STOP THE PRESSES!!
Unfortunately, I have some bad news.
Cav will NOT be released from the hospital today. In fact, they don't know when they are going to release him. The shining beacon of hope they gave us on Friday has been stalled due to, what else, hospital administration red tape. I spent most of Valentine's Day at the hospital and learned more from the clerk at the nurse's desk than I did from anyone else (except for his nurse Alison who totally ROCKS).
Before they can release Cav, they have to set up an appointment with the home care nurse to consult about the type of treatment he will be receiving at home. Before the nurse can come and consult, they have to have a set release date. (You can see where this is going.) As of last night, they did not have a set release date for Cav, therefore the nurse from the home care organization cannot consult with him.
Now that you're all as dizzy as I am, there are a few other things that they are doing while he's still there. They are monitoring his liquid buildup -- if you get grossed out easily, I suggest you stop reading here -- they drained 4.5 litres of fluid from Cav yesterday. He felt much better (ladies, can you imagine if they could do that for us once a month? :wink: ), and his appetite came back (which was lost on the weekend because of the bloating). They have to monitor to see how quickly the liquid will build up again. If it's back by tomorrow, then he's not going anywhere for a while. If the buildup rate is slower, then they may be able to release him later this week.
HOWEVER (get ready for more of the merry-go-round ride), if they choose to release him on Friday night, then I was warned that it is very difficult to get a home care nurse to start a regimen on a weekend. And because he is on antibiotics, he
absolutely cannot miss a dose. Therefore, if they try to schedule his release on Friday, they will actually have to keep him in the hospital until the following Monday so that home care can start on time, and there will be no risk of him missing a vital dose of his IV.
Therefore, now knowing what I know (thanks to all of the sleuthing I did yesterday while Cav was being drained), I would pretty well surmise that Cav will not be released from the hospital until sometime next week. The earliest they may possibly let him go is this Thursday, but since they have to monitor the rate of bloating, I highly doubt it.
I just wish someone would have told us all of this last week, instead of me having to put it all together piecemeal (sp?).
So you can understand our frustration at the hospital administration. The only thing that has kept me from screaming bloody murder at the Ombudsperson is that, in the end, it's better for Cav to be at the hospital right now, where if something else should happen *god forbid*, he will be attended to immediately, rather than having to rush him back for another 2 day wait in emergency.
Oh yeah, the other thing we discovered on the weekend is that Cav can take morphine if he is in pain....
A small dose, mind, but believe me, it's helped!!
So that's my venting for the day, possibly the week. I'm sorry about the whole false hope thing, but we fell for it too. Bloody administration!!!!
*stepping off of soapbox*
Keeping you posted,
BC
When I discovered this web site it was your posts that got me to join.
