Thursday evening
So ..why so many days since my last post??? Answer..I fell in our bedroom Monday night and had to be taken to the Emergency Room at KU Med and admitted into the trauma unit do to my head hitting our cedar chest full force, breaking my glasses, and causing a whip lash which centered around C4 to C6.
But, I am home again. Thankful that I didn’t cause worst damage to myself and having learned a lesson that due to the ALS, I am unsteady and falling is always a risk.
Another story about KU Med…
I understand that they are a Medical center and a teaching facility, and I know that there are alot of very skilled medical professionals there, but after the operations and treatment there exists a lack of communication between medical professionals that is very scary. Last week I was in recovery for over 4 hours without pain meds because there was no instructions or orders as to what should be done with me and after finally being admitted, was told I had a hopeless case of ALS and should be thinking about having a ventilator put in to breathe for me.
This week, I entered through the KU Med trauma unit. Since I have ALS and on blood thinners, 911 responders carefully immobilized my neck took me to KU Med where the trauma team immediately emptied my stomach through my newly installed feeding tube and made it an open drain into a bag..This was done because of my ALS and if I needed surgery, it would be safer for me..Understood.. Very professional…but 48 hours later that drainage bag was still emptying my stomach because the doctor who gave that order could not be contacted to give the order to stop even though the decision that no surgery would be necessary was made within the first 24 hours..
With Carole & my daughter fighting for orders to feed me, finally I was feed by converting my feeding tube back to a feeding tube. My daughter Jenny faithfully posts updates on my condition and she is a better writer, so I have pasted her Facebook post below.
God’s blessing to all, Les
Now here is Jenny’s Facebook Post
That being said, the frustration lies in the 48 hours that dad went without food or nourishment of any kind while we waited for his attending physician to find the time to speak with him, give an official diagnosis and treatment plan, and then allow him to once again be fed. It was, to say the least, a bit of a struggle. We are not sure what finally prompted them in to action, but most likely it was when Dad had some dizziness/nausea about 4:30 yesterday which caused his heart rate to spike, which seemed to light a fire under the nursing staff to push harder to get Dad some nutrition.
By that point however, Dad had gone nearly 24 hours since the resident orthopedic surgeon had assured him that the attending ortho surgeon would deliver his diagnosis and treatment plan “in the morning”, and it had been nearly 48 hours overall.
Obviously that did not happen.
When the attending trauma surgeon (who was in overall charge of Dad’s care) did finally show up about 5:30, we all gave him a piece of our minds, explaining that they were not considering Dad’s ALS in the equation, and that forcing him to wait for nearly 2 days for any kind of sustenance is not only inexcusable, but could cause him permanent damage.
You see, when the human body goes without food for a certain amount of time and begins to need nutrition, it will utilize its “stores” of fat, then muscle. In Dad’s case, he has already lost weight, so his fat stores are minimal. Therefore, if his body uses muscle to sustain itself, he will never be able to rebuild that muscle tissue due to the ALS.
But, thanks to the support and prayers of all of you, Dad’s situation has been resolved, and the attending orthopedic surgeon agreed that dad should be released, and he is going home today! Praise the Lord, and THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR YOUR LOVE, PRAYERS, KINDESS AND SUPPORT!! You are all such a blessing! ~ Jennifer —
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