widowed after mvr

[Marty]

Have a patient advocate!

Have a patient advocate!

I advise all patients going in the hospital for surgery, particularly heart surgery to make arrangements for a patient advocate to be with them 24/7 from admission to discharge. These advocates can be family or friends. Their job is to check everything done to and for their patient, ask questions,ring for help when indicated , etc. This may annoy the nursing staff and the residents but it keeps them on their toes. Remember a squeaky wheel gets the grease!

 

[blessed1416]

Enlightened...thanks

Enlightened...thanks

This thread really has me thinking about concerns that need to be addressed IMMEDIATELY. My heart goes out to all of you who have lost loved ones because of the failure of health care. I too, lost my father because of something that happened while he was in the hospital for...of all things, constipation! The evening before the morning of his death, he was drinking a large bottle of laxative. He was laughing and kidding around and bragging about how he would have it all drank before midnight. I kissed him good-night at 11:00 pm and told him I'd see him in the morning. At 5:30 a.m. the hospital called and told me to get there as soon as possible, that he had "taken a turn for the worst." He was dying and all we could do was stand by and wait. He had a history of heart problems all of his life, as did his entire family- 5 brothers and sisters, and both his parents died with heart-related problems. His cardiologist, whom he had so much faith in, told us "Mr. Sheppard lived many more years than I'd ever expected him to." Daddy taught us that God is always in control, and our faith was what we held tightly onto during this time of so many questions. There were so many "what ifs?" What if I had demanded they not give up on Daddy? What if they had taken dramatic measures that might have extended his life, but reduced his quality of life? To end this reply...It wasn't until 2 years later, after other "defining moments" (as Dr. Phil calls them, or pieces of the puzzle, as I call them), that I understood the purpose of Daddy's unexpected death. God's plan was not my plan, but His was the best plan. Even though we can't trust man, I can trust God.

Dave44widow, Nancy, Brainsmom, Devalle6, zipper2, kristian, I'm so very sorry for your losses. I'm sending you hugs of sympathy and prayers of comfort and peace. Thanks to all who posted on this thread... I am going to put in writing my advanced directives and give a copy to each of my family members. Many, many thanks!!!!!!