[wolf]

So, this past Monday, crazynurse was supposed to go directly from dialysis to wound care, because it was really gross looking, necrotic tissue and all that.

Purulent discharge is a bad thing.

So, of course she didn't. Despite having this mess seen by an ER physician on Saturday, who was clearly an idiot who skipped Anatomy class, the dialysis doc on Monday says something on the order of, "Well, you're scheduled to see wound care on Wednesday," and she accepts this statement and goes home.

Her daughter tells me that she gags when she does the dressing changes.

Living things don't smell like that.

So ...

Wednesday afternoon I get a panicky call from her, from dialysis. She says, "wow, this thing is worse. I'm going up to wound care."

Waitaminnit ... didn't you go up to wound care on Monday?

No.

Okay, then. You sound like you need some support, I'll scoot right on over to the hospital.

Then she decides that I should just go straight to the house.

Against my better judgment I do, only to learn that my housekey no longer works ... apparently they changed the locks sometime in the last 25 years (I'm told, btw, that my key probably still fits the basement door, but I haven't bothered to try it).

And so ... since it's stinkin' hot, I drive over to the hospital.

And get to wound care just as they're peeling the gauze off her.

REALLY stenchy. Worse.

The doctor there is snipping bits here and bits there, and dabbing at some of the ooze.

He doesn't seem concerned.

crazynurse at one point mentions that she wants to maybe go to the emergency room, or see the parent hospital's wound care center. (We're doing all of this at Abington-Lansdale, formerly Central Montgomery Medical Center, formerly North Penn Hospital. If you know the area you know ... YOU DON'T GO TO THIS HOSPITAL UNLESS YOU'RE UNCONSCIOUS AND DON'T HAVE A CHOICE. Now that they're under new management, things are getting better, but it's in stages, not all at once.

What does the doctor say to this perfectly reasonable statement about wanting to manage one's care more aggressively? "Why would you want to do that?"

I get crazynurse home. She tries to make contact with the specialist tatadoc recommended. He's out of the office, and is in surgery all day Thursday, but his receptionist tells crazynurse to call the Abington Wound Care Center.

I've had contact with these folks. They are AWESOME. momwolf went there after her abdominal surgery.

So, of course they're closed, but crazynurse leaves messages and will call again Thursday morning to try to secure an appointment, otherwise, we're heading for the good ER, at Abington Memorial Hospital.

Next morning comes, I'm over at crazynurse's house with Egg McMuffins and apple juice (she can no longer mount the one step into her kitchen and can't feed herself, and her offspring aren't doing anything to help her. She has already made the call to Wound Care and they've given her an emergency appointment.

Load her and her wheelchair in her car (as big as my car is I can't get a wheelchair in the trunk even when it's empty) and off we go. Other than an argument about the best way to get to the Wound Care Center. I reminded her that 1. I've been there before and 2. If I go her way I add about 5 miles and at least 20 minutes to the drive with the traffic and lights and stuff, and we're already going to be late.

So ... we get there, and the staff are as awesome as I remember.

The wound care nurse, who sees a lot of bad stuff, recoils from the smell, and gently says, "I think you should start mentally preparing yourself for the possibility that you may need to go to the hospital."

Told her ... yeah, way ahead of you on that one, crazynurse packed a bag.

The surgeon came in, glanced at the wound, asked why crazynurse let this get so far ... politely told him "because the other doctor is a gaping moron and she listened to him."

"You're being admitted to the hospital. I'll do surgery tomorrow to see what we can do to preserve the limb."

So, he takes charge, he's fast, and proactive. I'm digging him.

Less than 45 minutes later, including the drive over and processing all the paperwork, she's in a bed.

Abington Memorial Hospital, incidentally, has grown quite a bit since I was there as a teenager. The original hospital is now called The Elkins Building and there are multiple buildings on the campus, including two parking garages. Not to shabby for a suburban hospital.

Surgery was yesterday afternoon. I didn't get to see her beforehand because they took her to preop straight from dialysis.

So, I waited.

The surgeon came out to see me before he started ... didn't seem to be common practice, there weren't a lot of docs coming out and talking to families ... information is passed through a dude at the desk in the waiting area.

Doc also called me at the conclusion of the procedure, in which he cleaned out a lot of infected tissue. The bad part: Her achilles tendon was ruptured AND infected (shame on you, ER doc who said, "there's no damage to your tendon"). It's unclear at this point how severe her disability will be. The good part: The infection has not gone into the bone.

Finally, her daughters show up ... around 6:30p. Surgery had been scheduled for 3.

Okay, my family is different, but you show up for shit like that. Without question, and without pause.

And they were going to leave before she was out of recovery, but we finally got word that she was headed up to her room, so crazynurse at least got to see her grandchildren (one of whom went to some teen youth group outing instead of coming to see mom-mom).

I hung around a bit after they got crazynurse back into bed. She was awake, alert, and doing pretty well, all things considered.

As a bonus, I overstayed visiting hours and didn't have to pay for parking. I did, however, find out that it's the same cost to self-park as it is to use the valet service.