Director, Emergency Services, Bikur Cholim Hospital
I believe your prayers helped, and my father has been
released from the hospital and is in rehab. This gives us an
opportunity to discuss more aspects of his care.
1) My father recovered well, but was forced to spend extra
days in the ICU because a floor bed was not available. This
may sound great -- one-to-one nursing, better doctors,
excellent attention -- but I counselled my mother to get him
out of there as quickly as possible.
What was my rush? Many times, people in the ICU are very
sick and get high-powered antibiotics. This could lead to
bacteria that are resistant to most antibiotics and that can
really endanger a patient. I personally do not like to use
antibiotics (or any medicine for that matter) without a
clear need. But in the ICU often they must.
2) My father was eventually transferred to a telemetry bed.
Telemetry means that the patient walks around with a little
radio-like device in his pocket which allows his heart to be
monitored anywhere near an antenna. This allows a patient to
get up and around. The problem is, however, that someone has
to be watching the monitor and that is boring and sleep-
inducing. So the monitor has bells when problems appear on
the screen. The problem is that these give many false alarms
and therefore are often ignored. But that is the best we can
do.
3) ICU patients are often bedridden and this can cause
pooling of blood in the extremities, as well as a collapse
of the lungs, and also pressure sores. To deal with this,
patients sometimes need to be given blood thinners or have a
machine that presses the blood out of the legs to prevent
clots. These clots, if allowed to form, could dislodge and
reach the lungs. To prevent lung collapse, one often has to
blow into a spirometer, a little chute with balls in it that
keeps the lungs exercised. Pressure sores can be prevented
by keeping the body clean, by frequent turning of the
patient and by air or egg crate mattresses.
4) Many antibiotics cause loose stool. Often patients are
alert enough to tell the nurse they need assistance to use
to the bathroom, even if they are too weak to go there by
themselves. Nurses save time by putting diapers on patients
or putting in catheters. This is time saving, but is hard on
the patient who feels a loss of dignity. There is often not
enough nursing help, so finding a person to help out (it
does not have to be a nurse) could go a long way.
5) After discharge from the hospital patients are often very
weak. Kupot pay for physiotherapy, and some pay for rehab
facilities. Here is where four therapists come in.
Respiratory therapists build breathing. This is
especially important for patients who were on respirators
and need to build up their lung muscles. Physical
therapists do exercises to build up muscles that have
been weakened through the illness. This can help in patients
with back pain, or in stroke patients. Occupational
therapists not only help get people back to an
occupation, but help with the activities of daily living
such as buttoning shirts, tying shoes, using the rest room.
Speech therapists can help stroke and Parkinson
patients become understandable. Therapists are often quite
successful, and I am seeing this firsthand with my father.
My father's name is Shmuel ben Faiga, and not as I wrote
last time.
Write me in care of the Yated.
