When people advise you to be your own fierce health care advocate, believe them. I certainly do after a harrowing experience in which Patty, my wife of 36 years, almost died.
The near tragedy began to unfold the morning of Sunday, Jan. 7, when Patty began to experience neck and shoulder pain, and it resulted in the first of two consecutive nightly visits to a hospital emergency room. The first night, an ER care team took X-rays and found nothing abnormal, and she wound up with a prescription for codeine and a referral to a physical therapist — likely for a pinched nerve. To my ever-lasting regret, I had no objections when they didn’t admit her for tests or take a simple blood draw.
The next night, I brought her in again, they administered pain relief intravenously (IV), and wrote a prescription for oral pain medication and a muscle relaxant. Again, no hospital admission.
The first trip to the physical therapist was uneventful, even temporarily helpful, but during a return visit two days later, we got out of the car and her legs would not function. She couldn’t move them, so I got her back in the car and drove her straight to the local paramedics who transported her to a different hospital. Still no hospital admission, but she received another IV while she sat in a wheelchair in the waiting room (not an ER bed) and got more prescribed meds.
Patty, an active woman who walked 40 minutes a day, still could not move her legs when we returned home. Two painful days ensued in which she didn’t eat, barely slept, fell repeatedly, and had to be helped around the house. The second day, a Saturday, she was slurring her words, leading to concerns of a stroke. This time, the paramedics were called to the house and I wasn’t taking no for an answer as she returned to the second hospital.
Thankfully, Patty did not suffer a stroke, but she did have sepsis — blood poisoning by bacteria. Sepsis can be fatal if not treated in time, and it had to be knocked out with a constant supply of IV administered antibiotics. A weeks-long, roller-coaster ride of a hospital stay ensued, including a life-saving move to the intensive care unit, surgery to remove three abscesses from her back, intubation with breathing and feeding tubes, and more fearful moments than I care to recount.
The sepsis was successfully treated, and there are plenty of health care heroes in this story, but even with intensive physical therapy, Patty has a long recovery ahead. When you’re advised to be your own fierce health care advocate, or advocate for a loved one, don’t question that wisdom.
