More complications

By Wednesday of last week, there was little change in Dad's health--his J tube continued to leak, although less dramatically than before, and he was still having problems with vomiting and endless hiccuping. He continued to get nutrition both through his stomach tube and his PPN line, including a special type of nutrition that added extra fat to his diet to help him gain weight (who would have thought that someone who went into the hosptial with a heart attack would be getting extra fat by doctor's orders?). There was some hope on the horizon, though, when we were told that Levindale (a rehab facility closely tied to Sinai) could take Dad with the leaking, and the hospital was willing to move him immediately.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen--first Levindale didn't have any beds available, then they told us that they couldn't take him with his Metroprolo still being given by IV. The staff doctors at Sinai seemed to think it would be fine to give him his Metoprolo via his J tube, although Dr. Okolo (the GI specialist who did the most recent surgery) said before the surgery that he doesn't recommend giving crushed medications through the J tube since the tubes are so tiny they tend to get blocked easily.

All of this became moot today when they discovered that Dad had a staph infection, courtesy of his IV line. So the line is out (thus reducing his nutrition) and he's on antibiotics. The infectious disease specialist thinks they caught the infection early enough that it should be fairly easy to treat. The hospital and Levindale say that when he tests negative for the infection AND has successfully gotten his metoprolo through his J tube for several days, then he can move to rehab.

Here's what I think: this has gone on long enough. As far as I know, there is no compelling reason whatsoever for the SLP to not do the therapy Dad needs in order to get him swallowing. "It's rehab's job" is no answer. He will continue to have problems with his stomach tube until it is taken out. He will continue to be susceptible to dangerous infections as long as he is in the hospital and severely weakened as he is. All of his complications over the past two months have been related to the GI tube and lack of nutrition. If they had done the proper therapy back in January, he could have long since been in rehab. I'm sick of them risking his life because, essentially, they don't want to do something that he needs in order to recover. So tomorrow I'm starting a campaign to get him this therapy. Mom says she tries to keep everything on an even keel at the hospital since she has to deal with these people day in and day out. I say it's time to rock the boat, and I don't mind irritating people and yelling and calling board members and lawyers to get this one request granted.

Wish me luck.