Knowledge is Power

We learned a few things while mom was hospitalized for two and one-half days. Apparently, mom had passed out at the breakfast table and they couldn't revive her. The home called the emergency squad who revived her with oxygen and transported her to the hospital. My sister arrived at the hospital before either I or mom and spoke to the people in charge. They informed her that we would not be able to get in to be with mom for at least 20 minutes until they had her stabilized. Sis told them they were not going to do this to her again...that our mom is 92 and has severe dementia and we need to be by her side. They told her she would have to wait no matter what. Since we had been through this discussion before when mom broke her hip, we now knew how to deal with the hospital staff. When mom arrived (and we learned that she was still alive), we simply marched right in with the squad and followed the stretcher. We didn't look right or left, made no eye contact with anyone and kept marching along until we got safely in her room. No one dared to stop us. It was amazing how a little confidence and authority can work in your favor.

Of course, mom was yelling at the top of her lungs and was wildly disoriented so I think the staff was glad we were there to help calm her down. We also could answer questions regarding her medications and general status so I'm sure we were a help rather than a hinderance. What we learned is if you have a loved one taken into the emergency room, find a way to get in there. The last time we had to sneak in through the locked doors as someone was exiting. This time we pushed our way past any obstacles with sheer force of emotion. We would not be stopped!

There will be more in a day or two on this subject. Now I'm going to bed to try and shake this horrible cold.