The False Ducks Blahg

    Yes it’s true, it’s September of 2018 and I haven’t written a blahg since April. This blahg is going to explain what happened to me and what happened to another Mr. Henderson, my Father, George.  I am on holidays this week and I was going to change the picture on the right to one I took at the beach the beginning of this week.  I was going to do that but when I logged in today to write this new blahg, I noticed that someone had changed my picture to a very inappropriate one where a Hitler mustache had been drawn on me and a Nazi swastika emblazoning my forehead and a speech bubble with an offensive word off to the side.  I have changed my password and hope that the bastard who did that is locked out.  To this sick individual I say “there is no place for your type of hatred in this world”. 

     Now onto more important things.  I want to talk about my Father.  In a previous blahg in February of 2015 entitled My Good Life, I wrote about my Father falling in January of 2015 and breaking his right hip.  It took six weeks to get him back on his feet and get him home.  At that time they made a diagnosis that he had functional dementia which simply means he functions well in his home environment.  This makes sense because he had some bad days in the hospital when he didn’t even know who I was.  The team at Belleville General Hospital were prepared to give up on him then and it took me going in every day to encourage him to get up and work with the physiotherapists.  Eventually he got up and got going and went home.  I had that experience of seeing him coming back from the fall and fighting through the dementia and getting mobile.  That’s what drives my current experiences with Belleville General Hospital.  Read on. 

     I am not saying that everything was great over the past three years with my Father at home.  He and my mother would fight and argue but my Father was not violent.  Sure he could be stubborn but I think that’s bred in all us Hendersons…or so my wife tells me.  He got back most of his mobility and walked with the aid of a walker.  He walked all around the house, ate everything put in front of him, and smoked and drank when he could.  He didn’t go out of the house much unless I took him to appointments or took him to his my brother’s cottage.  It was a semblance of a good life.  This year Dad celebrated is 81st birthday and we expected him to continue strong.  The day after his birthday I took him to see his Doctor.  It took me three months to convince him to go and the bribery of two bottles of rye…one for going and one when he got home.  Of course the drinks were measured out over time.  Unfortunately one week after his Doctor’s appointment he slipped in his home and fell and broke his left hip.  That was June 1st.  Things have not gotten better since then and my Father is currently a prisoner in Belleville General Hospital. 

     I want to show you a picture of my Dad on the left from three years ago.  Yes, he was 78 then but you can see that he was healthy if not mobile yet.  As I said, it took 6 weeks and my own stubbornness battling his stubbornness to get him up and moving.  I give credit to the physiotherapists but the discharge planner at that time was saying my Dad would not get better and show go into a long-term care home.  I didn’t buy into that then and won’t now.  Look at the current picture of my Dad on the right.   This was taken about three weeks ago when the weather was nice and I was able to get him outside for a few minutes.  That was the last time I was able to get him out of the hospital because the hospital has not been very cooperative since then. 

     After my Father fell and broke his hip back at the beginning of June, he was admitted to Belleville General Hospital, which I will refer to as BGH hereon.  His surgery occurred within 24 hours and then he was moved to the sixth floor of BGH.  After his surgery, his health began to decline because he came down with pneumonia four times or one long bout of pneumonia that they never got under control.  I was told by the various Doctors that this is common in seniors after this type of surgery.  Sounds like they were aware this might happen but I can tell you he never took an precautionary measures.  He was always in a room with at least one other patient and there was no mask and gown procedures to prevent my Father from being exposed.  They also kept changing rooms and rarely giving him a window view unless I complained.  I don’t like to complain but BGH staff don’t do a lot of thinking when it comes to patient care; in my humble opinion. 

     My Father’s health declined so much on BGH’s watch that he had to have a feeding tube put in.  He lost muscle mass and the ability to control his limbs.  I was called into BGH when the hospital was sure my Dad wasn’t going to make it and I should prepare myself for the worse.  The worse didn’t happen and my Father has continued to beat everything thrown at him.  The major problem is that BGH’s attitude is that they believe my Father will never get any better and that he should go into long-term care.  Where have I heard that before.  They did nothing for his mental or spiritual health either and I found myself arguing with the hospital when I’d find my Father lying flat on his back or parked in a wheelchair between his bed and the wall with his head turned to stare at the wall.  Many is the time I have gone up and found no one engaging with him and him staring at the ceiling or a wall.  Communication broke down and they stopped calling to give me updates.  It was at that point a month ago when I filed a complaint with Patient Experience Specialist. 

     I don’t want to go into a lot of details but my complaints were not just about my Father’s care.  It included the attitude of Doctors and Patient Flow Coordinators who told me I had misplaced optimism and that my Father would never get any better and long-term care was the only option.  They even wanted me to sign papers for long-term care so they could charge us long-term care rates while he waiting in the hospital for a long-term care bed; something that could take more than a year.  At the same time I began working every day with my Father and talking to him, engaging him, and getting him to move his limbs.  BGH staff were content to let him languish in his bed and do nothing.  I knew that even talking with him went a long way towards his mental health and his motivation to get better.  My attitude was I don’t know if my Dad can come back from this but I also don’t know that he can’t come back from this.  That is what I told the staff in the meeting with myself and the Patient Experience Specialist.  I also told them that they made my Father the way he is now and they need to take some responsibility to help him get better.  Unfortunately I believe there’s a collusion of effort on BGH’s behalf to make the hospital look good despite my complaints and the lack of appropriate care for my Father.  They don’t treat him like the George Henderson I know him to be and refuse to work with me on my efforts to being him back to a better quality of life. 

     There was a short period where I had some hope because a couple of Doctors followed up on my suggestions.  They took him off one mood stabilizer that was causing him to be continually drowsy and doped up and put him on one that’s seen him more engaging.  They also provided a prescription for CBD oil that some believes helps patients with their dementia.  I’m still working to get that.  Having Power of Attorney for my Dad doesn’t always mean I get what is needed and when it’s needed.  Unfortunately the Doctor on his floor, now the 4th floor where I didn’t want him to go and a move on which I was not consulted, changes every week.  This past week’s Doctor is Dr. Robertson and one who told me a couple of months ago that my Father would never get any better.  I showed him the progress my Father has made to move his limbs and my Father even showed Dr. Robertson himself but Dr. Robertson dismissed it and said it wasn’t much to show for three months in the hospital.  That was very dismissive to both my Father and I.  Talk about insensitivity! 

     I should also add that I filed another complaint from two weeks ago when I was spoken to in an inappropriate manner but a nurse at BGH.  I had been visiting my Father after work and working with him to move his limbs.  I often joke around with Dad because he likes to laugh and he knows I love him and want him to get better.  I said to him “you’re useless to me lying in the bed because I want you to come home.”  Nothing hurtful was meant by it but all of a sudden a nurse comes into the room saying another staff member had witnessed being abusive to my Father.  They said I said his was useless and generally degrading to my Father.  This never happened but the nurse said they were going to file a report.  I tried to talk with her but they made no effort to want to hear the truth.  So I phoned the Patient Experience Specialist and let her know what happened.  The dressing down I received from the nurse was done in front of other BGH staff and family members of another patient in my Dad’s ward room.  I heard nothing more from the Patient Experience Specialist after she said she would look into it so I don’t expect anything to come of that complaint.  The Patient Experience Specialist also told me she was leaving that position on September 28th.  Can you guess what that means.  If you guessed nothing then you’d be right.  Nothing is in keeping with what is typical of BGH. 

     I have requested my Father be moved from BGH to Providence Care in Kingston.  They have a geriatric rehabilitation center there and I know Dad would get the care and attention he needs there.  Unfortunately BGH has stonewalled me on that.  When I spoke with Dr. Robertson yesterday he said my Father was turned down by Providence Care.  Then he called me later and said he was mistaken and that BGH had not made the referral because they thought my Father didn’t meet the requirements for Providence Care.  Then he phoned me back and said he had been mistaken again.  Frankly I stopped listening to him at that point and told him I think I should get a lawyer involved.  A Doctor that makes two mistakes in one day?  Mistakes or lies?  It certainly doesn’t instill any confidence. 

     So my Dad is in limbo.  I can’t get BGH to provide appropriate care and they are blocking his transfer out of the hospital  I used the word languishing earlier and I will use it again.  My Father is languishing in BGH and they are not working with me to help him get better.  They don’t recognize the improvements Dad has made while I’ve been working with him.  It’s a total lack of respect for my Father.  Again, it boils down to dignity.  The Doctor on his floor changes every week and I’ll just have to wait until Dr. Robertson is gone today.  I’ve contacted Providence Care myself.  I’m waiting for a call back.  I can’t go through BGH because they just won’t listen or help.  It’s up to me to fight for my Dad because no one else is doing it.  I’ll keep you posted.  Three years ago my Father proved them wrong and I have full confidence he can do it again.  If only I could get a competent hospital work with me on this.

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