Post Surgery

I picked up Kevin from the hospital on Thursday afternoon. He stayed overnight at Kaiser in Hollywood. He was ignored by the nurses during his stay. He said the bathroom was not cleaned. He was not assisted or looked after. When he stayed last year at Kaiser in West Los Angeles, not only was he looked after, but he was doted on and quizzed by the nurses and other staffers.

On Friday I took him back to the hospital to have them look at the catheter that was attached to his shoulder. The catheter was shaped like a ball and was filled with pain killer. No one showed us how to use the device. The nurse I spoke to did not know what it was, but later I found out the device was self sustaining and that we did not need to do anything to maintain the device. The tubing on the device had some blood backing up from is shoulder into the tubing. When we showed the nurse at Kaiser, she said that we should not be concerned and that this was normal. She said we should come back on Monday for his scheduled appointment. We insisted and were seen by a PA (Physician Assistant). He changed my husband's dressing (bandages) and removed the catheter, but not before he asked my husband if he used street drugs.

I was very preturbed by the Street Drug question, but did not say anything. Kevin (my husband) was and remains in pain. This shoulder surgery (Rotator Cuff) is a very painful surgery to recover from and has a protracted recovery time. Tomorrow we are going to see the doctor that performed the surgery and Tuesday Kevin is having his first physical theraphy appointment.