Repost: 'We all kill a few patients as we learn'...clostridium dificile....

[Guest guest]

Hi, JoAnn,

 

My mom was in a hospital in Atlanta about 2 years ago for intractible

diarrhea she got after having radiation treatments for cancer. Tests

the hospital did also revealed the bacterium clostridium dificile in

her stool. For anyone who does not know, c. dificile is a

particularly virulent, difficult to treat bacterium that is not

infrequently picked up by hospital clients(aka " patients. " )

 

My mother was so weak she could not get up to stand on a scale to be

weighed, so the hospital staff slipped a pad and sling contraption

under her and swung her off the bed to weigh her.

 

An easily noticed tag attached to the sling weighing device

read: " NOTICE: This device MUST be washed with antiseptic soap and

water after patient is weighed. "

 

I observed that weighing device immediately after my mother was

weighed, and for several days after. To the very best of my

knowledge, it was never washed. Though it might have been washed by

someone after I left the hospital, it appeared to me from the

position of the wheels on the floor and the angle of the device that

such was not the case.

 

As has been said many times, " A hospital is no place for a sick

person. "

 

Best wishes,

 

Elliot

 

, " JoAnn Guest "

<angelprincessjo> wrote:

> , " breathedeepnow "

> <aug20@m...> wrote:

> > Hi, JoAnn.

> >

> > Of course it's no guarantee, no complete failsafe, but your post

> is THE REASON why no one who can help it should enter a hospital

for

> > treatment on his own. Everyone who possibly can should have a

> > surrogate/advocate enter the hospital along with him---someone

who

> > can be there to keep an eye on what's going on.

> > When my father was at the UC Berkeley Hospital in California in

> 1987, I was at his bedside when a phlebotomist came in and took out

a

> > syringe with dried blood in it with which he was going draw blood

> > from my father's arm. It was a good thing I was there.

> > In " Cancer As A Turning Point, " by Lawrence LeShan, there is a

> > chapter called " How To Survive In A Hospital. " LeShan not only

> says anyone who can should have an advocate accompany them to the

> > hospital; he tells of one woman(I'll call her Alice Smith) who

had

> t- shirts made for her family and friends that they wore when they

> > visited, which read something like, " Alice Smith's Advocacy and

> > Medical Staff Inspection Team. "

> > After I read Dr. Timothy McCall's book, " Examining Your Doctor, "

> in which he states that great numbers of medical personnel do not

> wash their hands between examining and taking care of patients, my

> mother had to enter a hospital for some ailment or other. I made a

> sign that read, " Please be sure to wash your hands thoroughly

> before touching the patient. " and put it on the bulletin board on

> the wall next to her bed. The sign kept disappearing! I put it

back up 3 or 4 times before I gave up in disgust.

> > Best wishes,

> > Elliot

>

>

> Hi Elliot,

> The post belonged to Frank originally, however I'd like to

> respond. You are to be congratulated for caring for your parents in

> such a unique and wonderful way. The sign was obviously an insult

to

> the hospital staff, although it may have caused them to think twice

> about who they were dealing with and helped them to pay more

> attention to business!

>

> I believe we all need to pay more attention to what's occurring

> whenever we have family members enter these facilities...

> hopefully only in life-threatening emergencies, always praying and

> hoping that everything goes well. This is even more reason to keep

> in the best of health to ensure we don't need any of

> their 'services'.

>

> There is a nutritional 'cure' for every ill! The more I read and

> learn and research I realize this. How on earth does anyone think

> that our forefathers existed before the 'onslaught' of modern

> medicine? Healing foods and herbs,... that's the way they dealt

with

> it. They knew exactly what to do and the right proportions of herbs

> to brew.

> One would think that there's a conspiracy out there, when we

> consider everything that has been put in place within just a few

> decades. I may be somewhat paranoid at times... and the paranoia

may

> very well have kept me alive.

> I believe the very worst way to go would from a medical mistake.

> Reminds me of a story I heard once of something that happened long

> ago to my parents. One of their close relatives entered the

hospital

> to have a gall-bladder operation, passed away from the operation

> eventually, however in the meantime my father just happened to be

> passing by a room where they were opening a bottle of gingerale for

> the patient.

> The nurse wasn't very efficient it seemed,... couldn't open it, so

> she just smashed the bottle top off and poured it out into the

glass

> for the patient. I don't believe this was an isolated incident

> either, from what they said. It really makes you wonder how they

can

> live with themselves.

> Someone should do a commentary on washing of hands in hospitals

> similar to those they have been doing on TV regarding fast food

> restaurants. I think the hidden camera would do the trick!

> Of course, its just a fantasy. They wouldn't get past the front

door.

>

> Regards, JoAnn