everyone needs a bitch like me

at their bedside! LOL! My sister told her husband that if she was ever in the hospital, to make sure I was there all the time!

After another knock down drag out verbal brawl with yet another doctor today.....he is home! I promise you that I can give him better care than he was getting in that hospital. I walked in yet again this morning to find him in a soiled bed. I nearly lost it. He has been 5 days without dialysis. His creatinine is down to 2.4. His other labs are all borderline. They were obviously doing absolutely nothing for him whatsoever......and obviously not even "observing" him.

He fell coming up the front steps. Much weaker than he thought. So I called friends and they came and brought one of our adjustable twin beds down to the main floor. We set it up in the family room, which is open to the kitchen. I brought down the puppies crate and I will sleep on the sofa for now. He can practice steps as we have one step up to the main entrance landing. If he falls when we go to the doctors I will have to get help to come in.

I have to start calling at 7 am tomorrow to set up all the necessary appointments. He is talking that he will not do dialysis again, but I know that can change. We have to start all over with his insulin and get him in to see his endocrinologist, his nephrologist. He is back to wearing depends with a chuck across the bed at night.

But you know what.....he is home. No more charting the hospital's every move. No more sleepless nights worrying about what meds they might double dose him on. I left 6 pages of single spaced typed notes with the head nurse.....for just this past week. I told her I really hoped they would use them to make changes that might improve future patient's lives.

I don't think I mentioned the med problem. He and I figured out that they had stopped FOUR of his meds could turkey when his kidneys failed. One was the allopurinol 500 mg per day to control his gout. No wonder he had a gout attack. They stopped his terazosin (sp) which he needs due to prostrate problems....and that controls his urine. So they were charting him as incontinent.....when they stopped the med that he needs to keep him continent. Do you see the sheer stupidity of that? So we had a doc in and he agreed to restart 3 of the 4 meds. One was a beta blocker for his heart. But that doc failed to note that they had put him on a different beta blocker. I'm the only person who realized he was on TWO beta blockers. I asked the night nurse to hold it....and he said, "no, if a doctor wrote the order, we give it to him". I was wide awake all night long. When the morning nurse brought it in again, I asked her to hold it til I spoke to a doc. She went out, called the doc, who immediately discontinued it. So you know I was right once again....and they had made another mistake. I think it was huge. Double dosing a patient's beta blocker could have had is BP dropping so low he might not have revived.

needless to say, I am thrilled we are home, beyond happy that this part of our life is behind us, hoping that he will regain enough strength to do stairs...but realizng this may be our new interior decor plan! LOL!

I'm beyond exhausted and going to try to get him ready for bed next. I won't survive the night if he doesn't put that cpap machine on now!!!

dW