2026 Life Logs, Day 197: Complete Stand Still
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2026
Weather: Sunny ‘til Mid-Afternoon, Then Smoky; High Temp 80, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The phone rang just after 7 am. It was my sister’s diabetic nurse telling me she had come into Patsy’s room and found Patsy sitting on the floor beside the bed for the second time since she has been at Bridges. She was complaining of pain in her leg, so they called 911 to get her to the Falmouth Hospital. I threw on some clothes, took Shadow out for a quick morning walk, and headed to the hospital. Then I sat in ER Room 25 until 4:30 pm when we finally got to go home. When they came in early on to take her for a CT scan, I went to the hospital café to get a breakfast sandwich for me and one for Patsy, plus some yogurt for her, and a cup of coffee for me. But even though she is diabetic, she was not allowed to eat until all tests were completed. Well before noon the doctor declared that he could find no problems, but he was not going to release her until a PT appointment could be made. I have tried for two weeks to get that done, and magically I got a call before 1 pm today confirming that Bayada could see her on Monday or Tuesday. The hospital Case Manager had to verify that and then she could be released. But because she could not stand without assistance, the doctor really didn’t want me to transport her home. I finally agreed to using ambulance transport, but I know that is not covered by her current Medicare Advantage plan. But as of August 1, she will be on Medicare with a BCBS supplement and I will no longer have the hassle of trying to finding care with a Medicare Advantage contract.
So, overnight, I went from a roller coaster ride to life at a complete stand still today. I did drive home in the early afternoon to let Shadow out and get a pair of pants for Patsy to wear on the ride home as she was brought to the hospital in just her night shirt. Otherwise, I sat beside my sister for 8 hours. The ambulance transport arrived around 4:40 pm and we all got to Bridges just after 5 pm when everyone was having dinner. We put Patsy directly into her wheelchair and I wheeled her into dinner. I guess all is well that ends well until the next incident. But Falmouth Hospital does not get a good grade from me. Not until late afternoon did anyone ever ask who I was or seek information on my sister. Neither the doctors nor the nurses were aware that she is currently wheelchair bound or had memory care issues, no one ever checked to see if she needed to go the bathroom or needed her Depends brief changed, and no one ever offered her even a cup of water. Maybe my standards are too high, but I did not find it a patient-friendly place to be.
