Grandpa had his surgery at 2 pm yesterday. The surgery went well and he stayed the night at the hospital. Im not convinced that the bipartisan (nursing home and hospital) care method is the way to go. The nursing home checked his potassium levels prior to taking him to the hospital for surgery. Once at the hospital, (15 minutes before his first scheduled surgery) they re-checked and found the levels were to high and postponed until 2pm. The surgery went well but afterwards they gave him morphine for the pain. He is allergic to morphine. Not only that, but in a patient with low blood pressure, morphine dropped his blood pressure to 73/40. They determined they wouldnt give him his blood pressure medication since they made his BP drop so low (duh!) Then, last night the hospital staff nearly put my Grandpa in the same boat he was in before. When my mom and my sister Cheri (an LPN) went to see him one last time before calling it a night, my sister noticed they had hooked up an IV of potassium which is normal protocol for most surgery patients but NOT dialysis patients. Cheri told the nurses to call the doctor immediately to see if the potassium could be disconnected because elevated levels would mean a potential blood transfusion and kidney failure again. Sure enough, they realized he SHOULD NOT have potassium and they disconnected it. They are now keeping grandpa in the hospital (likely overnight) to monitor his levels until they stabilize. He is awake and in good spirits this morning despite the lack of attention being paid by the caregivers. What doesnt kill us makes us stronger, right?
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 15:35:57 +0000
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