My dear sweet mother had been ill for a few days. (She was only 75.) She had trouble breathing and so she called an ambulance. They took her to the closest hospital which was Vista East in Waukegan, IL. Myself, nor my brother, or his wife knew she was there until we called her sister and she said she probably went to the hospital. I then called the ER to find out her status. The nurse I spoke to said, "She is Covid negative, but she has pneumonia, and is getting antibiotics so she'll be just fine." I was so relieved.
Hours later, my sister-in-law got a call from the ER saying my mom wants to be picked up to go home. When she got there Mom was weak and on oxygen via a cannula. She called me since the doctor was there now. I could hear what he was telling my sister-in-law; he said she is Covid positive. I said, "What? I was told she is Covid negative and just has pneumonia and is on antibiotics and that she'll be fine." He said, "Who told you that?" in a condescending way. I said, "I don't know, I just know I was relieved." This is what gives me the idea that she was Covid negative and the doctor lied about it for the money! The first thing I said when he claimed she was Covid positive was, "Do not give her Remdesivir!!!" Well they already had! I was furious! I told him to take her off that crap now! So, he said he did.
Later, when there with Mom, he said she was not getting antibiotics either, nor was she getting nourishment or water. Her oxygen sats were in the 80's, and she was extremely anxious. She begged us to take her home. Now I really wish I did. But, I got this song and dance from them how bad she was and wouldn't survive without the oxygen. We had an oxygen concentrator at home. He claimed that wouldn't be enough oxygen.
My mom was crying. She wanted to go home, but we were so afraid we couldn't care for her since she was so weak. The doctor claimed he would ask if we could take an oxygen tank home, but he had to ask administration. (I believe that to be a big act…he never asked. He just put on a production to make us think they really cared.) Of course, they supposedly said no way! So, as weak as she was, she decided to stay. They wanted her on a Bipap machine which she hated. But, they put her on it and sedated her (this time at her request, she has terrible anxiety). We thought she was in good hands so we all went home to get some sleep.
The next day I call for an update, and of course they are pushing for the ventilator. They aggressively hounded me to sign a DNR. They said she could not be resuscitated unless she agreed she could be vented?? I said no vent. They said you have to sign the DNR as we can't do CPR without putting her on the vent; which didn't make sense to me at all. Since my mom never wanted to be on a vent, I signed it.
The following day, I called for another update. Of course, they all keep stressing how bad she is and that I might want to think about hospice. They also said I couldn't visit! I said, "That’s funny, the whole family was there visiting last night". "Well," she said, "your family is all Covid positive." I said, "No we are not, where did you get that from?" She couldn't give an answer. I said "No, we are fine." She then said I still couldn't visit. I asked, "What if I want to speak to the doctors only?" "No, because you're Covid positive and we don't know who has an immune compromised system." I'm like, "What?!" I'm thinking, isn't the hospital where all the sick people go? What she said was utterly ridiculous!
Next day, I got a call saying I can visit since she is doing so bad they expect her to pass in the near future. So, I visited her that day, and her numbers were in the 90's! She looked better. So, I was optimistic. I went home after visiting hours knowing I was going back the next day. I got this frantic call from a different doctor now saying I need to get in right away, her sats are in the 30's! I'm thinking how the heck did that happen so fast?
So, I got there and she looks terrible! She looked swollen from the steroids or whatever else they were giving her. Then, the nurse mentioned they gave her some morphine for pain??? It didn't dawn on me at the time, but I found out you can never combine Ativan with Morphine!!! They never told us or asked us about giving that to her! This I believe is how and why her sats plummeted.
We then decided to give her a break from the Bipap, and put her on a high flow cannula for a while with budesonide to see if that would help. They said nobody could be in the room because it aerosolizes (which has never been proven). So, the two nurses, the doctor, and I leave the room. He said about an hour I could come back. No sooner did I get out into the waiting room the doctor is calling me saying, "You have to come in here right away, her oxygen levels are worse!" So, I run back in and she's not even breathing! The cannula was not enough, and I told them I was afraid of that! They wouldn't put the Bipap back on, and I had to watch my poor sweet mother suffocate while conscious! It was traumatizing!
Now at this point I thought nobody was supposed to be in the room with the aerosol going? BUT the two nurses and doctor were there, with their arms crossed, watching as I held my mother’s hand, waiting, like vultures, waiting for her to die! They said they gave her Morphine for pain. I said the only pain she is in is struggling to breathe! They also gave her Ativan to keep her sedated, so she was "comfortable". She couldn't fill her lungs without the BiPap! I said, "she's not breathing!" He said, "She is, it's just slower." I said, "No, she's not!" They ignored me, as they watched and waited, impatiently I might add, for her to die!
Meanwhile, as my mother’s numbers are plummeting, and as she is dying, one nurse comes up to her to check her insulin!!! And then to give her insulin!!! What?!!! She can't breathe! Are you kidding me?! This was all an act by them… a big production making it look like they were doing something for her. It was like that from the get go, a big production they were putting on!
Her heart finally stopped, after her struggling to breath for 20 minutes or so. Soon as the nurses (the doctor was gone by then) saw she was flat lined, they came up with their stethoscopes and explained to me that they needed 2 nurses to confirm there is no longer a heartbeat, so they did. Never have I seen such coldness and callousness in my life.
Rewind to when I first talked to this doc (there were 3, didn't like any of them), I knew he was a smooth-talking liar. When I asked about giving her antibiotics, he claimed something about her chart says she's highly allergic to one of them, which was an out and out LIE! My mom was NOT allergic to any antibiotics, only codeine.
Throughout this whole ordeal, I did not once feel any sense of empathy or caring. I only got roadblocks from them at every turn. I asked if they would give my mom mega doses of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, antibiotics, nourishment, and Ivermectin, but they had a BS excuse every time! "We don't have Vitamin C in IV form, and she can't eat so we can't give her that." Same thing was said with Vitamin D. Same thing was said with Ivermectin. I asked if they did a CT scan…no just an Xray. "Did you culture her lungs since she has pneumonia?" "No." Then, on Monday, they put a feeding tube in, said it was successful. So, I asked then is she getting Ivermectin and vitamins and nourishment? "Well, now it's clogged." they said. This was the kind of crap they pulled on me and Mom the entire time!
Wood Dale, IL