Long title, I know….. and I’m typing with one hand. This is a bit of a rant. Some here may even find parts that are objectionable. But I’m STILL outraged and frustrated by things that happened to me. In January I had a stroke, fell and broke my hip, went to ER, and was in the hospital. During that time I had surgery on my hip, was on pain medication, mentally screwed up from the stroke, and couldnt move my left arm or leg. the good doctors at the hospital decided to Change my antidepressant (which worked fine for years), ADD Another antidepressant (as if they would have freakin’ Known if I was depressed) which it turns out I had a bad reaction to. Antidepressants are NOT mix n match, My memories of this are screwed up, MY boyfriend visited daily, I never remembered it. I fussed that I hadn’t seen him in weeks. Everyone said, he’s here every day!
Woke up in rehab, was crazy from new and changed meds,and stroke and from my brain freaking out because my left side didn’t obey my brains commands. It’s quite a shock. But I was NUTS, having hallucinations, psychotic symptoms I recognized from books, and calling my siblings to please come spring me from jail, they could have my house and anything else…
SO..at rehab/prison they thought I was like that all the time, my “doctor” at rehab (who I met exactly once) discontinued my anti-anxiety med and sleeping med. AND just for good measure screwed with my thyroid med. So I was crazy, anxious, in pain and couldnt sleep. The place was run by 2 nurses and zillions of CNA’s. (in TX 100 hrs instruction, no HS diploma required, mostly all English was their second language;
I spent a lot of time trying to escape. OF course, nobody would or, indeed COULD, which enraged me. Finally I convinced the nurse practitioner that I saw instead of a doctor, that something was very wrong, and she stopped the offending Zoloft, and my head cleared up within about 2 days .I was down to 96 lbs.
BUT then, with a clear head, i realized A LOT of things.
One was that there were quite a few male CNA’s. Now, I think I can speak for most women when i say, you don’t want strange men doing intimate care for you. Not ANY men, never mind other objectional features, You are stuck in a bed in diapers, and cant get out (even if you could). I fortunately wasn’t cognitively affected, but there are lots of old people, women mostly in rehab (this is GraceCare, a highly regarded rehab in these parts . Some have dementia, or mental impairments-they cant speak for themselves.
Bitch if you must, but its just another upsetting thing, added to lack of privacy, modesty and all normalcy.
I realize that with boomers aging, we have a shortage of CNA;s and other low skilled healthcare workers. But really….
IN conclusion, I am just trying to share my personal experience -now I am home, walking with a walker, starting to join the world again. The whole thing was bad, but my anger at having my HEAD fucked with is still with me.
BTW I am a female, live in TX (Waller County if you read that story )wildlife rehabber, animal person, biology, 2 dogs 3 cats. Nat Geo WILD, wolves, raccoons, raptors,sci fi, pyromaniac, live in the woods on a lake, native Texan, screaming tree-hugging progressive. My age is a secret.
Having said all this, I want to throw this in -physical therapy is amazing. Your brain is amazing.it can heal itself,