My next several days will be crazy. There’s really no other word that will fit yet still describe what’s upcoming. Tomorrow, Mr. Pesky is having back surgery. That means I’ll be wearing my Florence Nightingale hat and spending the night in a hospital. This is AFTER an evening in ER with Mom after a puppy injury — and after a late morning doctor’s visit with her because the bleeding wouldn’t stop.
Going to the ER around here has really, REALLY changed. And… not in a good way. So Mom’s dog jumped on the couch and her toenail caught the fragile skin on the top of her arm. Because she’s on blood thinners, the bleeding simply wouldn’t stop. We headed to the ER.
She was finally seen by a nurse practitioner and another chick. I don’t know what the 2nd chick’s qualifications are but she took charge stating she knew how to wrap the arm so the bleeding would stop. She used a non-stick pad, at least 12, 4×4’s, 1,000 feet of gauze and a 1/2 roll of Coban tape. We didn’t so much as sniff a doctor.
Now imagine that whole thing being blood soaked. It probably weighed 20 pounds and no, I won’t share a photo even though I took one. What kind of care is that? We could have had the same exact outcome with a towel at home. At the doctor’s office yesterday, it took the doctor and a nurse 20-minutes to get all the crap off and cauterize the wound.
Here’s hoping Mom stays injury free in the coming two weeks — about how long I think I’ll be driving back and forth to the Ville to care for the back patient — so my crazy future doesn’t turn into insane. And for the love of all things holy, here’s hoping care is better at Ortho Indy North than it is at Schneck Medical Center’s ER.