Bad 24 hrs

[Polesden11]

Last night I had a really bad dream and when the nurses came to wake me up to stop the noise they seemed quite annoyed because they had to change the bed. Ii just apologised for the trouble I'd caused (not that I actually had anything to do with making it happen and went back to sleep. Bit later, same thing, except this time they weren't "quite annoyed" they were spitting feathers, absolutely furious. Shouting that I was being selfish, I was waking the whole ward and as far as I was concerned they had 15 other patients to take care of n couldn't keep changing my bed every 10 mins. I tried Explaining again but they didn't want to know When they'd gone I just dived under the covers and cried.

This morning early everyone was asleep and there were no nurses around - I didn't want trouble- soo I called Den. But there had been a nurse just 2ft away round a corner. She heard what I was saying and went nuts and demanded to know which nurses had been so awful ....that s putting it politely and I'm now dreading the arrival of the 🌙 staff

Has anyone else ever run up against this complete wall of disinterest and unconcern and how did you get the point across?

On a lighter note:

........Tales from the doghouse

Committed the cardinal sin and rang Den when the rugby 🏉 was on giving my poor starving woof the chance to steal again while his dad was distracted

Tally for the week:

1 t-bone steak

1 sirloin steak

1 rump steak

1 scone with jam and cream

Not bad going for a dog needing to loose 5kgs.

Night all

Sue x

[Tongue_twister]

Hi there, I experienced this while in hospital and it is humiliating and disgraceful to be treated this way. I totally empathise with your situation. I found that some nurses understood but then there was the ones that didn’t understand at all, which we have both suffered with from and sadly these nurses/people are everywhere but don’t be scared to complain. All staff should act with dignity and respect towards patients and if they can’t or don’t they should be held accountable for their actions. It is your right to be treated with respect and dignity. I had a nurse who I absolutely dreaded seeing and she purely had no people skills in how to be compassionate. You can’t help the way your condition affects you and you certainly shouldn’t be treated in this manner. It is despicable. A previous carer once said to me “I am woman, hear me roar” and I find that extremely encouraging. I hope you find this encouraging too. All I can suggest is not to fearful of complaining about how you are being treated and tell the people who need to understand your situation as many times as you have to to get it through to them how your condition affects you. I wish you all the best and hope things improve for you. With empathy xx

[Polesden11 in reply to Tongue_twister]

Thank you tongue twister, nice to know I'm not alone in this. Trouble is I'm a real wuss who would normally cross the road to avoid any sort of confrontation so we're talking about a complete change of personality, even my husband said to me this morning that I needed to start sticking up for myself. I've always had someone fighting my battles first dad and for the last 54 years Den, but Den is now 82, completely deaf and bed -ridden so can't really do much now. This getting older lark is not all it's cracked up to be. Soooo, from now on you can expect me to develop some fighting spirit of my own and my motto will be " Don't let the bastards grind you down "

Hope you have a lovely Sunday. It's a beautiful sunny day up here

Sue x

[Honghua]

Hello Polesden ,It makes me equally sad and angry to read your post.

My husband had the pleasure to be a patient for 36 hours in a bay in A and E and then an assessment ward just before Christmas.

Pneumonia.

During that time he was left unwashed .

And without food for nearly 24 .

It required me to be somewhat rude to have some brought to him.

After I left at 1.00am on the first night he had slipped down the trolley and was left for 3 hours to finally manage to pull himself back up on to it.

This was despite one of the nurses sitting watching him. After about an hour she told him to push harder and then walked off!

He has a catheter which the paramedics had dislodged when they came to the house so had been soaked in urine.

Again I had to complain before on of the "caring" nurses ran a wet wipe over his penis.

On the assessment ward they refused to give him the correct dosage of madopar br cause it had been written down incorrectly by a doctor.

I had to bring a letter from the consultant to prove I knew what to bloody give him.

He also spent that night freezing under a single blanket with the cold air from the aircon over him

He cannot speak any more.

Sooo sadly this seems to be a pretty common experience.

You have every right to stand up for yourself.

Tell them you dont choose to be in this state.

I found that saying how would they like to be treated in this manner ie without food hit the mark.

If you have the contact number of a parkinsons nurse she should be able to explain the situation to the staff.

In my experience they are pretty useless waste of space but she can at least do that.

If all else fails and I know this is a tough one, say it's their bloody job!!!

And yes don't let the bastards grind you down.

Stay Strong it's your human right

[Polesden11 in reply to Honghua]

ThNkks for Yr kind response Patient In bed opposite suffering similarly so we joined forces and let them have it. Helped but didn't fully sort it, but we'll keep plugging away

Suex

[Honghua in reply to Polesden11]

Good for you both.It's rotten you have to struggle for basic dignity.

Take care of yourself

Michele

[Hidden]

This is a shameful level of care, compassion and everyone other buzz word our healthcare sector like to plaster all over their hospital walls. These nurses need to be named and shamed. You can't help what is happening to your body. In sleep you have even less. Report this shockling poor care. I wish now i had. Going into hospital brought feelings of absolute dread for my husband. My husband needed the bathroom and they would switch off the buzzer and said they'd be back. They didn't and this resulted in an accident and then lying in it till someone eventually came. I recieved numerous calls from him distraught. Myself and a friend ended up coming in and caring for him. Making sure he had a shower and taking him to tge toilet when he needed it. Thank God when we got him home, we, with the GPs, district and St Catherine's, were able to look after and keep him at home til the end.You have a right to be treated with dignity and respect. But you will need to educate about your MSA. Wishing all the love and support i can. Sharon xxx

[ReverendBadger]

Hi Sue, Yes,you do need to stand up for yourself. As you correctly identified no one else is going to be able to do it for you.

Maybe a course in "asssertiveness" would help.I can recommend a trainer for you who has a fantastic track record. Your own dog !

[Polesden11 in reply to ReverendBadger]

Ah but I don't have beautiful brown pleading eyes so he has an advantage over me!!