Help stop "drive-thru" mastectomies

[MaryDane]

A very dear friend of mine was actually discharged from the hospital within a couple hours of coming out of the recovery room from a double mastectomy. She was heavily medicated. Going home sounded like a good idea to her. I was only there to visit. I tried to convince the hospital this was not a good idea. She did not have anybody at home to stay with her. All this fell on deaf ears. As they wheeled her to the car, she was clearly unable to keep water down. I'm guessing had I not been there, she would have driven herself home! (Only hours after having been given morphine, and undergoing major surgery. I ended up spending my night at her home.

It seems amazing that this could even happen in this day and time. Day surgery is a great thing - for having teeth pulled or a mole removed - not for something like this.

If you have a moment, please sign the pledge.
http://www.lifetimetv.com/reallife/bc/pledges/bc_mast_pledge.html
Thanks!

[Ysobelle]

Ah, I've been trying to find current info on this. Do you know what happened with the bill in more recent days? The LifeTime page mentions 2003-- what's happened since?

[MaryDane]

I thought the same thing, Ysobelle. I noticed that 2003 in the article. I did a little digging, but couldn't find and 'final results'. I cannot find where this ever became an Act. Just a bill before the 108th Congress (2003). http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.01886:
Snopes also leaves the bill open-ended as of 2003. If somebody knows of something more conclusive, please share, I'd love to know more.

[Jessa]

Are hospitals rushing people out after major surgery in general, or are they specifically mishandling mastectomies?

[Bonnie Strangeways]

Nah, it seems to be almost anything these days. Case in point, my father went in last month and had his left leg amputated. He was left with a 7 inch stump, and they sent him home THE NEXT DAY! He wasn't even off the morophine, and he was discharged. No nursing home, no nothing. I was stunned. My sister and I had to set up with an outside Physical Therapist to come out and work with him. Disgusting!

[WenchLadyKate]

Back in 1999, I had some major back surgery. I had to have 2 discs removed, as they had slipped and partially ruptured. When I got to the hospital (via ambulance as I did not have use of my legs at the time, there was so much pressure on the nerves) I was admitted to undergo some tests. 6am I have an MRI. 9am I'm told I need surgery. 11am I'm prepped for surgery. 6pm I'm out of surgery. 8pm I'm back in my room. I think, "wow, it's great how quickly they took care of me.

Next thing I know, I'm thinking, "Wow, they're trying to get rid of me."

I no sooner got out of bed and had the physical therapy people walking me down the hallway, and I was being released. I didn't feel that I was ready. They apparently didn't seem to care. I discussed my concerns with the nurses and my neurosurgeon, but they all said the same thing. "If you can walk, you have to go home." This was 36 hours fromt he time I had people poking around my spinal cord.

Upon arrival home (after sitting in the car which was quite uncomfortable) I had to get up the stairs. I hadn't done anything but walk maybe 25 yards down a hallway with a walker and I had to go up 2 flights of stairs. Took me over an hour.

It's sad that hospitals do this, but they do. They have to make room for other people. But I can't help but think that they're going about it improperly. They should have kept your friend for at least 24 hours. Recovery depends upon the person who had the surgery. Not the "average" time it takes for someone to be ready to go home. It's frustrating. :augh:

Other than writing a letter (to which I got no response) to the hospital, I didn't know what road to take.

Anyways, I never know how to finish my thoughts, but you can probably sense what I'm trying to say here.

[Bean]

Not quite the same here, but my dad was discharged from the hospital 7 days after having open heart surgery to repair a ruptured aorta. I wasn't around for the discharge part, but I don't know, he was on alot of meds, and the surgery site was still oozing (sorry about the TMI, kids!!). Luckily, my mom had a visiting nurse every day to check the wound and rebandage, and monitor the meds. The scary thing is, my parents have supplimental insurance they PAY for every month in addition to medicare, although medicare is crap. I hope I don't need any surgery soon......

[Margaret]

This one reaches back more than 8 years ago. The silliness in my family was that my Aunt was going in for a hysterictomy and my sister's female dog was going into the vet's to get fixed on the same day.

Orders from the vet were to keep the dog still and comfy for a week - no running, jumping etc. Orders for my Aunt were to leave the hospital and resume 'normal' life.

My Aunt's comment on the situation was "I should have gone to the vet!"

[Jeannie Fitzgerald]

Hospitals needing the space is only part of the problem. Insurance companies are the main problem. They will pay only so much for so long forcing hospitals to prematurely discharge patients to avoid running up a bill the hospitals will probably will never be able to collect. I'm not a proponent of socialism, but when compared to counties with socialized medicine, our system has failed miserably.

Just to show how attuned to the bottom line the insurance companies are, everytime I've needed something my insurance company would deny as not being covered, all my doctors (and a sharp benefits administrator at my last employer) had to do was point out how expensive the eventual treatment I would need would cost if they didn't pay for dealing with the situation now. THAT (and a very subtle hint of possible litigation) almost always got results.