Lori, Margaret, Charlyne, , Debby

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

Thank you all very much for your advice and support.  came out of the

hospital yesterday.  He went through quite an ordeal, and we along with him.  He

wound up having 2 colonoscopies because the nurse told us half the bottle of

go-lightly (the gook they give you to drink the night before) would be enough. 

We were tempted not to put him through it a second time, but are glad we did. 

They found out has a prolapsed rectum, in addition to hemmorhoids, which

explains the heavy bleeding.  He also had a small polyp which they removed and

sent for biopsy.   He also got an EKG for the first time in his life and an

echocardiogram.  We had to fight to get the echo.  My mother was convinced they

were neglecting because of his disability.  After we had asked for it

several times over the course of 3 days, they came in the room to do an echo on

the other patient who was admitted after .  At that point, my mother

flipped out and the technician agreed to do it. 

When we got to the hospital, would not come out so we had to wait until

the Ativan kicked in.  I took Lori's advice and went in myself to register him

and explain the situation.  We got him out of the car, by using the beach chair

we carry around, which is somewhat of a security blanket for .  He

refused to go into the wheelchair they brought so they had to come out with a

gurney and lift him into it.  Luckily, we avoided having to wait in the er

waiting room which was a zoo. 

Margaret, I remembered you when this happened.  If didn't cause such a

commotion, we would have been stuck waiting to get into the er for several

hours.  At the end of his stay, we had the same problem.  Though he kept asking

to go home, again he was afraid to walk through the hall to leave.  Security had

to lift him into the wheelchair to get him out.

Lori, your advice on explaining the situation to helped me in preparing

him.  He understood why we were putting him through this.  After the first

colonoscopy, when he came out of anesthesia, he said " hemmorhoids. "    He also

said, " doctor said, "   which was his way of asking " what did the doctor say? "  

and he seemed okay with our explanation.  I didn't have time to look up " social

stories " but I will do so now.

Charlyne, my mother and I stayed with him the whole time.  I agree with you on

the fact that you can't leave our kids or the elderly alone in a hospital.  In

addition to lack of staff, they make so many mistakes.  At one point, one of the

nurses was briefing the other when they were changing shifts and told her that

had seizures.  I overheard it and informed them this was not true.  She

said that the er had written this in his chart.  Another nurse was giving him

water to drink which was prohibited before the colonoscopy.

This experience convinced me to get a smartphone.  I was not able to use email

for 4 days and missed advice which would have been very helpful. 

, they gave the go-lightly and he became extremely sick before the

second colonoscopy.  He was up all night in pain and nauseous.  They had to give

him intravenous medication for cramps and vomiting.  I will keep your suggestion

of the Miralax mix in mind when he gets his next colonoscopy in 5 years.

Debby, we never even thought to ask for a private room.  It would have made a

big difference and there were empty beds, so we may have gotten it.   He had no

problem drinking the horrible potion.  Maybe if he had, they would have given

him the Miralax mix, which wouldn't have made him so sick.

Thank you all very much.  I appreciate it.

Irene

sister to