[nfb-talk] FW: B-F LINDA'S BATTLE, AN UPDATE

Tue Apr 8 17:54:59 CDT 2008

Hi John,

I know how much pain Linda was in and my heart ached.  I called her 
once when she was in the hospital and had a good cry for her when I 
hung up the phone.  She is a good strong lady and I am honored to 
have known her since we were kids in high school together.  I am very 
happy to hear that she is doing better.  Tell her to keep up on those 
exercises.  They will definitely help.  She is truly a hero.

As for hospital staff, it makes no difference whether you are blind 
or sighted or whatever.  I have worked in hospitals and clinics for 
most of my adult life, and in more instances than not, they treat 
many people in an indignant and disgusting manner unless you are in 
intensive care of something horrific like that.  Then they hover over 
you and treat you well.  Otherwise, forget being treated 
decently.  It seldom happens.

Take good care nad my love to Linda.

Connie Canode
At 08:33 AM 4/8/2008, you wrote:
>Good for you,
>I am glad your wife is better, and it will get even better.
>I am also pleased she is a strong lady.
>Wishing all of you the best.
>
>--Dar
>www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/5779
>Every Saint has a past
>Every Sinner has a future
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Eric Calhoun" <eric at pmpmail.com>
>To: <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>; <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>; <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>;
><acb-l at acb.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 1:32 AM
>Subject: [nfb-talk] FW: B-F LINDA'S BATTLE, AN UPDATE
>
>
> > Hello, people, this _is blindness-related; contact Mr. Justice for your
> > thoughts.  Thank you
> >
> >
> > Original Message:
> > From: "John Justice" <johnjustice at comcast.net>
> > To: <blind-friends at yahoogroups.com>
> > Subject: B-F LINDA'S BATTLE, AN UPDATE
> > Date:
> > Thu, 3 Apr 2008 21:15:10 -0400
> >
> > Recently, my wife Linda went through a double knee replacement.  her
> > surgery was on February 4, and the actual operation went quite well.  But
> > what happened after that is something we are still trying to understand.
> >
> >>From the very beginning, we knew that trouble was coming.  I brought my
> > guide dog along and the staff at the Admissions desk started to give us a
> > hard time about there not being enough room in the treatment area for the
> > dog.  They finally shifted us to a larger room and I was able to sit on
> > one
> > side while Linda was being prepared for surgery.  The last thing I heard
> > was her joking with people in the hallway as she was wheeled away.
> >
> > Her surgeon, Doctor Star, called me later to tell me that the operation
> > had gone quite well.  At that time Linda was still in the Recovery Room
> > and
> > they wouldn't let me anywhere near her.  During an operation like this,
> > the
> > doctors use something called femoral blocks.  They are injections which
> > are
> > supposed to help with the tremendous pain.  Linda woke up to unbelievable
> > agony because the injections didn't work for her at all.  They finally got
> > her pain under control enough to move her up to the room where I was
> > waiting.  I had been sitting there for more than 2 hours, wondering what
> > had happened to Linda and getting very little information at all.
> >
> > During her stay at the hospital, she ran into a problem time and time
> > again with staff who just didn't know how to deal with a totally blind
> > patient, especially one who was completely helpless due to major surgery.
> > At times, they refused to help her at all.  They made no adjustment for
> > her
> > blindness and got angry when we demanded a little consideration.  The
> > nurses, especially at night, did nothing but complain constantly about how
> > understaffed they were and made Linda feel like a criminal every time she
> > asked for something.  Her requests were normal.  Her pleas for
> > consideration where her blindness was concerned were reasonable.  The
> > physicians thought so but the nursing staff, especially the clinical
> > assistants, seemed to act as if Linda was some kind of strange creature
> > from another planet.  I raised so much hell with Patient Relations that,
> > after a while, they were reluctant to return my calls.  This was Linda's
> > first time in a hospital.  She had never been operated on before nor was
> > she in a hospital as a patient in her adult life.  She just wasn't
> > prepared
> > for their lack of cooperation and offensive manner.
> >
> > But my Linda is a fighter.  In spite of everything, she went on.  But
> > then, what choice did she have?  Her own knees were gone and she had to
> > deal with these new artificial ones, whether she liked it or not.
> >
> > After 3 days in the surgery ward, Linda was moved up stairs to the
> > Rehabilitation floor.  But the attitude of the nurses on that floor was,
> > if
> > anything, worse than the staff in the Surgical wing.  At one point, one of
> > the male nurses tried to refuse me admittance into a patient dining room
> > where the patients, if they wanted to, could eat with their families.  I
> > warned the man that he was getting himself into hot water  but he refused
> > to listen until some supervisor showed up and gave him walking orders.
> > What a jerk!  After that, we had no trouble in the dining room except for
> > Linda's constant, ongoing pain.
> >
> > As blind people, some of you will appreciate and understand what Linda
> > had to put up with.  She would ask for water and one of them would bring
> > it
> > for her.  Then later, when some procedure or other was necessary, the
> > water
> > would be moved and no thought was given to how Linda could find it in a
> > strange room.  The nurses just didn't or wouldn't understand that a few
> > seconds of consideration might make all of the difference for Linda,
> > especially when it came to her blindness coupled with the fact that she
> > couldn't move around very well.  Various staff members would enter her
> > room
> > and without explaining what they were doing, would begin whatever
> > treatment
> > they had in mind.  At first, the housekeeping staff would bring her
> > dinner,
> > set it on a side table and never tell her it was there.  More than once,
> > they moved her phone out of reach and didn't put it back.  She couldn't
> > wait to get out of there.
> >
> > The physical therapists were completely different in every respect from
> > the nursing staff.  They were considerate, patient and took the time to
> > explain every exercise and process.  They told Linda exactly what she had
> > to do and described the equipment before asking her to use it.  Linda used
> > to say that her therapy classes were an escape from the hell created by
> > the
> > rest of the staff. She tried to educate them but it was an up hill battle
> > with those who just wouldn't listen or didn't care.
> >
> > No one ever told us how much it would hurt.  I swear to you people.  I
> > believe that Linda was the only blind patient this hospital ever had who
> > got both knees replaced at the same time.  But Linda said it best.  If she
> > had known how much it was going to hurt, she would have never had the
> > surgery at all. But in her case, the bilateral replacement was necessary.
> > Both of her knees were that bad.
> >
> > When she came home from the hospital, her motion was still very limited.
> > I took care of my baby and I enjoyed doing it.  I was so afraid that I
> > would have forgotten how to fix a meal or clean up the kitchen but I did
> > surprisingly well.  Linda could manage to get up and down the stairs
> > although it was a slow and painful process.  We borrowed a wheel chair and
> > for the longest time, that was her place to sit at our table.  Our house
> > is
> > too small for the chair to be useful anywhere else.  She used a rolling
> > walker for a while and then graduated to a cane.
> >
> > Well, that was more than 8 weeks ago friends.  Linda is doing quite well
> > walking around now without the aid of a walker or a cane.  She is still in
> > quite a bit of pain. But gradually things are improving.  Linda had the
> > opportunity, through several surveys, to describe her experience in the
> > hospital.  She showed them no mercy.  Eventually, we are going to write a
> > letter to the hospital's administration.  We believe that the staff is
> > sadly lacking in knowledge when it comes to helping patients with physical
> > impairments, especially those whom are totally blind.
> >
> > John Justice
> >
> > My job feeds my family, music feeds my soul.
> >
> > PERSONAL E-MAIL:  johnjustice at comcast.net
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
> >
> >
> >
> > --
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>
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