On average 1 out of every 20 people who are admitted to a
hospital will incur a hospital incurred infection. My father did, which contributed to his
earlier than expected departure from this world.
My mother on all accounts for her age was healthy. Osteoarthritis in the knees, high blood
pressure controlled by medication, restricted vascular flow in her lower
extremities, and excess weight were the only medical conditions she had, none
of which significantly impaired her daily life activities.
On Saturday, August 23, she took a tumble which resulted in
breaking her wrist and a hairline fracture of her pelvic bone. She was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday,
August 26, because she was not independently mobile. She was put on heparin to mitigate the risk
of blood clots and given pain medication for the pelvic bone injury. She was stuck 7 times in an attempt to start
an IV without success. There was
considerable bruising as a result. A
decision was made to insert a PICC line.
Surgery was performed on her wrist on Wednesday August 27, that required
3 pins to keep things together and aligned.
All seemed well post-surgery – except for her erratic blood pressure and
pulse that measured from her legs. One
leg measurement consistently indicated inflated numbers, while the other leg
yielded lower numbers (red flag #1).
I happened to be in Memphis during last weekend of her
hospitalization. I visited her each day I was there. On Friday, she looked pale and tired, but
alert. She had complained about not
being able to urinate (red flag #2). She was put on a medication that was to help
relieve the arthritic knees. She was
concerned about the side effects of the medication. Two weeks prior to her accident, she had
received the final round of knee injections that provides lubrication for the
joints. My mom told me that medication
had given her some relief. She expressed
fear about her current situation and made the comment “if I ever get out of
here,” more than once. On Saturday, she
looked better and had gotten up with assistance to go to the bathroom and was
able to empty her bladder. She was
looking better. Things were looking
better. On Sunday, I went to her room before
I left town and gave her a cell phone that I bought for her on Saturday. This would enable her to get emails and
re-engage with people on Facebook as well as call anyone as much as she wanted
without any cost to her. I told her my
daughter would teach her how to become competent in using this device after she
was discharged. As I left, I felt a
sense of fear from her, but I gave my best pitch of encouraging reassurance
that all would be ok in the near term. I
had every reason to believe that she would be going to a rehab center to get
her back on her feet again within the next week.
Fast forward to Tuesday.
I called her about 4 p.m. and we talked until after 5 p.m. She sounded optimistic about being discharged
to a rehab center within a mile from her home as soon as Wednesday, provided
they could get her blood pressure and pulse rate under control (red flag #3).
She was apologetic for not having yet used the cell phone…that was my
mom – concerned about everyone else’s feelings before her own. She said her only concerns were being a bit
short of breath and had a dizzy spell when she got up with assistance to go to
the bathroom (red flag #4).
On mid-morning Wednesday, September 3, I got a text that my
mother was transferred to CV ICU because of her erratic heart rate and
shortness of breath. Throughout the day
her condition rapidly declined to the point that they had to intubate her and
connect her to a ventilator. Around 6
p.m. she experienced the first of two codes and I told my sisters to forgo any
more attempts since the inevitable was near.
Around 8 p.m. the priest from the parish she attended for over 40 years
arrived to give the anointment of the sick (formerly, last rites) blessing and
she died the moment he ended the prayer.
In retrospect, as a non-clinician I identified 4 symptomatic
red flags, all of which independently could be attributed to the stress of the
injury, reaction to the new medications, pre-existing condition: vascular flow, obesity, arthritis, etc. Together, these red flagged symptoms played a
part in her overall health condition.
Could other things have been done to reduce the risk of her
mortal outcome? Certainly. But, would the outcome have been any
different? We will never know. In the
end, is this death classified as universal fate, God’s will or a death that
might have been prevented?
