16 October 2009

The Health System - Pumping them out!

| Psygorian
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On Wednesday morning I was taken into surgery at 11am at Canberra Hospital. After surviving a head on crash on my motorbike, I was left with a badly damaged left shoulder that required a bone graft and reconstruction. At 12.30pm, I was taken into surgery where as far as I am aware everything went well. I was warned though that the bone graft and shoulder were both very painful during recovery. After waiting for 2 years to get the surgery, I was just happy that something was being done.

I woke from surgery at about 5.00pm, very groggy and in pain, but that was ok, I thought I was going to be in the hospital for a couple of days to heal before I went home. Was I wrong! The next morning, at about 9.00am my discharge was organised for lunch time, I was going home after less than 24 hours from major surgery. My wife works and cannot take time from work so here I am, at home by myself after having a bone graft taken from my hip and put into my shoulder.

The nurses were all wonderful, and so was my doctor, so why was I thown out on to the streets to fend for myself? I cannot walk and I have to crawl around the house to get to the toilet and bathroom. I am just waiting for the infection now to set in. I have no extra dressings to tend my wounds, and my pain relief is a few tablets that the hospital gave me.

So, is this how the hospital waiting lists are going to be managed? Cut us up and throw us out the door? Everyone I know is in shock that I am home and they are worried about me. My family feel guilty that they cannot look after me. And what will happen if I do get an infection at the 2 surgery sites? Maybe this is one of those survival of the fittest things, if I get through this I will be a stronger Canberran for the gene pool.

I am sure that I am not the only one going through this. I think it might be time to make some noise to the Health Minister and tell him we are not leaving hospital until we are well.

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Funnily enough I had the exact same surgery. I even went in as a private patient. It took 6 months to get the surgery done though and I was in and out overnight also. I think the issue for me was, it wasn’t clear that it was just an overnight surgery and just what care was required at home. I had to go and live with my parents for 7 weeks while my shoulder healed in a sling.

Initially for 2 weeks, walking was difficult due to the bone graft.

In hospital (John James) i was looked after, but felt a bit neglected when they discharged me ASAP in the morning.

…wouldn’t you rather be home anyway? Hospitals are just full of sick people anyway…why wouldn’t anyone be please with hospital staff telling them they can go home because they are strong and healthy enough to heal at home? I don’t get it…you’re only a phone call away from help if you need it…be happy that you are considered such a low risk.

…whoever said their dog gets better treatment at the vet…that’s because you pay for it.

…I’m assuming seeing as you waited 2 years, you went through the public system…if you had private health insurance you wouldn’t had to have waited for two years…

…and anyway, c’mon now…you’re loving being at home chatting to us folks…

eh_steve said :

Also, Indigoid, how long would you expect to stay in hospital with just a broken pinky, if the rest of you “didn’t even have a bruise or a scratch”? A forearm cast? I have broken each of my fingers and never had more than the “buddy strap” system, strapping one finger to it’s stronger counterpart.

Oh I certainly wanted to go home. I detest hospitals, like any sane person. and I’d have loved to not have a cast. Not my decision, you understand. If the local anaesthetic had worked (not the first time this has happened to me, sadly) I would have been out of there the next day. They put a wire in the finger too. It was pretty messed up, having been squished between car door and clutch lever, and is slightly but permanently mangled

OP, did you ever get back in the saddle? If so, how did you find it?

I know of a case where an elderly man who is the sole carer for a down syndrome teenager was sent home after major surgery. He felt ok before the anaesthetic wore off completely, and thought he would cope. A relative later found them both crying on the couch, him unable to move in pain, and the little girl totally bewildered. The man speaks good English, but does not read or write, so even needs help with dosages for taking medications etc. Not everyone can cope with being shunted off home as early as possible.

So the hospital system needs to compensate for your wife not being able to take time off? I think you/her are the ones with their priorities wrong.

But best wishes for a quick and full recovery

They can’t forcibly evict you. If you have insufficient support at home or don’t think you can manage then you are within your rights to ask to stay in hospital or for suitable support services to be put in place.

Anyway, don’t be a dope. Get your wife to buy some dressings.

They probably discharged you on a Friday thinking that your wife (who no doubt visited you last night) would have the weekend off. If that’s not the case and you didn’t tell them, that was a silly move. Also intrigued to hear what sort of job doesn’t have some kind of provision to care for a family member for a day or two in this day and age?

Open the discharge paperwork you were given (you were given an envelope for your doctor weren’t you) and see what it says about post-discharge check ups.

If you have any problems over the weekend call the hospital and ask to speak to the nurse in charge of the ward you were in for your surgery.

Doesn’t matter if your private or public, you will get the treatment, I was in hospital in Melbourne and had things stolen, was also in Castlecraig Northshore hospital private in Sydney, I was out the next day after reconstruction surgery on my foot which they put two screws in my big toe, and broke the two other toes and put rods down each one, I went to Sydney because I wanted an excellent specialist (the guru) after a surgeon in Canberra completly deformed my foot, he has retired yepee!

Psygorian – your wife probably has an industrial-law right to take carer’s leave from work – if she’s a casual worker, she would be paid a loading to cover such, wouldn’t she? Can you tell us more? Sounds as though she has a bad manager in any case …

There seems to be growing evidence that recovery is quicker and better at home than in a hospital. Once you can manage your pain with oral medications your flat out going to be more comfortable at home than in a ward of other annoying people.

As for infection, nothing you are going to get at home is close to the really nasty little bugs that hospitals breed up and harbor.

As far as i know that is a fairly standard time in hospital for that sugury private or public.

I had two bone grafts and multiple pins put in my foot last year privately and it was only a day surgery I was home by 6pm. Regarding dressings, you should not even be touching your dressings at this stage let alone redressing any wound. It should be left until you go back for a check up in the few days/ week after you surgery.

Don’t you understand? Katy has no interest in fixing the health system. She has to ban smoking first.

All our local Ministers have persued their own little interests to the detriment of good Government. Sonic with his art and arboretum, Hargreaves with banning fireworks and payback for anything Tharwa related, Katy and smoking, Barr and his selective school closures, and the Greens and chooks.

We are poorly served.

In a way it is good to be home, but what I worry about is the chance of infection, or falling down trying to go to the loo. Although there is the statistics that say you are more likely to be infected more while in hospital. I am taking it very carefully around home though when I am alone. The bone graft was taken from my right hip to repair my left shoulder, so getting comfortable is a challenge. I did get a call from the hospital today, they want me to come in on the 29th for a follow up.And yes, I can still type, it’s just a little slower with one arm in a sling. Thankyou to all of you for your kind thoughts, it’s better than the meds they sent me home with.

grunge_hippy5:58 pm 16 Oct 09

Call A Current Affair.

Move ’em in, move ’em out – it makes Katy look good in her as Minister of Health.

This happens in private hospitals too. After almost collapsing when being discharged, I was allowed to stay for another hour before being bundled out the door. Nice.

With the level of risk of infection in hosptial, getting out quick smart would probably be a good plan in some respects.

Given the number of post-op patients that die in hospitals after getting golden staph or any other number of infections caused by bugs you find in hospitals more than elsewhere, I would have thought it would be in your best interests to get into your house as quickly as possible.

Also, Indigoid, how long would you expect to stay in hospital with just a broken pinky, if the rest of you “didn’t even have a bruise or a scratch”? A forearm cast? I have broken each of my fingers and never had more than the “buddy strap” system, strapping one finger to it’s stronger counterpart.

rosebud said :

My dog gets better treatment at the vet in my experience.

That’s because the vet charges you for your dog’s stay – no incentive to kick it out too early.

Get private health insurance….wouldn’t have taken two years to do and care would have been much more thorough.

Try having a baby in one of Melbournes private hospitals. Baby is born in the hospital and then mum and bub spend the next six days in a room at the Sofitel hotel. Nurses are all there and Docs do rounds each morning. Food is a thousand times better.

You get what you pay for….

eyeLikeCarrots3:46 pm 16 Oct 09

misspris said :

Your ordeal doesn’t seem to have affected your typing ability too much 😉

Hahaha Owned.

OP – believe it or not, the statistics say your chances of not getting a post op infection are better off at home than they are in a hospital.

what does your private health insurance state about this type of surgery and after care ?

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy3:21 pm 16 Oct 09

sepi said :

Hospitals these days are only for the very very sick. Recuperation is now done at home and families are expected to step up and look after people.

As as example, 30 years ago people routinely stayed a week in hospital after giving birth, these days they often try to get people out after one day also.

In Canberra, maybe. In Queanbeyan hospital we stayed a week after Young Master Berlina was born, after having two speciliasts in attendance, and two nurses to look after us.

And we went in as a public patient.

That seem unusually quick to me as well, although my experience is limited to having spine surgery earlier this year – and yes, I stayed in for four days until I prevailed on my surgeon to release me early because I was going spare.

If you’ve been taking painkillers of one sort of another since your accident, then be careful; I had been taking strong ones for a year, had even higher strength ones post-surgery as the morphine/ketamine sent me psycho (two days of complete paranoia and sleepnessness), was released with two days’ worth of pills, but then had nothing else, and I went into withdrawal without knowing what was going on. (My mind was not exactly operating optimally so I just didn’t put it all together.) Agitation, sleeplessness, anxiety. If that happens, get yourself to a good GP pronto.

Hospitals these days are only for the very very sick. Recuperation is now done at home and families are expected to step up and look after people.

As as example, 30 years ago people routinely stayed a week in hospital after giving birth, these days they often try to get people out after one day also.

I was (pleasantly) surprised when my sister got to stay in Hospital (public patient in Newcastle) for 5 days after her baby was born, as he was having troubles latching on… thought they booted you out the day after these days

Call them, asked them for what should be happening re follow-up care. If you can’t get an answer, call your GP and get their staff to start chasing around with calls, sometimes it’s easier to get an answer that way

Inappropriate1:55 pm 16 Oct 09

Are you even getting home visits from a nurse?

SolarPowered1:45 pm 16 Oct 09

That is appalling. I have had quite a few operations and I was under the impression that you had to have your vitals monitored for 24 hours after surgery?

🙁 They really are busy.

I had a bike crash last December and even with only a broken pinky finger (the quality protective gear was worth every cent — the rest of me didn’t even have a bruise or scratch, after a 40km/h T-bone that totaled the bike!) I really struggled with a lot of things for three weeks, and didn’t get back to normal for another couple of months, with the loss of muscle strength from wearing a forearm cast. I really struggled when I got back in the saddle. The broken pinky was on the clutch side and our remaining bikes had fairly stiff levers.

They would have had me out within 24 hours as well if I hadn’t got so sick from the general (local/nerveblocker didn’t work at all!) anaesthetic they ended up using. It was a bit of a blur but I think I was in for at least two days.

Hope you get better and back on the bike soon.

It is pretty quick (although I can not claim any real knowledge here) – however what I do know is that your GP is the person who you go to for the follow up care ie the doctor who would have referred you for the surgery. Were you not given any instructions upon leaving?

I hope you heal well

Your ordeal doesn’t seem to have affected your typing ability too much 😉

My dog gets better treatment at the vet in my experience.

The poor people that work in the Health system can’t win… Personally I am pleased that the system is increasing its efficiency, which will allow it to treat more people.

If you’re not going to die and can you survive at home, with just a little inconvenience and discomfort then you should recover at home. Not take up a hospital bed.

That’s socialised medicine for you.

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