If you have ever been in the hospital and they have you hooked up to the monitor, one of the items they keep an eye on is your blood pressure. Along with your oxygen level.
Well, this past trip there, they kept waking me up and checking my BP manually. And they kept adjusting the finger probe for my oxygen level. It seems that both levels were dropping to a dangerous level.
First they had an adult size cuff on my arm. I keep telling them to use a child size one. I am not a hulking man size. I am smaller than most 12-16 y.o. kids. But they do not like to listen. Also, I have arthritis really bad in my fingers. Need to go a certain direction? Just ask me and I have a finger that points in that direction. DO NOT SQUEEZE the finger probe. And don't think you know which finger will give you the best results. You don't, I do. Just ask me.
It took a couple of hours before anyone would listen to me. But only after I threw a tizzy fit. It shouldn't have to come to that. It was only after I threatened to pull an AMA that they listened to me.
A child size cuff was placed on my arm and the oxygen level probe was placed on my left thumb. The only finger that isn't swollen from disease.
As a result they got a better picture of what my BP was and my true oxygen level was. This is the second time Winthrop was told to lower my BP medication. The last time I heard the words "Crash Cart" being yelled out as they were flying to the elevators to get me emergency help. Winthrop was also sent a 'document' admonishing them to monitor my medications more closely and adjust the dosage according to my size, not my age.
Now you wouldn't think that the hospital would have a say about what my doctor has prescribed for me. But his hospital association is with the hospital that I go to. So they do have a say about how he treats his patients. They don't want to always cleaning up any errors he may make.
BTW, June, July, do not get sick. Those are the two months when all the
new doctors are reporting right from graduation to their assigned hospitals. Rounds take forever, everyone has a chance to examine you and then discuss your case right there in front of you while you are trying to eat your breakfast or go to sleep. Even in the ER.