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| - BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE BANNER BOSWELL E.R.
Last Sunday I visited my mother and found her to be very lethargic, not alert, and generally out of it. Her caretaker said that her feet had become very swollen, and they had not been when I saw her two weeks before. The caretaker also said she is barely eating, and is stopped walking from her chair to the bathroom and release herself in protective panties. She only walks in the morning from her bed in the bedroom, to chair the front room, and back again at night.
This is absolutely abnormal for my mother who usually can walk fairly rapidly throughout the house. That she was not eating, not reading the newspaper or doing crossword puzzles which she always did. I was very concerned and called her doctor, who responded to my call the next day, and came out to see my mother on Tuesday, performed an evaluation, and drew many vials of blood for testing. Results came back on Friday. The doctor, Susan Ward, called me, saying she was quite concerned because two of the blood tests came back with highly abnormal readings. This coupled with her behavioral change and lack of eating, indicated to her, and urgent need to go to an emergency room.
Paramedics took my mom to the Banner Boswell ER on Thunderbird in Sun City. Before any tests were taken, the doctor walked in the room after my mother had her vitals taken by a nurse, very chipper and happy with a loud voice saying you look fine. I explained the situation and her behaviors, and he asked if she was back to normal now? I said no, my mother did not even understand that she was in the hospital, which is totally abnormal for her. The doctor appeared very unconcerned and says well will find out what is wrong and get her back to normal in no time.
After several vials of blood were taken and 500 mL of fluids are given, and urine obtain from a bedpan, we waited.
Now my mother has atrial fibrillation, but refuses to see a cardiologist, she has stage III chronic kidney disease, which is normal for someone 99 years old, and she did make plans to see a nephrologist. Her heart is weak because she so inactive, due to the pain in her legs which was recently compounded by the urinary infection which was causing aches and pains and lethargy, as well as her sleepiness.
The ER doctor (Jones) came in, and said she appears to be fine, and that they were going to release her. I strongly objected, stating my mother is not normal. She was confused as to where she was. She did not know what time it was. She kept sleeping the entire time she was in the bed except when attended to by a nurse or a doctor, which is highly abnormal for her, as usually she is quite alert and talkative.
A bit thereafter a nurse came in with orders to see if my mother was mobile enough to go home, as the doctor stated that in her condition would probably be dangerous for her to go home with only a caretaker for eight hours.
Well, the mobility test consists of walking from her ER bed to the ER but room entrance which was about 7 feet, and then walking back again. It took my mother all of four to five minutes to walk 14 feet and yet they wanted to release her.
I told the nurse how can they possibly release my mother in her condition, she is not normal. She is confused, she cannot walk more than 14 feet with somebody helping her and with a walker, she could never make it to 50 feet to bed from her living room chair where she spends most of the day. I emphasize that this was an entirely new condition, that until a week ago she had not had that much of a problem ambulating, eating, concentrating, reading and doing crossword puzzles.
The nurse said he would convey this information to the doctor. The doctor never came in, instead a social worker came in, and was quite rude.
Basically she said, your mother should never have been brought to this emergency room. There is nothing acutely wrong with her that can be treated. She went on to say, what you should do is either putter on full hospice care, or get her the medical care she requires.
Get this, her regular doctor, Susan Ward, is the one that stated that she should be taken to the emergency room. It was not a decision my mother made, nor that I made. That social worker stated the options were to make her comfortable until she died, or give her the care she needs, but she cannot have both. And she is being discharged now. She asked whether I could stay with my mom, to which I responded that I was having hip replacement surgery in three days. She responded "well, the doctor said she is going to be discharged even if it is only to her home with a caretaker there eight hours a day.
They absolutely refused to admit my mother and treat her for any of the conditions that she was suffering from. My mother has a doctor that takes care of her at home, that comes to her home every three months and more often if needed, such as when she came out to draw my mother's blood and ascertained that my m
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