Give us a brain injury only rehab center

Give us a brain injury only rehab center

While the medical profession likes to tell families that all anoxic patients die, jerking hope out of their reach, the truth is...we all die eventually. But after watching Brenna for 16 months, I began to understand that anoxics don't die of their brain injury. They die of the inept care they receive from hospitals and nursing facilities.

Few medical staff are trained in brain injury recovery and frankly, I don’t think most of them want to be trained. If they were trained, they might actually have to do something more than throw out healing theories based on antiquated research.

Facilities allow patients to just lie around, not getting them out of bed, not sitting them up, not helping patients and families learn how to  how to deal with the many issues that come up. They are so focused on return on investment that they forget to treat patients and their families with dignity. Good patient care cuts into the profit for investors and CEOs.

The doctors kept me intimidated, knowing I had no backup. They said I couldn’t take care of Brenna. That I HAD to have five RTs for respiratory therapy and 5 nurses, that I couldn’t do trach care, that I couldn’t take care of her PEG; that I had to have lots of money to do all this.

Well all the infections were on their watch. All the med complications were on their watch. The broken teeth they didn’t take care of was on their watch. Not once did any of them have her diabetes under control. They let her range from 22-547. I had to catch their mistakes if I wanted Brenna to live. Inept is a kind word for the care Brenna received in most places. They were careless. If I hadn’t caught their mistakes, she would have died a year before she did. She lived in spite of their least efforts to give good care.

I have seen the worst possible care for anoxic patients in hospitals and nursing homes. The rule that allows facilities to staff according to census and not according to the vulnerability of patients allows the money grubbers to make big money and the patients to die. Check out the salaries of the execs and the CEOs and you’ll see why they don’t want change.

Once I was legally allowed to take over Brenna’s trach and PEG care, she never flinched or twitched again. She trusted the mother who had never hurt her. She had always put her head on her shoulder when staff cleaned her trach. Not once Mom took over. From the get-go, families need to be encouraged to participate in every bit of care and to video therapy sessions. To learn it until it becomes second nature to them.

That is why I want brain injury only hospitals and recovery centers. I want people who give a damn and can and will be fired if they even hint at the negative possibilities to patients and their families in front of the patient.

Yes, we know the negatives. That is the first thing we learn. But, our loved ones don’t need to hear it from the professionals. I watched Brenna go into depression because of their stupidity, ripping hope away from her. Their job should be to uplift the patient, every day in every way. Then, maybe we can have more success in recovery.

And not one professional who cared for Brenna in those 16 months had any more training in brain recovery than I did. And they got the big bucks for their inefficiencies and downright medical neglect.

 

The doctors kept me intimidated. They said I couldn't take care of Brenna. That I HAD to have 5 RTs on hand for respiratory care and 5 nurses, that I couldn't do trach care, that I couldn't take care of the PEG. That I had to have lots of money to do all this. Well, all the infections were on THEIR watch. All the complications with her meds were caused by them. The broken teeth they didn't take care of was on their watch. NOT once did any of them have her diabetes under control. They let her range from 22-547. I had to catch their mistakes. They weren't smart enough to. Inept is a kind word to use. They were careless. If I hadn't caught their mistakes, she would have died a year before she did. She lived in spite of their least efforts to give good care.

I have seen the worst care possible for anoxic patients in hospitals and nursing homes. That rule that allows facilities to staff according to census and not according to vulnerability of patients allows the money grubbers to make big money and the patients to die. Check out the salaries of the execs and CEOs and you'll see why they don't want to change.

Once I was legally allowed to take over Brenna's trach and PEG care, she relaxed, no more twitching when they got near her. From the get-go, families need to be encouraged to participate in every bit of care. To learn it until it is second nature to them.

That is why I want brain injury only hospitals and recovery centers. I want people who give a damn and can and will be fired if they even hint the negative crap to patients and their families in the presence of the patient.

Yes, we know the negatives, but our loved ones don't need to hear it from the professionals. I watched Brenna go into depression because of their stupidity, ripping hope away from her. Their job should be to uplift the patient, every day in every way. Then maybe we can have more success in recovery.

And not one professional who cared for Brenna in those 16 months had any more training in brain recovery than I did. And they got the big bucks for their inefficiencies and downright medical neglect.