Trip to VGH 02 September 2011

It has been very quiet this week. When things are too quiet I assume something is happening behind my back. I never think things are going to get worse but each day they do negating whatever was worse before. Yesterday, animal control gave me a ticket for $250 because little Owen was off leash. He was on a leash but he bolted and I had to let the leash drop. The animal control person was apprehensive of me like she was expecting me to give her a bad time. I never get angry with someone over something like that: road rage is not me. Owen was off leash and a neighbourhood person reported it. Now I will have to make arrangements with Animal Control to make payments. Another incident to take a few hours of my limited remaining life.

I went to see Randy for a few minutes yesterday. Three weeks ago Saturday Randy was transferred back to VGH as he had an acquired pneumonia infection. Last time he had an acquired hospital pneumonia he was in VGH isolated in a single room for six months.

I went with a friend of Randy's and mine and his girlfriend to visit Randy on Saturday. Chad said he never every since he knew me saw me so frightened that I was unable to talk to staff i.e. I have become afraid of VCH as no matter how you conduct yourself a nurse will be writing up an incident report. A report that they do not give you a copy of. I could hardly talk. I do not understand as you are suppose to have privacy when visiting and not have three nurses three feet from you watching and writing down everything you touch and say.

Randy was happy to see me and he did not want me to leave but VGH said I had to leave within ten minutes. I do not understand where this ten minute restriction came from. I remember asking for Randy's care plan and none was emailed to me. I tried to talk to the social worker yesterday and she didn't return my call. So, VCH is up to something just to create more stress for me and Randy. They do whatever just because they can. My doctor is amased that I am still able to function. Since he has known me for close to 30 years, he is the only one I trust with my health. I am close to 70and not one of my relatives have lived past that age. I have to start planning for the next stage. I phoned his parents again in the hope they would came and give me a respite but was told that they did not want to know anything about Randy or me and both of us were off their radar. So much for familial support. The most important thing I have to do is make sure Randy will be in a safe place but where is a safe place. Since he has no money, no one wants to his guardian. He will surely die within months of my death. Randy is very strong so I do not understand why he has not been given physio and other treatments. He will loose all his muscle strength if kept in bed all the time.

I did some fundraising on the street to rent Randy a few days of television rental at VGH. VGH charges $17.36 a day. Those patrons that gave money were very nice. We would always talk and most had suffered a hospital experience without a television. I still do not understand why VCH doesn't supply televisions to brain injured patients. Brain injured patients need stimulation to keep their brain alive and relearnable. Televisions should be a prerequite treatment.

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Abuse at Residential Care Home (UK)

It is happening here as well. If abuse is happening in one residential care hospital, then it is happening in others. In George Pearson it is mostly psychological abuse leading to the eventual consent by the resident to be isolated. Visitors are discouraged and, if they still continue to visit, are made to feel uncomfortable and eventually they stop coming. In Randy's ward of ten beds, I only remember four residents who had visitors during Christmas week. It was icy silent and sad.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/undercover-care-the-abuse-exposed/

Gratitude to Nurse Florence Nightingale

During my alloted phone call I was asked by Randy's nurse to purchase Randy some shaving cream as the supply I had purchased him prior to my banning had run out. Prior to my banning I looked after all such toiletries and his clothing needs including washing them and purchasing them. She said that she has been using his hair shampoo to shave him. At least one person (the one and only time)used initiative in GPC and spoke to me about Randy's needs.

Then I wondered why couldn't she have used/borrowed shaving foam from another resident when Randy's supply ran out and let me know Randy's supply had ended. The staff at GPC have my phone number. I am sure there is a policy that states to staff not to encourage sharing among its residents as sharing denotes friendships. The irony of it all. To make it more ironic the wards are not suppose to be called wards they are suppose to be called "neighbourhoods."

This is in keeping with the fact that when Randy's television (loaner) fell down and crashed from it ceiling mount NO ONE told me. It was a friend who went to see Randy in June and he checked with me afterward to let me know if I knew that Randy didn't have a TV. Randy was without a TV for a month. Remember that Randy cannot talk or walk and he has a trach, a feeding tube, a peepee tube and he had a traumatic brain injury and because of my limited physical access (this week 12 minutes)to him he has nothing to occupy his time or stimulate his brain except to watch TV or stare at the ceiling and for one month he had nothing. When I got my pension cheque I blew all my dispoable income on a new television for him as it will be the only thing he will have and I wanted him to have the best (an onsale 32inch flatscreen with a DVC for $450. with taxes). I have had to cut $back since then like not taking Randy's pet "his son" he calls Owen, a terrier-poodle cross, to his semi-annual grooming session. Randy never had any children.

60 days and still nothing

It has been two months since Kip Woodward the Chairman of Vancouver Coastal Health promised to post his email address on his bio on the VCH website. I suspect Napolean Ostrow is stomping his feet and shaking his fists saying to Kip that he doesn't have the budget to ask a low-level tech to add Kip's email address to his bio. Poor powerless Kip; poor powerless the Board; poor us the one-million plus of us who use Vancouver Coastal Health. My grandmother would call this shameful behavior but in today's world there is no such thing as shame. But then the Board might not be aware of what its true function is: it is to audit the policies that exist and the only way the Board might suspect something needs auditing is from complaints/suggestions from the public.
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Telephones

Since I couldn't visit with Randy for our two hours yesterday as he was very tired (depressed)I called this morning at 10:30 and left a message for Randy to call me before 1:00. I am allowed to telephone Randy on the days I do not see him. (I made sure that I got permission so I could do this and was told that an email was sent to the ward.} No return call. At 1:30 I telephoned and said that I would be going to GPC and drop off two pictures for him as well as some yellow roses. This I did. I then tried to telephone Randy's nurse to hear if Randy was happy with the roses and the pictures. The head nurse who answered the phone said Helen was coming to answer the phone and then she asked my name and then she said that Helen was too busy and that I wasn't allowed to phone the ward on weekends or go to GPC on weekends. This is not true. The only stipulation now is that I cannot go down Ward 2 as a number of the residents are apparently afraid of me unless accompanied by a supervisor for two to five minutes on the days Randy's isn't up to seeing me. Staff must be reinforcing their fear of I do not know what. This phantom fear has been going on for six months now and surely those that had the fear dictated to them should have gotten over it by now. Or maybe it is not a fear maybe it is just that three or four of the residents just don't like me. I do not know for sure.

After the 3:00 pm shift change I have been trying to phone Randy and the calls are sent to voice mail and I left two voice messages. The last phone call at 9:30 p.m. said for the shift RN to call me. It is now 10:32 the next day Sunday and no one has phoned me from GPC. This isn't an isolated incident. It is the way GPC works. After awhile you give up trying to phone. Oh well, another day, and another phone call to a voice answering machine (10:33 am). I feel that I am a prisoner to waiting for a phone call. For general information up to three weeks ago it never occurred to me that I could phone and talk to Randy. Another don't ask don't tell scenario by staff. I only found out from another resident who said her daughter would call her when she could get someone to answer the phone and the nurse would give the wireless to her. In Randy's case since he cannot talk the only way I know he can hear me is when I ask him to breathe heavily into the phone and quickly before two minutes are up (the seconds are guided by the second hand on my clock) I end the conversation as a nurse is holding the phone to Randy's ear. I can't chance them saying I am taking nursing staff time from during their duties and cutting off this one-sided unable to see communication. There even is a You Tube video found under abuses in nursing homes in the US about staff deflecting phone calls. So it is an universal practice.

I phoned at 1:33 p.m. Sunday and was able to talk to a real person and she connected me with Randy. I asked him if he was disappointed that I didn't phone him yesterday and he breathed heavily twice...

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