will be
reported again and again to other staff and hosptials which will not provide you the best care.

ENOUGH!! Know that I got your back!!

Jan
 
Rae, I will be glad when you are well enough to write a poem. The Creative Writing Page is a sub forum in the Lounge Room. I love your poems.
 
I, too, think the way you were treated was terrible, and warrents a letter to the medical board.

Though when I think about it, they wouldn't have given you Midazolam if they truly thought your seizures were psychogenic or you were faking it. It's a pretty serious drug with potentially serious consequences and they would have given it to you only if you met certain criteria. Maybe one really dumb nurse spoke out of turn with her totally wrong opinion. The rest of the staff may have believed they were epileptic seizures.

I'm so glad you are feeling better now. Loved your poem in your other post! :)
 
Hey Guys,
Its been a year since I landed in the ICU. Still filling out many forms for the complaints. They are about 30 pages long and require one for each doctor nurse etc involved. They also require copies of my medical records which cost about $75 from each hospital I was at and each one takes 30-60 days to receive. So its a long process, I can see why so many people dont complain because they discouraged with the amount of paperwork and energy it takes to complain.

I still have nightmares, and yet I still have zero memory of July and most of August. I dont remember typing in here but I vaguely remember this thread. Just because I had taked about everything non-stop so I could have some sort of idea of what happened.

Things are getting bad again, and im sure hoping there isnt another ICU visit in the future. I am in the middle of scheduling several surgeries (one for the pin in my arm, one for my wisdom teeth and one/three for my tonsils, adnoids and tubes in my ears) So Im very worried about something triggering status again.
 
Well, I

wish you the best of luck, Rae. It certainly won't hurt to have it on your side!
 
Sucks about the complaint process. I'm getting my records form my old neuro to give to my new one, and it's going to cost at least $75.00, and forget trying to get the EEGs -- that's a ton more dough. Anyway, good for you for persevering Rae. I hope all the upcoming surgeries go well, and that your docs and nurses are terrific (instead of terrifying).
 
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