Here is a story about one Veterans experience with a Veterans Hospital. My husband, USMC, Vietnam Combat Veteran, became extremely ill in 2010. My son and I took him to a hospital, where he had a CT Scan and it was determined he had colon cancer. The doctor he saw was a Veteran himself and transferred my husband to the VA Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. We were quite frankly appalled at the condition of the hospital and the lack of concern and the treatment he received there. There was no room on the medical floor for my husband, so he was put on the surgery floor in a little room that appeared dirty and in need of repair. The first nurse came in brandishing a long cotton swab and without a word headed toward my husband with outstretched swab. He raised his hands in self defense and said what are you doing? She replied, Oh, we have to take a swab of your nostrils when you are admitted and again before you are discharged to check for MERSA. My husband told her she should have communicated to h im what she was doing. He allowed her to take the swab. We waited and waited and waited and waited for a doctor to come in, talk to us, and tell us how they were going to proceed. Hours went by and finally my son went to find a doctor. Another hour or two later, in came a group of doctors, or doctors in training, Im still not sure. The one who seemed to be in charge, had on the dirtiest lab coat Ive ever seen. My son later told me he almost spoke up to ask him to leave and get a clean coat. They listened to our concerns about my husbands symptoms and then left to confer. A young nurse came in to draw blood, put the band on his arm, and then realized she had forgotten something. She left and about five minutes later came running back into the room and then in relief told us she thought she had left the band around his arm. Another young nurse came in a while later to draw the blood and when she picked up the packaging from the equipment she also picked up the tubes and blood and dumped them all in the trash can! When she turned back and started looking for the tubes of blood, I informed her she had thrown them away, so she dug them out of the trash can and went on her way. We waited and we waited and we waited. Finally, my husband had had enough and said, take me home. So we did. We walked out of the VA hospital in SLC with my husband in maroon pajamas, florescent yellow hospital socks and not one person asked us where we were going! The next day someone called from the hospital and said, apparently your husband just walked out of the hospital, I replied, Yes, we brought him home. She said, Well, he had and IV port in. Yes, I removed it. You removed it yourself. Yes. Okay. That was about the extent of the conversation. Im trying to be kind, realizing they are overwhelmed, but they shouldnt be! There should be enough well-trained doctors, nurses, and all other staff to properly care for our Veterans! My husband lost his battle with cancer just a few months later and Im still fighting the VA to service connect his cancer to his exposure to Agent Orange. What a shame to treat those who fought for our freedom in this manner!
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 18:40:06 +0000
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