Hospitals

It seems a lot of people have been getting infections at our big hospital lately. There has been a lot of staff and MRSA also. My brother had total knee replacement and about the 4th day they said they thought he had some sort of infection in the skin around the incision but it wasn't one of those infections. However, they put him on an IV first and then antibiotics for 10 days. I think Monday will be 10 days. Today he called and said they are going to recheck his knee because something isn't quite right. I sure hope it doesn't turn out to be serious as he was doing quite well yesterday with physical therapy.

Hospitals

I have fallen behind in my posting as my husband spent 11 days in the hospital. Did you know that the hospital is the worst place there is to get any rest? If you have never been in one, you would not know that, but it is true. They give you something to help you sleep at night and once you get to sleep, a nurse comes in with a flashlight, wakes you up to check your blood pressure, etc. So what happens to your sleep? There you lie awake like an owl and can't get back to sleep. Then people coming to visit you wonder why you look so tired and run down.

Hospitals

My husband has been in the hospital a week now after colon cancer surgery. He has a stomach ache all the time and hasn't been able to eat anything. They had to hook up an IV again this morning and finding a vein is very difficult for the nurses. Then they keep giving him pills for antibiotics which upset the stomach so you can't seem to win. I know hospitals are the place to be when you are sick but sometimes you seem to get sicker before you get better

Death and Life

What do you think you would feel like if they told you that you had a month or two to live? And then it turned out not to be true? Wouldn't that be a horrible event? Well that is exactly what happened to my husband's brother this weekend. His doctor told him he did not have gangrene in his foot and that it was not true about dying soon.

However, now he has been moved to the physical theraphy part of the hospital across town. It sounds like there is a possibility of gangrene setting in within his foot as there is no circulation from the ankle down. They are beginning to discuss amputating his foot but it would have to be done in Rochester, MN at the big hospital there as they can't do it here.

Then we wonder what is next? Would he have to go to a nursing home? Can you get an artificial foot? I don't know all that much about it but time will tell.

VA Hospital Problems

It has come to the attention of VA Secretary Jim Nicholson, that the VA health clinics are not all they should be. He turned in a report that said the Veterans Affairs vast network of 1400 health clinics and hospitals have many maintenance problems such as mold, leaking roofs, even a colony of bats. This was the first major review of the facilities conducted since the disclosure of squalid conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Our Veterans certainly deserve better than this. Hopefully, full inspections will be completed and every area of concern will be taken care of quickly.