Last night I received a call from my sister. She was spending the night with our Mom who is in ICU. Our Mother was admitted at 2 AM, two nights ago with a nosebleed that could not be stopped. Nosebleeds are usually taken care of with cauterization.
Mother has complications, she is on coumadin for her heart condition. She is 87 years old. They tried several means of stopping it and after 24 hours they called in a specialist. He cauterized the nose, along with that comes the packing of the nose. If anyone has ever had nose surgery of any kind they know how horribly uncomfortable it is. In addition to that factor, you have the feeling like you can't breathe and the pain of the packing. You know how a toothache can drive you mad, this can do the same thing.
She is also in extreme pain from being told she can't move around. Her bones are riddled with arthritis and the muscles are screaming. She has spinal stinosis? Spelling? Her back bone is brittle and deteriorating and sitting for any period of time causes even more pain.
The reason I am explaining this is, because of all these things and she has not found relief with pain medication, she is complaining a lot, who wouldn't. She is allergic to a lot of medication for pain, most slows her heart to the point it isn't beating properly, even with the defibrillator. This has given her a fear of anything people suggest. She has a zest for life and doesn't want it cut short for any reason, even if it means living in extreme pain.
My sister called to ask me to check out a medication on the Internet. They were told it was a mild pain medication that would help mom get some rest. Mom was afraid of it even though she was told both of her doctors had okayed it. The nurse on duty said all patients it's given to have had good reactions.
I went to look it up and was so shocked! If I had been at the hospital I would have been yelling and asking to speak to the administrator and I would have called newspapers. The drug they wanted to give her had nothing to do with pain, or even sleeping pills. The alternate uses were not to promote the betterment of the patient in these circumstances.
The drug is Seroquel. It is an anti psychotic given to schizophrenics, manic depressives, and bi polar cases. It specifically states, in the top 3 negatives, that it can cause an irregular heart beat (Mother has been having trouble in that department.) There were other negatives that would, if I were a doctor, I would say, this patient should not be administered this drug.
Another fact about Mom, she weighs maybe 100 lbs. The drug had a big warning, do not give to under 18. I have read that older people do not metabolize meds well. It made me think to myself, "what are they thinking, or are they thinking?".
Why did they tell her it was for pain? Why did they tell her it was for sleep? In my opinion they were giving it to her to shut her up. Haven't you heard of nurses dosing nursing home patients to keep them quiet?
I went back to visit the sites about Seroquel. I was looking for anything I might have missed that related to pain or sleep management. I couldn't find a thing but I did find the following note:
Off-label uses include the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and behavior problems associated with dementia in the elderly.
Do you think I am being paranoid, thinking they are trying to quiet my mother to make their night job easier? Why else did they lie to her about what the drug was for?
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Glo, I think you're spot on with someone on staff suggesting it be administered to make her an easier patient.
ReplyDeleteI am part of a very active online group of people with chronic illnesses and their stories of hospital shenanigans blows me away. There is blatant disregard for people's allergies whether it be the materials used to manufacture tubing, etc and especially disregard for food allergies. I find it shocking that many hospitals do not accomodate patients that cannot have food with gluten. It's ALWAYS best to have someone with you at the hospital doing what your sister did, and that is to advocate and double check things before a procedure or drug is administered. Your post is very valuable as most people understandably believe a hospital would never be so negligent.