Help While in Hospital

[VTgirl]

My brother goes in for mechanical valve replacement on January 7. I'll be with hiim the first week, my sister will be with him the 2nd week.

What are the best things we can do for him, both while in hospital and as he returns home? What did you as patients appreciate the most from those who were your caretakers?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Phyllis]

Welcome and how nice that your brother has two wonderful sisters to take care of him. Here is a list of what to take to the hospital: http://valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13283
In the meantime I will search for the thread on how to prepare the home and post it in another reply. I will also put your brother's surgery on the calendar.

 

[Ross]

Welcome and how nice that your brother has two wonderful sisters to take care of him. Here is a list of what to take to the hospital: http://valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13283
In the meantime I will search for the thread on how to prepare the home and post it in another reply. I will also put your brother's surgery on the calendar.

Phyllis when you get it and post it, remind me to sticky the thing. I'm tired of looking for it.

 

[Superbob]

Your brother is indeed fortunate to have two caring sisters to help look after him!

One of the things my daughter did the first week I was home was organize my pills in one of those daily, time-of-day pill organizers you can get at a drug store. The prescriptions were changing right after surgery, and my mind was a little foggy after surgery (some will say it still is ) so it was great to have her watching medications carefully for me.

I slept in my recliner for weeks afterward and I remember my wife every night giving me a "sippy-cup" of cold drinking water to last the night.

There are many little things that will be mentioned in the "sticky" that's going to be posted. I remember also that my family had lined up some DVDs of movies for me to watch during recuperation. I wasn't back into reading for quite a while.

I am sure others will offer many other ideas.

All best wishes,

 

[Phyllis]

Here's the latest one: http://valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19034&highlight=prepare+house
If you use the search function and put in "prepare house", there will be others- it's an often discussed topic here on VR.com. and yes, Ross, I will pm you with the link and a reminder- I'm tired of searching for it too!!

 

[Nancy]

I helped my husband through many years of surgery. While he is in the hospital, one of the most important things for you to do is to stay with him as much as humanly possible. Hospitals do a fair job with many things, but they are not perfect, and many mistakes can and do happen. Keep your ears and eyes open. Listen to everything the doctors and nurses say. Have your brother give you written permission to speak with his doctors and speak for him if need be. I guess I am thinking along the lines of having him give you a Healthcare Proxy and possibly a Power of Attorney. Otherwise, they will ignore you if you have any questions.

If you see anything at all that you don't feel comfortable with or have questions about his care or comfort, make sure to speak up and don't be shy.

He'll have the best care in the ICU right after surgery, and things should run smoothly there. When he gets moved to the other units, care starts to deteriorate, especially over the weekend, if he is going to be there on the weekend, and he will need your help a lot.

 

[WayneGM]

What did you as patients appreciate the most from those who were your caretakers?QUOTE]

Patience, understanding, and a lot of TLC. Welcome to the site. Glad you found us. The links Phyllis provided are great so I don't have anything else in that regard to add. Post-op I think you'll find, your brother won't be an invalid. If anything, you'll have to "coach" him to pace himself as we are often inclined to over do it because we don't actually feel that bad. Best wishes and good luck to both of you.

 

[MajorHart]

Personal contact is best

Personal contact is best

My brother goes in for mechanical valve replacement on January 7. I'll be with hiim the first week, my sister will be with him the 2nd week.

What are the best things we can do for him, both while in hospital and as he returns home? What did you as patients appreciate the most from those who were your caretakers?

Thank you for your help.

Hi, I'm just out since November 19th, 2007. My wife went through so much stress over this that I felt more sorry for her than me.

But her constant contact, calling me in the hospital and advising me that good things were going to come helped a whole lot - as well as the people on this forum explaining to me why I couldn't sleep on my back or left side.

All things are resolving now - I no longer take pain killers, and I've walked a mile a day on my treadmill for over 1 full week now. He will probably be walked alot in the hospital and be told as I was to walk alot when he gets home - the second day home I walked 1/4 mile on my treadmill, then two days later 1/2 mile and then 1 mile a day.

I used to hurt all over and that too has largely disappeared - I can sleep fair on my left side and back now and very well sitting up or on my right side.

Exercise will keep his spirits up and that will help a lot too.

Keep us posted - good developments come in just a few days in most cases - I believe.

Best wishes.

MajorHart

 

[VTgirl]

Thank you

Thank you

Wow! You are all the very best! Thank you thank you for the site and for all the info. I very much appreciate it and hope that I can help someone in return.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

I'd like to expand on Nancy's excellent recommendations for watching everything that is done while in the hospital.

First, make a List of ALL his Medications, their Dose, and Time to be taken.

Then, CHECK EVERY Medication (or injection) EVERY TIME to be sure it is the correct dose at the correct time.

Note that there have been cases where medications were NOT recorded by a (substitute) caregiver and someone came back later to administer the SAME Medication, thus overdosing the patient. This can be especially dangerous with anti-coagulation medications (Coumadin or the Generic Warfarin tablets and LOVENOX injections which go in the 'belly fat').

Do NOT be afraid to contact the Head Nurse or even the Surgeon if something seems 'amiss' or your brother is 'having problems' that are not being addressed (or not being addressed properly).

Hopefully by the second week at home, he will be able to fend for himself, at least during the day, with a cordless phone at hand at all times 'just in case' he needs to call for help.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[ruth]

VT Girl -

Your brother is one lucky guy! You are sweet to take such good care of him.

What did I appreciate most in the early days?

- A fresh glass of cool water even when I had not even finished the (now warm) one I was given earlier.

- Understanding of my strange food tastes (nothing tastes good post op). To me personally canned fruit and jello (2 foods I usually don't eat at all) both tasted wonderful compared to everything else. I really appreciated my husband stocking up on those and being willing to bring me those kinds of oddball snacks and understanding that whatever dinner the family was having just didn't appeal to me at first.

- Having someone to walk (slooooowwwwly) around the block with me.

I wish you all a successful surgery and uncomplicated recovery.

Peace,
Ruth

 

[Blanche]

In our family, when someone is hospitalized and can not make clear decisions for themselves, we make sure that someone is with them 24 hours a day. The one time I did not follow this procedure, my husband accidentally pulled the IV out of his arm and he was bleeding on the floor. Neat and clean person that he is, he tried to clean up the blood.

His nurse found him on the floor and thought he was having some sort of episode, so they put him in restraints, hand and foot, overnight. Poor man was hospitalized because of a stroke and couldn't talk. But, years later he can laugh about it.

A family member can also be of assistance in taking notes, answering phone calls, checking medications, asking questions for the patient, and tending to safety issues. Having people who love you and care with a patient can be therapeutic.

One thing I learned from my husband's last hospitalization is to ask if anyone on the floor has the same or a similar name. Imagine what kinds of mix-ups that could cause. Someone dropped off a plant in hubbys room that belonged to a different "Albert" two rooms down. Course, we laughed about this and made a new friend...But, if it had been medication the results could have been different.

Hope these few suggestions are helpful to you.

Blanche

 

[Nancy]

Agree with Blanch wholeheartedly! When Joe was in the ICU, not able to think straight and supposed to be getting one on one or at the least one on two care, and when they really frowned on loved ones being with the patient overnight, he managed to 1.) Pull out his feeding tube which was a real bear to put in, it never got reinserted correctly again and 2.) On another occasion, climb out of bed while the rail was up and fell on the floor.

Where the unprofessional nurses were when this was happening, I have NO idea. But they were ALL there when I had a meeting with them afterwards. For that they were available. So, I guess that told me where priorites were, not with patient care, but with damage control later on.

As it turned out, they were not doing one on one or even one on two, they were running the ICU like a regular floor, and with less help than the regular floor. It was shameful care.

I won't forget this, and I will always warn people that what you think is happening, might not be the case at all, and when you are not there, who knows what is happening to someone you love?

So that's at least two caregivers here who have had bad experiences with care given in the hospital.

So insist that you be allowed to stay, even when they don't want you to. It's not worth risking having something bad happen.

 

[hensylee]

the others are all correct. Second surgery I had (not heart this time) I ended up getting pneumonia because the nurses did NOT insist I get up to walk! I said I wasn't going to and they didn't insist. What did I know? I was out of my head with those push the pain iv things. One daughter was with me a lot, but she was just worried and didn't know what to do. When the other one found out, she began to ruffle the sheets and I got ok, but had been near death. So if you see something you question in your mind, question it out LOUD - as Nancy said. Guard your brother.

Best wishes to him as he makes this awesome journey over the mountain. It's quite a climb but sun and flowers are on the other side. Bless you.

tell him not to sneeze for a couple months.

 

[jds]

A few simple things to make a patient happier

A few simple things to make a patient happier

Hello -

Here are some specific things I liked in the hospital:

- ear plugs and a mask to cover your eyes. Hospital rooms have noise and light when you are trying to sleep.

- many short visits. Get several people to come - preferably on several different days - but for 10-15 minutes

- trashy literature or a loaded iPod. No heavy books. I like shoot-em-ups but something that does not require brain cells.

- food (after you come home). Hospital food is sometimes good and sometimes bad but it is always bland and boring. Arrange (via friends or a takeout place) to have varied and interesting food at home. Portions will be small because appetite is suppressed. My very first meal, from a wonderful friend, was West African Ground Nut stew which is chicken in spicy peanut butter sauce. I will never forget that meal. If the hospital says it is OK and the patient likes spicy food, bring a bottle of hot sauce - I use the milder Green Tabasco Sauce on all sorts of things.

John

 

[Bina]

I agree that it is best to never be alone in the hospital. Keep a spouse, or relative, very close by. If the care is outstanding, then they will be a good extra set of ears for listening, or just good company to keep your spirits up. If the care is average, or less, then another person can help catch glitches or errors. One day when my daughter visited, we caught the nurse giving me the pills for the man in the opposite bed. My daughter also pointed out that my IV had been in for 9 days when the limit is usually 4 days. Nurse had no time to change it and that night the IV infused my arm and it got red, hot, and painful
THEN they changed it.
My husband was with me from 7:00am until 10:00pm then he would go home, check on pets, maybe bake muffins, sleep a bit and come back to me. I was in for 16 days and looked like I was run over by a bus and truck; hubby looked almost as exhausted!
Most people progress much faster and better.