MID ??? but CT scan normal !!!

[Helena]

After visiting the hospital today I am not sure who knows more the doctors or me !

Over the last 5 years my Mother nearly 90 has had several falls and odd occurences which we originally attributed to TIAs as do her GPs
although i wonder about Lewy Body Dementia

Over the last year and particularily the last 3 months things have escalated and she is increasingly very confused alternating with "lucid " spells
She has not paid bills , cannot work washing machine etc etc
Anyway she was discovered on Sat by my sister totally comatose after a fall in her home and had apparently been like it for 3 days

Hospital diagnosed pneumonia and put her on antibiotic drip
They have done a CT scan which shows no strokes, tumours etc
and she is on 24 hour heart monitor

The extremely young/new junior doctor who was all that was on duty to speak to was unaware of her confusion state and when he told me the CT was negative i was puzzled

He said that MID was likely given the symptoms and speed of onset however since the CT was OK they needed to get her over the pneumonia before they could asses her and he could not understand why she had fallen

Everything I have read about Vascular Dementia/ MID says the CT would show it

anyone else with same problem ?

or are we back to Lewy Body Dementia

 

[jenniferpa]

Helena, I would suggest checking exactly who read the scan - some of these things are more art than science.

 

[Helena]

In a ONE Star NHS hospital .............not a chance of asking who read the CT scan

I have even been told I cant speak to or have an appointment with the Consultant and his residents cant talk to me either


If the junior nitwit I saw is typical of the new doctors out there i am scared stiff of being ill .........I understood there were 10 newly qualified doctors applying for every single vacancy currently and that only the really exceptional ones got the jobs

As for the state of the hospital it should have been condemed years ago ......Tony Blair should be ashamed of all his claims on the NHS but then we are down South which is being starved of funds in all directions in order to buy votes up North

 

[noelphobic]

As for the state of the hospital it should have been condemed years ago ......Tony Blair should be ashamed of all his claims on the NHS but then we are down South which is being starved of funds in all directions in order to buy votes up North

The hospitals up North are nothing to write home about either Helena!

I would suggest that you contact PALS and ask them to arrange an appointment with the consultant.

 

[alex]

Helena.......if the south is being starved to buy votes up north, then i'd like to say................Tony Blair couldn't buy a vote from me if he offered me Mel Gibson sober and fresh out of jail!

As us Geordies would say:

Howay man........divint yi think am gannin daft hinny............Tony B's as much use as a pit yakka withoot a lamp!

Love Alex

 

[Helena]

Well theres an awful lot of people who are willing to vote him in

Just for starters 75% of the proceeds of all council houses down south is diverted up north

Lord Rooker says those in the drought ridden South should not expect money to be spent on a Water Channel to divert water from wet areas instead they should all move to wetter areas

Its the Government who have ORDERED millions more homes to be built in the overcrowded South

I wonder where we are supposed to get the money from to move to wet areas

 

[Kathleen]

Your poor mother must have felt awful lying for 3 days after her fall.What a shock for your sister, finding her like that.

As for what caused the fall, it could have been anything from tripping over her feet to feeling really ill with a UTI or having a high temperature with a chest infection.

I can understand the need to get your Mother over the pneumonia before assessing her, she has enough to cope with fighting off the infection and recovering from her ordeal.

As she is likely to be n hospital foe a while yet, they will see for themselves how she goes from having lucid spells to being increasingly confused.

If you are still not happy with the diagnosis, you can always ask for a second opinion.

I hope your mother is feeling a little better now.

Kathleen

 

[noelphobic]

Well theres an awful lot of people who are willing to vote him in

Just for starters 75% of the proceeds of all council houses down south is diverted up north

Lord Rooker says those in the drought ridden South should not expect money to be spent on a Water Channel to divert water from wet areas instead they should all move to wetter areas

Its the Government who have ORDERED millions more homes to be built in the overcrowded South

I wonder where we are supposed to get the money from to move to wet areas

Is this really relevant Helena? Or have you just got some sort of prejudice against Northerners and are trying to antagonise us all? I've made a suggestion as to how you can get to speak to the consultant, if you choose not to do that then that's your decision.

 

[Helena]

No I am not predudiced against Northeners just the crazy effects this governments actions are having on ordinary folks lives

When it comes to state of the NHS and the treatment of Dementia patients or any other long term chronic illness they are a total disgrace

3 people walked out of the hospital yesterday all extremely upset and off to see solicitors because their relatives are being denied badly needed operations simply because of T Blairs "targets"

If all the money they claim is going into the NHS I have to ask whose pockets its lining

There were loads of staff on the ward yesterday ..........basically sitting around talking while the floor in my Mothers room was filthy and litter strewn yet not one of the staff knew where my Mother was or had had any contact with her

 

[Brucie]

There were loads of staff on the ward yesterday ..........basically sitting around talking while the floor in my Mothers room was filthy and litter strewn yet not one of the staff knew where my Mother was or had had any contact with her

... and so, what did you do?

did you ask to see the person in charge?

did you ask the staff to make sure her room was clean and ask why it wasn't?

did you ask why they didn't know where a patient was?

if so, did you do all this in a pleasant, reasoning tone? [always more effective, in my experience, than taking a harder line]

I know it is draining and time-consuming to do things, and much easier to complain about them and everything else we may think wrong with the world, but in the end, it is the do-ing that gets things changed.

If the management of the place can't establish decent standards, then we can try to help them by telling them what the standards should be.

It has worked for me, no reason why it won't work for others.....

Final note - I often visit Jan at 2pm-2.30pm-ish. At such a time there are loads of staff around at the home as well. Many look idle.

They are not. It is simply shift change-over and the ones who seem to be doing nothing are the new shift that has arrived early and who are awaiting the shift handover procedure, where reports are made on all residents so that the incoming shift know what challenges to expect.

To the casual eye, they look overcrowded, but in a matter of minutes, a single shift is in place and looking after the patients.

Very final note. These people receive £5 an hour for 8 hour shifts, in the main.

 

[Amy]

Hiya,
This is off the point, but just wanted to say something positive. We are taking dad away for a few days break next week, and he told the NH manageress yesterday. She has said that she will personally feed mum on an evening, to ensure that she gets good one to one contact - that is not saying the other staff would not give it, but she will not be under the same time restraints as they are.
Dad feels so much better now about taking the break.

Sorry for that diversion - you can get back to the business of the thread now.

Helena, hopefully when mum has recovered from the pneumonia, she will get the proper assessment that you have been wanting. There is going to be plenty of opportunity for her behaviour to be observed.
Love Helen

 

[Lila13]

I'm sorry about the pneumonia, and conditions in the hospital.

Lila

 

[Helena]

The pnuemonia is basically the fault of having VD which means my Mother refuses or is unable to see whats happening to her and that living alone places her at risk

To have fallen asleep and not woken up again would have been the kindest thing to have happened at nearly 90

Now her agony and ours will simply be prolonged

The condition of the hospital and the idle staff was the same at 2pm as it was at 4pm

Its a situation I have seen repeated across more than one NHS hospital

Too many staff doing too little ..........their rate of pay is irrelevant

and yes I will be complaining very politely in writing to the PCT direct

 

[Amy]

Hiya Helena
Yes I too think the rate of pay is irrelevant - if you take a job on you should do it to the best of your ability - and hopefully others will take up your cause and help you get what you deserve.

I am at work now - maybe at this moment being 'idle' (that is what others would think if they walked in. They do not know what I was doing 15 minutes ago, or last night, or what I will be doing during my lunch hour. Snapshots are not enough. And even if I am idle,(which I am not!) you cannot label all my colleagues as such.

Helena I suspect that if your lack of respect comes over when you are speaking with the medical personnel, you will find that they do not co-operate. It is a game we have to play to ensure that our loved ones get the best treatment possible.

Love Helen

 

[Helena]

Amy

I vent on the forum as my way of dealing with the problems

I am always extremely polite and pleasant with all medical or other personel whether it be hospital , shop, office etc

Only when its vitally nessecary after i have been patient yet had one foul up after another do i start to make a fuss and then mostly its a carefully worded formal letter ..............its in black and white then unlike a phone call or a verbal communication

 

[Kayla]

Up North?

My son lives "Up North" near Manchester and I was genuinely shocked at the deprivation of some families visiting a Little Corner Shop, just around the corner from where he lives in relative affluence.
The truth is that the NHS is starved of funds in all areas and sometimes mismanagement can make matters worse.
I do agree with Helena that it is daft to keep building more houses in the South East, which is already overcrowded and struggling to cope with supplying water and transport. More investment in the north of the country would take some of the pressure off people in counties like Kent and help other areas starved of industry.
Finding the best way to make a complaint in a positive way can be difficult. Perhaps the staff would actually prefer relatives to complain about poor conditions, if the powers that be aren't listening to them.
As for politicians, I'm afraid we tend get the ones we deserve because so many people don't actually vote for anyone at all. In a democratic society, we must all play a positive part in elections.
Kayla

 

[Norman]

Helena
Sorry to hear about your Mother's problems,I do hope she is feeling better now.

Only when its vitally nessecary after i have been patient yet had one foul up after another do i start to make a fuss and then mostly its a carefully worded formal letter ..............its in black and white then unlike a phone call or a verbal communication

Who do you write to? Have you spoken to PALS and followed the official complaints procedure?
I you feel so strongly about the PCT that is the route to take.
Norman

PS we have some duff hospitals in the West Midlands too!

 

[Helena]

Thanks Norman

Had the Consultant on the phone this AM ......said Mother had taken a turn for the worse , the pneumonia is very deep seated and the full CT scan report does actually show Multiple Infarcts so in his opinion given the High Blood Pressure its MID and having fallen and lain at home for 3 days comatose the inevitable had happened

She is on a drip and they have changed the antibiotics but she is refusing all food and drink and is very depressed can barely hear what you say and is very very confused , thinks she has been dumped there and no one cares

She has no memory of the fall or my sister taking her to hospital or me visiting on Wed .

So we shall just have to see now day by day

 

[Kayla]

Dear Helena,
I'm sorry to hear how poorly your mother is at the moment and it must be awful for you all, knowing that she was lying by herself for all that time. When my Mum fell and broke her hip, she was found straight away, but she still went downhill after the hip replacement operation.
It does sound as if you and your family have done all that you could. My thoughts are with you all at this time and especially your mother.
Kayla

 

[Helena]

Thank you for your thoughts



She should be 90 on the 29th despite insisting to all for months that she was nearly 100 and always asking " Hasn't the thing from the Queen arrived yet "

I embroidered a 90th Birthday panel for her card and dont know what to do with it now because she always insisted she had to celebrate a Birthday only on its day .............so if i give it to her tommorow you can bet i will get a flea in my ear