My husband has SEVERE Degenerative Disk Disease in his spine. As of last week he got to the point where he could not walk and was in so much pain that I had to take him to the Emergency Room. He was literally unable to move his legs at all. All the hospital did was give him a shot and a few prescriptions for pain and sent him for an MRI. When they got the results the doctor who had never even met my husband before said that it did not look like he had any new problems and walked out the door so fast that my husband could not even open his mouth to ask him how he could know that since he had never even seen him before, much less all the other MRIs he has had. A short time later they gave him his discharge papers and called me to come and get him.
I could not believe it. It took two nurses to get him into my small car and no one even asked me if had any help at home to get him out and up the steps to our home. At home it took him more than two hours to drag himself out of the car.
2007-01-11 10:21:06 · 4 answers · asked by kdddavswife 2 in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Injuries
It has now been six days and he is still housebound and unable to walk. He would be bed bound if it were not for my Brother in law letting us borrow his motorized wheelchair. We cannot even get him out of the house to go to the doctor.His pain management doctor is only twenty minutes away but it is another county and medicaid will not pay for transport to outide the county. We are in Florida
2007-01-11 10:27:24 · update #1
Juno: He has not been able to leave the house to even get to the doctor.I do not have anyone who can help me get him in the one small car that I have. The reason we cannot get him out the door is because we do not have a wheelchair ramp for our home and I do not even have a portabl e wheelchair to keep in the car for him. I have been looking for a used one but all the ones I find are too small. I found out today that I can have medicaid transportation take him to his primary doc since he is just in town but I have to call them back tomarrow to see if they can somehow get him out of the house and in the handicapped van.
I honestly do not know why they apparently did not call his primary doc. Myself I was very verwhelmed because he was in such pain AND I had to bring along our nine year old who has severe autism and try to constantly supervise her while all this was going on. If the transport can get him out of the house then I can make him an appointment with his primary doc.
2007-01-11 15:20:18 · update #2
doigpatch: I would have felt better if they HAD kept him at least until we could figure out wether this setback is permanant or not. I will not be able to lift him if he falls and our rented home is not handicapped accesible. A week ago today I had a husband who could still walk with a cane.
I wish I could repeat the moment when they brought him out to me with two nurses having to get him in.I would have demanded that they keep him. Last I checked E.R.s could still admit people to the hospital. I feel really stupid for not doing that.
2007-01-11 15:32:25 · update #3
It sounds like you need a neurology consult. It sounds like his DJD( degenerative joint disease) has declined, it sounds like he may need surgical intervention. The ER should have called in a neurosurgical consult.The last I knew pain was still an admittable diagnosis for hospitals. If he is not safe to be at home, he may need placement into an extended care/ rehabiitation facility. Unless you can prove that injury occurred as a result of discharge from the hospital, I don't think that you can sue. Why did you pick him up? I would not have taken him from the facility. You do know that you have the right to refuse to take someone home, and that ou have the right to a second opinion. And why was his family physician not called at the ER, or since his discharge to correct this problem? If he can not leave his home, there is Visiting Physicians that see patients in the patients homes( they make house calls), and this is a covered benefit for medicare, I don't know if it is under medicaid. You do know that you can be paid as a caregiver to him under medicare, if the DR writes a prescription that states clt needs a caregiver? They don't pay alot, it's about $45 to $50 a week, it's not much but it helps alittle: family members can be paid caregivers.
2007-01-11 10:40:17 · answer #1 · answered by mischa 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It seems they made a diagnosis (the MRI) and he was not in need of immediate (emergency) surgery. Therefore, it is appropriate that the EMERGENCY room declined to treat him further (other than to provide appropriate pain medication).
You can sue them, any one can sue anybody. You will likely lose, and it will probably cost you money.
What did you hope they would do, admit him to the hospital? for what? to just wait in a bed until he felt better? he can do that at home, with a home nurse, in a nursing home..he didn't need to do that in a hospital.
2007-01-11 10:27:56 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What did you expect the ER to do?
Why have you not made a follow-up appointment with his regular doctor?
As far as I am concerned, the ER did their job. The perscribed the required meds to make him feel a bit better. Since this was not life threatening, I don't know what else they were to do.
What has your primary physician said about this ER visit? He probably has your husband's full medical record at his fingertips.
2007-01-11 10:34:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you should surely make a formal complaint and possibly check into the legal aspect. It does not sound like your husband received adequate care at all.
2007-01-11 10:25:17 · answer #4 · answered by jane 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋