who's in charge

The surgeon thought Marie would be in the Hospital 4 or 5 days after surgery. We waited a week for the equipment to arrive so he could perform surgery. So, the total time should be less than two weeks. It had now been a month, with no end in sight.

When I look back, I can see that I asked the wrong question. How long will Marie be in the hospital. The answer was 4 or 5 days after surgery. It wasn't the doctors fault the equipment took time to arrive. He told me how long she would be there after surgery. He could not have predicted her problems after surgery. He was quoting his estimate based on the best scenario.

My problem is, he never told me those type of problems could occur. I believe he thinks his estimate is pretty accurate. He said 4 or 5 days after surgery. Again, when he adds the week, waiting for equipment, that makes the total about two weeks. Its been four weeks. That means his estimate was only two weeks off. That's not bad, right?

What about the rehab. She's still in the same hospital. Well that's where things change. The surgeon is done with her. As far as he's concerned she's out of the hospital. Released. Done. The rehab is a brand new hospital stay. That it's in the same building, is coincidental. These, are a new set of doctors. If you have questions, go ask them. Thanks you and please pay your bill on time. I will see you for a check up in three months. Good luck and goodbye.

Each doctor seems to be in charge of their part of the care. No one ever seems to be in charge. After they see the patient in the hospital, they write notes in the patients log book, which I believe now gets entered into the hospital computer. As each doctor visits, they read what the other doctors said, and then they leave their own notes. When you get to the hospital, you don't get to read the notes. Patient privacy and all. If you want to ask the doctor what's going on, you have to wait until they show up.

If you don't stay in the hospital room 24 hours a day, you may never no what doctors visited, what tests were done, or what is scheduled to be done. I'm not saying the medical community is withholding information. I believe the system is flawed. They appear to have a successful system of communicating with each other by using the log book. There isn't any caregiver log book or communication system, and that's what I would like to see change. The health care professionals don't appear to be shy. They have no problem waking you up at 2:00 am because your wife is was demanding to have a cigarette. But if you want to know why she is unconscious for days, good luck getting that answer.