Lioness ([info]elisem) wrote,
@ 2008-10-25 08:43:00
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Scraps NEEDS people this weekend. SERIOUSLY!
OK. I just got a call from Velma. She's been there all night -- she got there a little after 6 p.m. -- and they're still waiting for a bed change (for the last two and a half hours) so Scraps isn't lying in wet cold sheets. This is why we have people there with him, because he can't tell the nurses himself.

Velma said she isn't going home until the bed gets changed. She wants to know if anybody's signed up for today at all, and if she's going to get any sleep. Last I heard, there isn't anyone signed up for any time all weekend.

Guys, we NEED PEOPLE.

I'm going to go over there as soon as I can, so she can at least get some sleep.

If you're a friend of Scraps or Velma, and you can spare even two hours, now would be the time.

If you email me at elise@lioness.net, I'll get it.

Please?



(PLEASE repost if you've got access to more friends of Scraps and Velma. We've still got one paperwork tangle to clear up before Scraps can get transferred to the excellent brain injury rehab facility, and I'm hoping that someone will come sit at the hospital so I can help Velma with that. Also, we really really need people for Monday afternoon and evening. Please?)

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[info]casacorona
2008-10-25 02:22 pm UTC (link)
Gah. I wish I was there.

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[info]elisem
2008-10-25 02:23 pm UTC (link)
If you could tell people you know that are here, who might not see this, that'd be a great huge help.

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[info]casacorona
2008-10-25 02:52 pm UTC (link)
done.

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[info]redbird
2008-10-25 02:42 pm UTC (link)
I don't think I can be there this weekend, but have reposted in the hope that someone local who doesn't read your journal will see it.

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[info]pagawne
2008-10-25 03:00 pm UTC (link)
Where are you? If I can do it, I would be happy to take a 12 hour shift. Heck, I even have training and experience (old, but some things don't change.)

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[info]redbird
2008-10-25 03:21 pm UTC (link)
At the moment, the relevant location is NY Methodist Hospital, in Brooklyn (specifically, 6th Street between 7th and 8th avenues, the 7th Avenue stop on the F train). The rehab place they'll be moving him to soon is in Manhattan.

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[info]elisem
2008-10-25 07:34 pm UTC (link)
Yup. It is important for people to email rather than just show up, though, so we don't have five people at once and then nobody for two days. OK?

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[info]elisem
2008-10-25 07:34 pm UTC (link)
Send me an email at elise@lioness.net and I will put you on the schedule. Were currently desperate for Monday daytime people, or anything tomorrow morning or evening. (Afternoon tomorrow is covered. Yay!)

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[info]arielstarshadow
2008-10-25 03:34 pm UTC (link)
Damn - I don't know them personally, but if I lived in the area, I'd be happy to show up and say "Good morning Scraps, I'm your friendly neighborhood stranger, and I'll be attempting not to bore you to death for the next couple of hours."

Sorry there's nothing I can do to help. :(

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[info]reveritas
2008-10-25 05:08 pm UTC (link)
i'm a tiny confused, can it be ANYONE in NYC (i know a bunch) to oversee the RAs/RNs or does it need to be someone who knows Scraps already? i'm assuming the latter but if you guys are desperate-desperate then i could maybe round some up.

either way -- MANY hugs and much support.

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[info]elisem
2008-10-25 07:35 pm UTC (link)
We're starting to get some responses, but it may come down to desperate-desperate on Monday, when we wrangle the last (we hope!) paperwork to get him into Rusk. (Please, all you Good Ones watching over, let it work out swiftly and well!)

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[info]agrumer
2008-10-26 01:55 am UTC (link)
I'm available for Monday.

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[info]elisem
2008-10-26 02:19 am UTC (link)
YES YES YES YAY!!! When can you be there? We need coverage from noon to somewhere between 5:30-6:00 when Harriet shows up, if possible. 1 to 6 could work as well, but earlier would be a great boon. (If you can begin in the late morning, we are your grateful slaves forever.)

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Cold wet bed...
[info]edward_oleander
2008-10-26 03:05 am UTC (link)
Aaaargg... Frustrating to be stuck in Mpls. the one time I might be of some use...

Elise... If Scraps is sweating in his bed, tell the nurses to add AT LEAST 6 fitted sheets to the bed... A couple thick bath blankets under a couple fitted sheets will work too, but 6 fitted sheets stay in place better... Do the same with pillow cases... at least 6... It's kind of a pain so they won't want to, but STAND YOUR GROUND -- THIS WORKS!

The problem is the plastic mattresses and pillows... With only one or two layers of sheets, they reflect body heat and make you sweat, which cools and makes you utterly miserable... I once went 5 sleepless days lying on a cold wet bed before a nurse taught me this trick... it has worked for me as a patient multiple times and with many of my own patients...

Also... many nurses, even ICU, will give you a crash course on per protocol bed-changing (it takes 2 or 3 people to do it right with the patient still in bed), and tell you where to find linens... There's nothing holy about it...


Send some hugs to Velma and Scraps... ~Ed~

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Re: Cold wet bed...
[info]elisem
2008-10-26 03:16 am UTC (link)
I will definitely send hugs to both of them.

The cold wet bed was because the urine-transporting tube came loose, and he was lying in a puddle of piss for two and a half hours since the floor had only two nurses and one other worker on it.

Happened again later in the day, but didn't take two and a half hours this time. More like forty-five minutes. But still too long.

Six sheets? We have to fight to keep a blanket.

I wish to hell it was a Minneapolis hospital, is what I wish. I know that the people there are doing the best they can, but the staffing ratio has got to be awful, or something.

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Re: Cold wet bed...
[info]marydell
2008-10-26 11:46 am UTC (link)
Keeping a towel under him might improve things a bit - it would centralize the wet in case of another mishap, and it would be easier to swap out. Sheets would probably still end up damp but not as bad.

Also keeping some disposable diapers handy would probably help--not for him to wear, because with tubes and whatnot I doubt Depends would be practical. But if the tube does come loose, you can soak up the pee quickly with a baby diaper so the puddle can be reduced to a damp spot.

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Re: Cold wet bed...
[info]elisem
2008-10-26 03:17 am UTC (link)
Also? Their bed-changing protocol is a one-person deal.

They may have taught Velma the drill. I have seen it, and could probably manage it, if I knew where the linens were.

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[info]edward_oleander
2008-10-26 07:11 pm UTC (link)
The tube came loose? That's odd since all the units I've ever seen were one long tube from bladder to collection bag. What century does their equipment come from??? What century are THEY from? Two plus hours in a pee-soaked bed is unforgivable... Skin breakdown in a bed-bound patient is a serious issue, and urine is not skin-friendly. Some random door opening should find you the linen room... often they aren't labeled.

Gods, I wish he was out here... Sister Kenny at Abbott N.W. or Fairview Southdale are wonderful stroke rehab facilities...

Thanks to you and everyone for all you're doing out there... ~E~

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[info]elisem
2008-10-26 07:31 pm UTC (link)
Texas catheters don't always stay on a guy if a guy is moving around, I guess. And then, well, everything was all over everywhere pretty quickly.

Rusk, which he has now been accepted to (pending this one piece of paperwork Velma and I are printing out in a few minutes if all goes well), is supposed to be an excellent brain injury rehab place, and they want him. Just gotta get all the emergency Medicaid ducks in a row.

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