Dee's Story

My mother needed a hip replacement to make plans for her next adventure, see she loved to travel.

We fought for six months to get her medical records.

The Very Beginning

“The heart specialist said no opiates until her heart and lungs were strong enough.”

Her story began on March 9th, when the country started to shut down. My mother needed a hip replacement to make plans for her next adventure, see she loved to travel. During her pre-op, it was discovered that her heart valve needed to be replaced before doctors could replace her hip. Her artery was too close to her heart for doctors to go in through her groin, so open-heart surgery was her only option. March 9th was her open-heart surgery date. We were told 3-4 hours and maybe a week in the hospital. Family flew in, and we all waited. For 4 hours-5-6, then we got a call that it would be a little longer than expected. On hour 7, the heart specialist came out to talk to us all. The valve was too big, and her aorta tore, and it took him some time to fix the issues. Mom was brought to ICU on a ventilator, where she stayed for three weeks. Having a fib, they had to stop her heart three times to try to jolt it back into rhythm. She came home the week before Easter. That’s when we learned that she died three times in the OR during surgery. We were extremely happy she survived such a horrific experience and was finally home. The heart specialist said no opiates until her heart and lungs were strong enough. Anything she had to drink had to be thickened since she had just started eating and drinking independently. All was going well for the first five days; then, her ankle started to swell. After Easter, my mother was not feeling well; the home nurse checked her oxygen. It was 70, and the ambulance was called.

The Dreadful Protocol

The whirlwind began!!!!! My father and I followed the ambulance to the hospital, knowing my mother could not verbalize what she went through due to the stroke she suffered during her horrific heart surgery. I started walking into the ER when I was stopped by security. No matter what I said, I was not going anywhere near my mom. She was admitted to pulmonary ICU with what ER reported on medical records as congestive heart failure. We were never informed. Once on the PCU floor, things got worse. No one told us anything for the first few days, but medical records report she was put on the Covid protocol the second day. NEVER had she tested positive for Covid EVER!!!! We were finally, after four days, allowed to see her. She had not been bathed or gotten out of bed at all. We had to dress head to toe in protective gear (ha) and only 15 minutes. I started asking questions, and the next visit, I was not allowed to go, only my dad.

Then the infamous call from my mother’s primary care doctor, who was overseeing her care. He loudly and bluntly told me on recording, knowing he was being recorded, “Your mother is dying of Covid” My father and I both told the Dr. to take my mom off all opiates and Xanax

he had her on. He said he would, but medical records prove he never did. After that, the doctor went to my mom and said to either be intubated or sign DNR. Then we were called and told she wanted to sign DNR. Hmmm, that’s strange. Her directive (living will) says otherwise! So, I did everything I could to talk with my mom because something wasn’t making sense. She refused any ventilator because she was traumatized by three weeks on a ventilator after botched open-heart surgery. Ok, but DNR? Dr. told us he would not do CPR on her. Again hmmm! We were then told the Dr. said she could go home on hospice, but no one would take a Covid patient. I said I would find one, and I did.

Frustration

“Mom, you’re going to die!” She said in a very stern voice, “I’m NOT dying!

My mom was on her sixth day at PCU. On day 7, we told the hospital that hospice was coming to get her the following morning. That afternoon, we got a call from the nurse saying my mom would not make it and told me my dad and I could come to sit with her. We arrived at the hospital at 6 pm, We walked into my mother’s room, and she was so excited to be coming home. We were then informed that they had started administering Dilaudid (WAIT! Didn’t we say NO opiates?) I asked my mother if she had dinner, she said yes and ate it all; I asked what she was watching, and she told me, she went on to tell me what not to forget when she came home tomorrow. I brushed her hair, and she said no one had helped her with her hair or anything all week. I started crying and yelled out, “mom, you’re going to die!” She said in a very stern voice, “I’m NOT dying!” So, I wiped my tears, sat next to her, and held her hand. After a couple of hours of dozing in and out, she asked me for a drink of water; I put the straw up to her mouth and watched as water just flowed down her chin, unable to drink. At 11 pm, she was now in a sedation sleep, and the nurse came in did something with her oxygen, then the Dilaudid drip, and 2 hours later, she flatlined. My dad and I were in shock. I can’t even recall how we got to my dad’s. My dad and I were getting to his house when the nurse called and said my mom had to be cremated because of Covid. My mom never wanted to be cremated, so again we were shocked. Several minutes later nurse calls back and says, never mind, the funeral home can come to get her. We fought for six months to get her medical records. Also, the death certificate listed pneumonia as the cause of death. Hmmm!!! This hospital and her primary care doctor, whom she trusted, killed my mother with Covid protocol! This needs to stop! I was shocked to learn by the very first attorney I called that Gov. Kemp of Georgia gave all Doctors Immunity! Wow!!!!!!! This is criminal! This is outrageous! This needs to be stopped and people held responsibly. What has happened to this world and the people in it?