HOSPITAL / June 5th: In the morning, before I went to my doctor’s appointment, I got a call from the discharge case manager at Baystate.
“We are trying to arrange to send Kathy home today, Thursday. ”
I said,”Huh? What about the rehab place?”
“No rehab. Dr. Kampe talked with Physical Therapy and they said she is good to go home.”
“Really. I’m not sure if everything is ready?”
“Well more than likely it will not be until Friday.” she said. We talked some more and I said I would prefer to have it on Friday. Don’t get me wrong. I want her home but I need it to be safe and have my proverbial crap together.
I had an OK check-up with Dr. Lyons. But something I said got him going about the future of healthcare in America. He feels that no medical student with a brain will want to go into primary care or internal medicine in the future. “We just deal with paperwork and bureaucracy more than caring for patients. Pretty soon you will rarely see an actual doctor. And even the smart physician assistants and nurse practitioners will work in a specialty.” He didn’t blame Obama care. He said it has been a problem for ten or more years before that. That discussion tied him up enough so he didn’t have time to tell me to get more exercise and eat healthy.
I got to the hospital in time to say good-by to Trisha outside the hospital. She thanked me for taking care of her big sister and headed to the airport. Kathy was back in the original respiratory care department she had started in. They did shift her from one side of the room to the other because her new roommate Ann, needed the monitors that were set up there. It was good to see someone else with family at their bedside. Olga and the other woman who took her place had no one. Ann had cancer in her back, I believe. Her son was actually a doctor at the hospital so he tried to translate some of the medical terms so that his mom and dad could understand them. I got to talk with Ann’s husband a fair amount. I would always leave the room when she needed to use the bathroom because hospital gowns may make it easier for the staff but they give a lot of exposure. He had been a contractor for many years until he retired. They were very proud of all their kids. He was really worried about her and whether she would recover.
We firmed up that Kathy would be discharged Friday instead of today. They wanted to make sure someone would be home when the ambulance brought her back.
“That be me”.
There were also a lot of loose ends to tie up too. Kathy’s insurance meant she had to get her feeding supplies from a different company called Coram, which is related to Apria and to CVS. Someone had to be home to meet the delivery of feeding stuff and sign papers.
“That be me”.
And then there was the suction machine. I had to be home for that, too. So I wouldn’t be coming in the last day at all. I called the visiting nurses and senior services (GSSSI) and the different agencies to alert them.
I went home early for a change that night. Before I left I pointed out to her nurse that I had brought a clean change of clothes for her. Tomorrow would be an interesting day.