Ishpeming, MI
" I am scared, I need to hold you, I feel like I am in a prison only it is worse than a prison" Those were the last words I ever heard from my husband.
I only wish I hadn't trusted the hospital so much. It is not the same as it used to be.
Target For Murder
“My husband had not been vaccinated and that question was asked by each Dr. that came in to talk to or examine him.”
I brought my husband Gary to the emergency room after he had been sick for10 days with Covid. He was dehydrated and had an ongoing fever. Upon examination the doctors found that he had low oxygen levels, (88) and tests revealed some pneumonia and kidney failure. He was given I.V. fluids and oxygen. Gary was admitted to the hospital and I was told that I would not be allowed to visit or be with him. The Drs. estimated that he should be out of the hospital in 3 or 4 days. My husband had not been vaccinated and that question was asked by each Dr. that came in to talk to or examine him. I fully expected that Gary would be coming home as the Drs. did not seem alarmed by his condition. They did want him to be in an ICU (just in case) but there were no available beds at any hospital in the state or surrounding states. This hospital can only accommodate Acute Care.
Each day that Gary was in the hospital, his oxygen levels became harder to maintain and they kept increasing the dosage and method of delivery. I would only have very brief telephone conversations with him as he was unable to breathe without the oxygen mask and would lose his breath. I would call the nurses station to check up on his condition and they told me on one occasion "he slept through the night". When I mentioned this to Gary, he became agitated and said he hadn't been able to sleep at all and that they hadn't been checking on him during the night.
My last brief conversation with my husband was in the evening on the 5th day. Gary told me: " I am scared, I need to hold you, I feel like I am in a prison only it is worse than a prison" Those were the last words I ever heard from my husband.
Left Without Care
Early the next morning on day 6, I received a call at 5 a.m. from a Dr. who said she was on her way to the hospital. A nurse had found my husband with his oxygen mask pulled off (his 02 levels at 72) and he was unable to talk or move his right side. They took him for a scan and the Dr. called and told me the scan was clear. She wanted to put him on a ventilator as he was breathing so hard he would have a heart attack otherwise. When I asked about the paralysis on his right side the Dr. said it was due to low oxygen levels.
When Gary did not improve, he was taken for another scan later in the morning. It revealed a large hemorrhagic stroke. The hospital did nothing to prevent or treat this condition. A nurse later told me that they went back and found the blood clot that was missed from the first scan. I was told that I could see my husband if I agreed to Comfort Care (end of life). We would have to pull the ventilator. I was told my husband would never be able to walk, talk, eat on his own, and would always need a ventilator and need nursing home care. It was devastating. My husband had been very healthy and active. At 69 years old this was the first time he had ever had to stay in a hospital. My 3 children and I prayed about it and trusted that God would take care of my husband and either heal him or take him home to heaven.
On day 7 the Dr. announced: "Your husband is brain dead." Untreated, the stroke had reached the other side of his brain. There was now no hope for any recovery. We sadly decided to let him go and agreed to have the ventilator removed. Now I would be allowed to go and see Gary. Being kept away from him also causes a kind of desperation to where you almost agree to anything just to be with your loved one.
Remdesivir
“ From the records I noticed that it states my husband was put on Remdesvir even though I was told that Gary had been sick too long to give him any of the medications for covid.”
I wasn't prepared to see him unshaven and the restraints still on the wrists. He had lost a lot of weight. Gary breathed for 2 hours struggling for each breath. My youngest son was in the room with me at the start but a nurse told us that visiting hours were over at 8:00 p.m. When my family protested, the nurse said it was protocol. My youngest son reluctantly left and other family members outside had to beg the nurse to let me stay with my husband. The nurse then went and got approval from her supervisor. Finally, at 8:40 p.m., my husband left his struggle on earth to be with his heavenly father.
Since this nightmare, I have acquired the medical records for my husband and made several calls to the hospital but no satisfactory answers have been given. They no longer want to speak with me and have been almost hostile. From the records I noticed that it states my husband was put on Remdesvir even though I was told that Gary had been sick too long to give him any of the medications for covid. I also noticed that the night of Gary's stroke, it lists that he was checked on by a nurse at 10:15 p.m. and there were no other entries all night until they found him at 5 a.m. This backs up my husband's statement that they weren't checking on him.
Isolated From Family
“ They said that the hospital was doing me a favor to let me be there.”
I feel that the hospital contributed to his death. They did not monitor him at times leaving him alone in isolation in a weakened state. The few and short conversations I had with Gary I noticed him slurring his speech but thought it was from medications and tiredness since I wasn't with him and did not know what they were doing for him. I would have noticed had I been with him.
They were bringing him food on trays but because he was on oxygen, he wasn't able to eat much. I noticed his oxygen needs increased the longer he was there. Since his kidneys were not functioning, and he was on I.V. fluids, I believe that those fluids built up around his lungs as time progressed making his condition worse.
When I asked how they missed the first blood clot in his brain after obvious symptoms of a stroke, I was told that sometimes the Dr. instead of the radiologist reads those scans and they are not trained for that. The doctor that came in that morning to see my husband was not the doctor on call. The hospital was unable to contact the doctor on call that morning.
When I explained to hospital personnel how my family and I had been asked to leave at 8 p.m. because visiting hours were now over even though my husband was off the ventilator and still breathing, they said that the hospital was doing me a favor to let me be there as they don't allow visitors. (Not true since there were people in other rooms visiting when I went in to be with my husband).
Gary and I were married for 44 years. He was a healthy and active 69 year old before covid. We were very close and devoted to each other as a couple and spent all our time together enjoying our 3 children and grandchildren. I am still devastated by his absence. He was a very kind and caring individual always doing for others. The loss to our family has been immense. Our oldest son was married just 10 days after Gary passed away. It made a happy occasion difficult and sad. I only wish I hadn't trusted the hospital so much. It is not the same as it used to be. Protocols take precedence over healing and doing what is best for the patient. Government funds also cloud a hospital's judgment to "Do No Harm".
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