Hello everyone! I write this post from the hospital...again. No, not for me. Our son Rubic was in a car accident and broke his leg. He had surgery yesterday to fix the breaks. He now has a rod and pins in his leg. So, yea, 2022 hasn't changed things much. The hits keep coming or in other words when it rains it pours.
Rubic went to work Monday and was due home at 7:30. At 8 I was getting concerned. By 9 I was kinda irked. By 9:30 I was calling 911. They had a deputy call me back; who said to call the emergency rooms and jails to see if he was there. He was very helpful in giving me the numbers of all the surrounding jails. I thanked him. I started with the ER cause I didn't think my child was arrested. The ER was a good bet as that was where he was. Had been there for 7.5 hours. He had asked them to call us, but they didn't. I know they were busy, but I am listed in his chart.
When we got to the ER, we had our obligatory mask on. We had to stop, though, in the middle of the ER in order to have our picture taken for our visitor pass. "Please remove your mask so I can get your picture"; I'm asked. I oblige. Then proceed to stand there for 5 minutes, mask-less, while she adjusts her camera to take my picture. So for 5 minutes I was LAID BARE, exposed to the RONA that was lurking in the ER! One could also say I was spewing my germs all over the poor unsuspecting patients in the ER. All for just a picture. A picture, I might add, of my bare face. Had I committed some infraction while there, their security camera footage would have shown my masked face. Why do I need a picture of an unmasked face? Once that was done I had to re-don my mask to go see Rubic.
We get back to his room in the ER and are told he has tested positive for Covid. I explain to them that he had Covid in December and what the test probably picked up was the residue from that. No matter. He was a Covid patient! He was now a HOSPITALIZED COVID PATIENT who was really only there due to a car accident and broken leg. We stayed with him about 4 hours while we waited for a room. I would put my mask on when someone came in, but other than that...
I came back the next morning and stayed with him for at least another 4 hours before he went into surgery. Again, same thing with the mask. After surgery, when he went to his permanent room, I was there with him or another 4 hours til visiting hours were over. Same mask policy. At no time was I told I needed to change what I was doing. I wore a mask in hallways, and public spaces, but in the room with my son, who was also mask-less, I didn't. I was allowed to come and go as I pleased.
I was told I would need to call before coming up today to make sure the doctor wrote orders for me to be able to visit....cause...he has covid ya know. It's policy. I'm like...uh..but I've been with him this whole time. Didn't matter. Ooooookay. So I call today to see if I can now come visit. I'm told that IF the doctor writes the order, the policy is that I will have to stay in the room with him and can't leave until he is discharge AND I have to wear Full PPE; a gown, n95 mask, gloves, and face shield THE WHOLE TIME I"M THERE! I try to explain that I've been with him this whole time, why this? It's hospital policy. If it's hospital policy, why wasn't his enforced in the ER or on the floor yesterday? I'm told, I don't know. It's just policy. They did talk to the doctor ,who wrote an exemption that says I can come visit and go, but I still have to wear the PPE the whole time I'm there.
So, I came to visit and like a good girl I don my PPE. For the record, an N95 mask is hard enough to breath in; add a face shield in front and it's near impossible. Plus the face shield fogs up and you can't see! Not too long after I got there, his nurse comes in. She is gowned, and masked, but no shield. Off goes my face shield. I will take my guidance from the staff. After all, when she leaves there, she's going into another patients room. I'm not, so if it's okay for her.....
To my credit, I managed to keep the other PPE on about 4.5 hours. Even when one of his doctors come in to see him. This happens to be the doctor that wrote the order for me to visit that included all the PPE to be worn. Might I state that he came in with no gown, gloves, or face shield. Even so, I kept mine on until later when I was attempting to help them get Rubic up for a procedure. The gown kept falling off, and getting in the way. My hubby laughed as I ripped the gown off. I was done. I'll wear the mask. That's it. Again, good enough for the doctor is good enough for me.
All of this, even though I had been with him from the get go, he no longer had covid( just residue), and for a virus that has a 99% survival rate. All of this even though their policy is inconsistently followed.
*** I want to note here, that the care my son has received thru far has been exemplary. Aside from the not calling me in the beginning, his nurses from ER to Floor have been great and his surgeon, wonderful.
This hospital isn't alone; I'm sure. From what I hear, New York hospitals are allowing covid positive nurses to work as long as they are asymptomatic. They have to do this because they've lost so many of their staff due to mandates. So if they're allowing covid positive nurses to work; why all the fuss over PPE? Cause seriously, there are other medical workers( and that includes doctors thank you very much) that just haven't been tested for Covid who are probably positive and are caring for patients. They don't have to tested because they've been vaccinated. Yet we know now that you can still spread this virus even when vaccinated. You can still get it too, but that's another vent.
I don't vent about this because I want special treatment. I don't vent about this because I want things harder for healthcare workers. I share a kinship with them. I used to be one and my husband is still. I know how hard they work. I know how doctors can sometimes be...er uh, jerks; not all, but some. I don't vent about this because I don't care about others. That is the furthest thing from the truth.
I vent about this because all of this Theater is useless. It's that; Theater. N95 masks that haven't been fitted and are on someone unaccustomed to wearing them is a liability not an asset. The same goes for gowns, and shields. In addition all of that stuff has to be correctly worn at all times, correctly removed, correctly discarded, and only worn for a short period of time. In addition, consistency is key. That means all people, at all times, have to wear all of it in order to have even the smallest chance of success. One person breaks for even a second, that virus has an opening. Plus, even if all the cases stop, and we remove all the PPE, Restrictions, Mandates, and Closings; that virus is still out there, and we start all over.
Remember "15 days to slow the spread"? It was never referred to as "15 days to stop the spread". The original intent was to keep the spread of the virus down to keep from overwhelming the hospitals so they had time to prepare. I was on board with that. But, as with anything even remotely logical, let the politicians and the bureaucrats get ahold of it and it morphs into a giant ball of idiocy.
I also vent about this for all of the families who had to make a choice weather to be at the hospital from the get go in full PPE, to advocate for their loved one, or be home taking care of their family. I vent for the ones who chose to come and wear the get up because they wanted to be there for a family member who suffered from Dementia, Alzheimer, or mental illness. I vent for those dementia, Alzheimer, or mental illness patients that found themselves in a strange place with no one they new and their one connection to a loved one was severed by a mask, gloves, gown and face shield. I vent for those who chose to come and donned the gear only to still get covid, and still spread it. I vent for those who weren't allowed to come regardless and were unable to say goodbye to a family before they passed. Had I been in that situation, and even in this one, I would have gladly packed a cooler with whatever I needed to sustain me for the time and stayed confined to my sons room for the duration. That's more of a doable solution than the PPE.
Sorry such a long vent. I hope your coffee isn't cold. Maybe you finished it while reading this. Hopefully. I just had to get this out, and this blog is more of a journal I'm willing to share. Thank you for reading. Have a blessed day.
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