Today marks one month since Dad had his liver transplant. Since things have seemed to be somewhat medically stable the past few days, I figured I should recount parts of the actual day of the transplant since it was so...how to describe this....interesting?
Dad certainly likes to do things his own way. I usually understand his general reasoning, even when I do not agree with it, however the day of his transplant falls under a new category. I had to find-out that Dad had his liver transplant in a very unusual way: only once he was discovered missing and I had to fight several IU employees citing HIPAA laws and his wishes that I could not find-out anything about his condition. Awesome.
As if I wasn't on edge enough about everything going on, especially with the fear that he could start bleeding from his varices or become more encephalopathic (and end-up in a coma) or both at any point, frantically trying to find my father who went missing was absolutely terrifying....
Mom could not locate Dad once she called for her typical early morning check-in on Monday, April 9th. She called his cell phone, his hotel room, and even the ER of the hospital knowing that he is prone to variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, gallbladder attacks, etc., but he was nowhere to be found. Mom then called me at work in a panic. I assumed at first this was a simple case of Dad doing laundry or taking a break from the hotel room and thought it was no big deal. However, once even the hotel staff could not find him anywhere and I noted that his cell phone was turned off (which it never is), I began to panic as well.
I called ~15 different people at IU hospital trying to find him over the next hour and no one would provide any information. I could tell that some people had no clue where he was. However, others knew but either pretended not to know or outright refused to provide any information to me. I was in panic mode and I started getting very upset at the people at the transplant offices and transplant units in the hospital. They refused to share information with me citing HIPAA laws--which I simply could not understand. Given I was on every single piece of paper that I am Dad's caregiver and that I have power of attorney, something was not adding-up.
Isn't it ironic that I was just describing the importance of getting legal documents in order a few posts ago and at one of the most critical moments they were of no use to me?
Typical.
Anyhow...
After about 10 phone calls, I pieced together that Dad had surgery and assumed it was the transplant. A few minutes later--and while I was on the phone with other folks trying to piece more of the puzzle together--a nurse called back to confirm Dad had his transplant and I would get a call once surgery was complete per Dad's request. Sure enough, one of the liver transplant surgeons on staff at IU literally called while I was on the phone with that nurse and left me a message to call him back after Dad's successful transplant surgery.
And I came into work on that same Monday morning, April 9th, 2012, thinking it was just a slow start to another work week--HA!
The day certainly did not get much easier at that point, but I'll post about that another time. Thankfully, I was able to get some stuff together, make it onto an airplane, rent a car, and speed my way to IU hospital in time to make it to my Dad's TICU room that night. As for what I got to see upon arrival? After not talking to my Dad since the day before when we had no clue he was about to have a liver transplant, and he was even talking about giving up and flying back to California?
....
Dad certainly likes to do things his own way. I usually understand his general reasoning, even when I do not agree with it, however the day of his transplant falls under a new category. I had to find-out that Dad had his liver transplant in a very unusual way: only once he was discovered missing and I had to fight several IU employees citing HIPAA laws and his wishes that I could not find-out anything about his condition. Awesome.
As if I wasn't on edge enough about everything going on, especially with the fear that he could start bleeding from his varices or become more encephalopathic (and end-up in a coma) or both at any point, frantically trying to find my father who went missing was absolutely terrifying....
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| http://vandelinder.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/pressing-the-panic-button/ |
Mom could not locate Dad once she called for her typical early morning check-in on Monday, April 9th. She called his cell phone, his hotel room, and even the ER of the hospital knowing that he is prone to variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, gallbladder attacks, etc., but he was nowhere to be found. Mom then called me at work in a panic. I assumed at first this was a simple case of Dad doing laundry or taking a break from the hotel room and thought it was no big deal. However, once even the hotel staff could not find him anywhere and I noted that his cell phone was turned off (which it never is), I began to panic as well.
I called ~15 different people at IU hospital trying to find him over the next hour and no one would provide any information. I could tell that some people had no clue where he was. However, others knew but either pretended not to know or outright refused to provide any information to me. I was in panic mode and I started getting very upset at the people at the transplant offices and transplant units in the hospital. They refused to share information with me citing HIPAA laws--which I simply could not understand. Given I was on every single piece of paper that I am Dad's caregiver and that I have power of attorney, something was not adding-up.
Isn't it ironic that I was just describing the importance of getting legal documents in order a few posts ago and at one of the most critical moments they were of no use to me?
Typical.
Anyhow...
After about 10 phone calls, I pieced together that Dad had surgery and assumed it was the transplant. A few minutes later--and while I was on the phone with other folks trying to piece more of the puzzle together--a nurse called back to confirm Dad had his transplant and I would get a call once surgery was complete per Dad's request. Sure enough, one of the liver transplant surgeons on staff at IU literally called while I was on the phone with that nurse and left me a message to call him back after Dad's successful transplant surgery.
And I came into work on that same Monday morning, April 9th, 2012, thinking it was just a slow start to another work week--HA!
The day certainly did not get much easier at that point, but I'll post about that another time. Thankfully, I was able to get some stuff together, make it onto an airplane, rent a car, and speed my way to IU hospital in time to make it to my Dad's TICU room that night. As for what I got to see upon arrival? After not talking to my Dad since the day before when we had no clue he was about to have a liver transplant, and he was even talking about giving up and flying back to California?
....
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