I arrived here on the afternoon of July 30,2015. I sat in my assigned room for an hour or so and nobody came to see me (after an initial welcome from nurse Nicole). Later I found out that all the Admissions and Wellness staff had been at a conference at Lake of the Ozarks. My first few days here were rough. Having a broken left leg, I was unable to get around without help. A wheelchair and occasionally a walker became my modus operati. At first the CNAs spent a lot of time running into walls. One of them told me to bend my leg (which I wasn't supposed to do), one forgot to put the leg rest on the wheelchair meaning I had to try to hold my leg straight and up during the whole dinner time. Sometimes my medicines were forgotten, I didn't get fresh water, they didn't change and or straighten my bedsheets, etc. There were two aides who were outstanding-Dante and Terence. Once I could past the fact that a man was helping me to the bathroom, shower and get dressed everything was ok.
Monday I began Occupational and Physical Therapy-the real reason I am here. The therapists were outstanding. They were also very cautious.
I had now been here one week and two days and things had gotten a little better. The weekend aides didn't seem to be as on top of things as the weekday aides were. They skipped important things like showering, getting fresh water and attending to other needs.
From two current patients who had been here before I learned that the facility had changed hands twice within the last years. They told me it used to be a much better place.
The Occupational and Physical Therapy programs are outstanding but the rest of the place-the nursing,aides,dietitian and food program and the activity director could use a lot of improving.
My day at the Quarters consisted of the nurse bringing me Prilosec around 6:00am. Around 7 am I would get dressed at the beginning with help, later on my own. 7:30am was the start of breakfast. I liked to linger at breakfrast and talk to fellow patients until a therapist came and got me or I went back to my room to wait for a therapist to come get me for Therapy. Usually I had Occupational or Physical Therapy in the mornings, went across the hall to the dining room for lunch and then had the rest of the day free until dinner time. After dinner I had more free time until an aide came in to help me get ready for bed. Every day was pretty much the same for about a month.
On August 10th I had my first follow-up appointment with Dr. Wegman . It took longer to get there and back than I actually spent at the docotr's office. As a new patient I had to fill out lots of paperwork. Then a technician came and took me to get x-rays of my broken leg. She then took me back to an exam room. Dr. Wegman came in, looked at the x-rays and tol me that the bone had not moved out of place. He said he would have PT do more agressive treatment-they could take my leg out of the immobilizer, bend the knee gently and work on strengthening the quadriceps muscles. He told me to see him again in one month. I asked him about going back to work and he said "Let's just concentrate on Rehab for now. The return bus ride was really bumpy. The driver had run my bad leg into the wheelchair lift-both going and coming back. I returned from my doctor appointment not feeling too good.
The day after my doctor's appointment (August 11) I finally got to take a shower. This was much needed as I had only had sponge baths while in the hospital. For me, a shower is both cleansing and therapeutic-but not something I could do right now without help. I got a shower again on August 13 and was told that I should get one 3 times a week-on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Saturday, August 16th came and went. As had become the norm, the CNA skipped helping me get a shower. They also left me wondering whether I was to wait for their help or get up and get dressed on my own. Today my legs and other parts of my body are really hurting. I asked the nurse for a Tramadol (pain med) which took a really long time to get.
Also, that day I had only been given 20 mg of omeprazole (my regular dose is 40 mg). I would be happy to get home-where I could take my medicines at the right doses and not have to wait for a nurse to bring them to me. I learned to always look at the medicines I was being given and to question whether or not I was getting the correct dose.
Sundays are weigh in days for patients at the quarters. The first two times I was put on the scale in my wheelchair. The weight of the chair was subtracted to obtain my weight. The next time I was acturally allowed to stand up on the scale from the wheelchair. That surely gives a more accurate account of one's weight.
I stayed at the Quarters until August 28th-the day when the nurses, therapists and other staff decided that I would be safe at home. My time there was bittersweet. I went from feeling really out of place to making friends with a lot of the staff and patients-many of whom I would probably never see again-or at least not under the same circumstances.
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