Recently my father had a total knee replacement. I wanted to share my personal experience when
his doctor’s office didn’t have an answering service and the impact of not
having an answering service had on my father and my family.
My father who is 76 years old and an avid walker decided to
go ahead with a total knee replacement.
Since my father was in great shape for his age, the doctor thought it
would also be a great idea. The main
concern I had was the few medical issues he had such as C.O.P.D. and
P.T.S.D. and the medications he took to
treat those issues. Since the doctor was
aware of those medications and I hated seeing my father in pain during his
walks I was 100% behind the decision.
After surgery my father spent a week in the hospital and was
released on a Friday to go home. He was
prescribed a narcotic and Tylenol for pain and settled in at home with my
mom. My mom who is 74 years old had no
medial experience. After my father’s
release, the doctor gave my mom instructions of what my father needed to avoid and
a printed schedule of when to take his medications. Everything seemed to be going well and we all
anticipated his healing to progress smoothly, until Saturday morning. Saturday morning my father woke up very confused
and had slurred speech. He almost
sounded drunk when I spoke with him on the phone. I then spoke with my mom to find out what
medication he had taken. My mom said he
was sleeping most of the night and he didn’t take any other medication than
what was listed on the schedule that was sent home from the doctor. I asked if she could please call the doctor’s
office and speak with them about his symptoms.
She agreed to call. I waited 20
minutes and since I didn’t hear back from my mom, I decided to call to see what
the doctor’s office said. To my surprise
she said that she left a message on a recording. I asked her if she was sure she called the right
number and she said she did. I asked her
if I could have the number so I could try to call and she gave me the
number. I hung up the phone with my mom
and immediately called the number she had.
I also received a recorded message and it was in fact the doctor’s
office. I tried to hit zero but it
didn’t go anywhere. Since I am in the
answering service business and we answer for many doctor’s offices, hospice
companies and home care companies, I couldn’t believe I was getting a recorded
message with such a serious procedure. I
immediately called my mom back and asked if my dad’s symptoms improved. She said no. In fact, she said he is more confused. I was a former E.M.T. and Nursing student so
I knew the symptoms of stroke and when medication interaction problems occur. I asked if my mom if she could please call
911. She said that they are way in the
country and it will take the ambulance 30 minutes to get there. Maybe she should wait for the doctor’s office
to return her call. She didn’t want to
be a bother on a Saturday to the volunteer E.M.S. that supports her area. I was extremely frustrated and worried by the
lack of communication. I thought we
needed answers quickly. I decided to hop
in my car and make the hour long drive to their home, hoping that someone would
return the call to my mom. After a half
an hour went by I called my mom again and asked if the doctor’s office had
called back and she said no. She even
left another message. I pleaded with her
at this point to call 911 and she finally agreed. As I was pulling in their driveway, they were
loading my father up in the ambulance. I
then took my mom in my car and we followed the ambulance, which was an hour
away. We rushed into the emergency room
and asked how my father was doing. We
were led to his bed and my father was sleeping.
We wondered what was going on.
The nurse came over to his room and explained they believe my father had
a drug interaction. I asked if his
doctor was contacted and she said no, they have the on call doctor taking care
of him now. The on call doctor came over
to us and said my dad would be fine but he believes his P.T.S.D medication and
the narcotics were interacting with each other.
He wanted to know the schedule of when he took the medications and my
mom told the doctor. The doctor
discovered that my mom read the instructions incorrectly and gave my father a
double dose of his narcotic instead of giving him the medication twice a
day. My father ended up recovering that
day and was back to normal, except for the pain from his knee surgery. My mom never did hear back that weekend from
the doctor’s office. I was extremely
upset by the lack of available communication with his doctor. I thought, all the doctor had to have in
place was an answering service. Sure, I
would have liked it to be All City Communications, but on a personal level I
didn’t care who would answer the phone, as long as it was answered. My mom agreed that she wished she would have
been able to speak to someone from the doctor’s office to discuss what
medication she gave my father over the phone without having to have my father
brought to the emergency room. A simple
phone call would have been so much better.
This situation happened to us personally and we became extremely
frustrated and upset as a family because communication wasn’t available to us. Also, more importantly the level of care for
my father suffered because of the inability to contact the doctor’s
office. My mom said she would not
recommend the doctor to anybody because of the inability to speak to
someone. She said it seems that the
doctor didn’t want to be bothered with my father on a weekend.
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