SanStone Health and Rehabilitation, Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation, Dr. Larry Joe Russell, Christopher Sprenger and Michael Deloach, Paul Shogren.
What really happened early in the morning Thursday, November 3, 2011. I don't think we'll ever know the truth. I'm pretty sure someone made a big mistake, and everyone is trying to help cover it up.
There are many things suspicious about what happened to cause my Mother's death. There is even a question about where she died. The people at Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation say she didn't die there. Dr. Poston, the coroner at Pardee Hospital told me that Mom didn't die there either.
What we know according to the records that we received from all the different places.
Mom was assisted to the bathroom at 4:45 am , by a CNA from another hallway, we were never told who, or why they had to come from another hallway.
Tammy Mace RN, found Mom " lying in a strange position" about 5 to 10 minutes later. She called to Mom from the hallway, and when Mom didn't answer, she entered the room and found her with no pulse or breathing. The nurse then called for help, and started cpr, and someone called 911. The paramedics arrived at 5:11 am, they continued cpr, and transferred Mom to Pardee Hospital. Records state that cpr was discontinued at 5:40 am, and patient never had a heartbeat or breath the entire time. That means that they preformed cpr for at least forty five minutes, or as long as one hour, depending on whose time you accept.
Why is this an issue? The NC State Medical Examiners office regulations, state that anyone dying from a cause that they were not being treated for must be autopsied. Mom was not being treated for anything heart related. The medical examiner on call was Dr. Loken, he told me he never saw Mom, but felt he should have. Why wasn't he called? The notes of the ER doctor, DR. Boleman, states that Dr. Larry Joe Russell was to sign the death certificate. Dr. Bolemans notes say he discussed the signing of the death certificate with Dr. Harrellson. I found out that Dr. Harrellson was a partner in WNC Family Medicine, 510 Balsam Rd. Hendersonville, Dr. Russells office. That means that the doctor, who never saw my mother, and was a partner in the facility where she died, was going to say that she died from something she was not being treated for!
I asked for an autopsy, and was told that the family would have to pay for a private autopsy. I made some calls, and the cost of the autopsy was anywhere from three to five thousand dollars. If I had known then what I know now I would have done whatever I had to do to make that happen.
I called the NC State Medical examiners office, more than once and was told there was nothing they could do. They said I would have to get law enforcement involved. I called the Henderson County Sheriffs Office, they would not get involved. I then called the S.B.I., the agent was very nice, and gave me the name of someone at the NC Medical Board. Finally during one of the calls to the State ME office, I mentioned the fall. The person I was speaking to said she would get the records from HHR and possibly authorize an autopsy. Upon receipt of the records, she saw the nurses statement that the fall was witnessed, and according to the nurse, Mom did not hit her head. That was the end of that, no autopsy.
The whole time, I would not allow the mortuary to cremate Moms body. My brother and I met with officials at Pardee. I begged them to do an autopsy, they refused. I then asked them if they could just do an x-ray of Moms head and do blood tests. I wanted to know that she did not die from injuries to her head from the fall, or she was not given the wrong medication. Sounds reasonable right? Denied!
I don't know what actually happened that morning, but I am convinced that someone made a mistake, that cost Mom her life.
Did Mom, hit her head when she fell? I have done a lot of research on brain injuries, and craniotomies. It takes a full year for the skull to heal after a craniotomy. If Mom hit her head it could have caused a subdural hematoma, a slow bleeding in the skull. According to the records, Mom had some of the symptoms. Simply checking the dilation of her pupils would have shown whether more tests should have been done. However, the nurse, Lara Mooney, determined that Mom did not need to be seen by a doctor. I wonder if she knows anything about craniotomies.
The nurse that found Mom that morning, had never seen her before, she was working that hall because someone called in sick. Did she give her the wrong medication. That's entirely possible if you consider that the drug regimen sheet had the wrong room number, and she had never worked with Mom before. Mom was not wearing an admission bracelet either, they had removed it because it had the wrong room number on it. Did she get the medication that whoever was actually in 102 A was supposed to get?
I know of one instance, where a patient at Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation was dropped by a nurse. The same patient died soon after the fall, I guess the nurse decided she did not need to be seen by a doctor. Dr. Larry Joe Russell signed her death certificate also. Cause of death was listed as failure to thrive, common in Dr. Russell's patients. I obtained a copy of the death certificate, and there is a coroners death certificate attached to the back, amended cause of death, subdural hematoma. She died as a direct result of the fall, and no one even raised an eyebrow?
I have documents and signed statements that can prove everything I discuss in this post. I am not trying to bring my Mom back, I'm happy that she is at peace. I am not trying to sue or obtain financial gain from what happened. I am looking for the truth, so that I can have closure. I am also trying to call attention to a terrible situation, and hopefully cause changes that will save peoples lives. I've heard it over and over, "old people die", I just think it is wrong for these places to help them do it faster.
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