My mother is 93. She fell at home when I was at work. Her neighbor found her 3 hrs later still crumpled on the floor. She phoned 911 who phoned me. The police said my mom did not want to go to hospital. They left telling me that nothing seem to be broken. The next morning I took her to her MD's office who was on vacation. His son was subbing for him. He gave me a prescription for Naproxin without an xray or cat scan. His nurse gave me a name of a ortho MD and said to call if it does not get better. 4 days later I called 911 and took her to the hospital ER. After 4 hours they xrayed her and all hell broke loose. They rushed to get a collar around her neck and then took her for cat scans. She had 2 hairline fractures one resting on artery and thew other maybe on blood vessels. She was transferred immediatly to another hospital sayinf they had to do an MRA on her but her kidneys were failing so they had to wait till her levels were higher. The Naproxin had to get out of her system first. She waited in hospital for 3 days till they could do MRA. She was transferred to a rehab now. I believe this was a total indifference from the Doctor who she has been a patient for 30 years. Everyone who I have told this to cannot believe that no xray was taken and he basically did not want to be involved as his office hours were almost over. I have moved in with my Mom 1 1/2yrs ago to take care of her. It was obvious she could no longer live alone. I had lived out of state for 15 years and gave up home-job and in the past year have spent any money I had on everyday living. We live in a Senior Center and when the time comes I will not be able to stay here. She had lived here for 29 tears. I will be homeless and broke. She was put on hospice 2 times in the past 2 yrs for CHF. She was taken off 2/09 because she was strong and gaining weight and her BP was great and no longer needed to be on oxygen.She made her own breakfast, walked with a cane and was not incontinent. Now that has changed. I know I am getting ahead of myself but she was getting better and the MD in the ER said that if her fracture was on the blood vessels in her neck it could kill her. This other MD sent us home with Naproxin that was making her kidneys fail, which she NEVER had a problem with and never even gave her an xray. What do I do? I can't work a full time job because Medicare allows 20 hours a week for an aide. Thanks for listening, Elena
kizancie - you should consider moving out - get yourself a full time job and let someone else take care of mom full time. It will happen sooner than later so prepare now. Let someone else work for the 20 hours a week as her aide. If you can continue to live there until you get situated do it.
you should also contact an elder attorney about all the funds you've spent on daily expenses for your mom. See if you can get reimbursed for all or part of it that was for your mom's expenses.
Good luck and take care of yourself
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the editor is right. Seek another opinion, hang in there and hopefully you will get through it. I am wondering, if you live in a a senior community is there outreach or a socialworker that you can lean on while you deal with this?
This isn't the first time, or the last that a caregiver has been blindsided by listening to someone say - 'looks ok to me'. I think that everyone who reads your post will be a bit more skeptical and quicker to call the paramedics just to be safe. I am not saying this to make you feel bad - but rather to help you get past the anger you are feeling at the doctor. You are in a scarey situation and it sounds as if there is not alot of support for you. Unfortunately the doctor probably didn't register much alarm as it was an office visit the next day after the fall. They are human too - - as were the police who are not trained as EMT's.
Thankfully your mom is now in the hospital - I hope you are ok yourself.
It sounds like you need a second opinion from a trusted doctor. If your mother is having drastic side effects from a medication, seek medical help right away.