This time three years ago was probably one of the worst times in my life. Mom had surgery on the 7th of September 2011. The surgery, a craniotomy was scheduled due to her worsening eyesight. Dr. Harold Picus was the surgeon who performed the surgery at Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville NC.
According to Dr. Picus, Mom was expected to make a complete recovery. The surgery involved opening the side of her skull to access the pituitary gland where the tumor was located. Needless to say when the family was allowed in to see Mom after the surgery it was quite a shock to see all those staples in the side of her head. The recovery was taking longer than expected and Mission was in a hurry to get her out of there.
Mom was in ICU for the first five days or so, and then she was moved to a private room. She was not able to eat for another couple of days. After several more days she was able to eat a small portion of her dinner. Mom's appetite was nowhere close to what it was before the surgery, but it was enough to get Memorial Mission Hospital to force her release. Not one of us knew enough to get medical power of attorney, or how to protest her release. She was obviously not ready to go anywhere, but the doctors convinced us that she had a small window of opportunity to get into Care Partners. One of the doctors at Mission told my brother Medicare would refuse to pay if they waited too long.
My brother spoke to the nurse at Mission Hospital who was preparing the papers for Mom's discharge. He pointed out the fact that Mom was not ready to be moved, she left the room and returned a little while later. She was crying and told my brother that she had postponed the release but she could only do so much. She was moved by ambulance two days later to Care Partners in Asheville.
Things were starting to get really complicated. Medicare will pay for twenty one days of rehabilitation. Mom was put in a room and pretty much just left there. The family took turns feeding her and taking care of what we could. We were even bringing food from home and restaurants . The staff would wheel in the meal cart and just leave it. Mom could not see well enough to eat on her own. Care Partners answer was to keep giving her Ensure instead of feeding her. The only thing Care Partners did do, was make damn sure Mom did not fall. If she moved wrong and set off the bed alarm they were in there really quick. Tension was getting bad within the family, each of us had our own idea of what was best for her. Still, no one could bear the thought of having Mom declared incompetent.
Believe me, looking back now someone should have had medical power of attorney before the surgery even took place. Mom had downplayed the whole thing, probably in an attempt to keep peace in the family. Mom could have disputed her release, but she did what the doctors told her to do. They even asked her if she was ready to go to Care Partners, her answer was " if you say I am ".
Anyone having any surgery should have a medical power of attorney. If you do not you are totally at the mercy of the medical community. They will keep you as long as they are getting those Medicare dollars, then you're on your own. It's amazing that after twenty one days at Care Partners, it was decided that Mom was ready to go home. She was still not able to walk without assistance and was barely eating. Twenty one days is twenty one days. More to come
