Diane,

First of all, prayers to your sister, you & John, and all of those who
love your sister!

Don't you just friggin love the way these medical establishments jack
you around at your very worst time, health wise!  Grrrrrrrr, they should
all have to endure half of what they inflict on their patients.

I agree with Ann, check out the medicare site to see what they have to
say, but something just doesn't ring true about this.

Your sister definitely needs a social worker and case worker working on
her behalf, but also, when admitted to the hospital and facilities,
usually the patient is given a piece of paper that gives a number to
call for medicare if you feel your are being treated unfairly or
discharged too soon, etc.  This number is for medicare and they will do
a review of the case.  I think I would also call the patient relations
department of the facility, the CEO of the facility, get the doctors and
therapists involved, the social worker involved, call that number listed
by medicare to file a complaint, and also call the insurance ombudsman
for the state.  I would also even consider putting a call in to the
state representatives to help out in this matter!  In other words, now
is the time to make as much ruckus as possible over this situation with
as many people as possible.  Your sister does NOT need this added stress
on top of everything else she is dealing with, that's for sure!!!

Also, your sister needs to speak up and let them know that they need to
get that catheter out before she ends up with an infection.  Shoot, I
only had my cathetar is for 5 days after my stroke, before developing a
raging UTI where I was passing huge amounts of blood and clots, not to
mention the pain and fever that went with said infection.  Truly
miserable.  I was scared to death about getting the cathetar out,
because I couldn't do anything on my own, let alone have to get up and
go to the bathroom, but the rehab unit in the hospital put a bed side
commode about 5 inches from my bed and when I had to go, 3-4 people had
to get me out of the bed and turned around to sit on that commode.  It
was quite the production and quite exhausting at the beginning, but in a
way, it was its own form of therapy.

Anyways, sorry to get side tracked here.

Just tell your sister not to let them bully her and for her to make lots
and lots of noise to get the proper treatment she deserves!!!

Heck, this situation almost seems like it is discriminating against
someone with multiple handicaps!  Grrrrrrrr.......the local new channels
and news papers would have a field day with all of this nonsense!
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Donna
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1.   ANGELS EXIST, but some times, since they don't all have wings, we
call them FRIENDS......

2.    J.K.M.A.

BTW, Diane, when I was in the acute care rehab facility, there were
patients that were literally rolled down to PT in their beds and given
PT in their bed and then rolled back to their rooms.  Others were
strapped into a wheelchair and wheeled down to PT and given their PT
without ever leaving their chair.  Of course, the goal was to eventually
get them upright and weight bearing, but sometimes that takes a whole
lot of time to get to that point!!!

Donna
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.
.
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1.   ANGELS EXIST, but some times, since they don't all have wings, we
call them FRIENDS......

2.    J.K.M.A.

kelly, thanks for that link. you're amazing!

we've got the phone lines heated up and i hope we're making some
progress. i'm so sick of our medical system. universal health care is
never going to happen here. will let you all know where this goes.
meanwhile, thanks so much for the ideas. they truly help.

kelly, she gets the foley out today. she is able to catheterize
herself and has for years, but it's all very difficult because they
need to use this "hoist" to move her around which makes it hard to get
her on a toilet. she can't easily catheterize herself on a bedpan,
though i guess the nurses will have to. i'm praying she doesn't get an
infection.

as for upper body strength, that's what they were/are working on right
now in rehab and she was working hard at it with her usual
determination, but now she feels so beaten down. she doesn't have good
control of her arms with the ms. amazingly, though, she could drive
her specialized van, using her right foot (the leg with the broken
hip), special brakes and specially sensitive steering.

hugs, diane

i spoke with the social worker at the rehab center today. the "one
leg" thing is a bit misleading. medicare won't cover if you don't need
skilled nursing care (which includes rehab). there are specific
(ridiculous) definitions for what requires skilled nursing care, and
believe it or not, my sister doesn't meet any of them. (feeding tubes
etc). so medicare will now cover two weeks while PT works with her
(stretching, range of motion, etc), at which time the pt's will
reevaluate her and determine if they can help her even though she
can't bear weight. if so (apparently this is unlikely), they can make
a case to keep her on. if not, she will have to go somewhere until she
can bear weight (probably another 4 weeks--this was a break, not a
replacement). she can go home with a 24 hour STRONG person we'll have
to find and whom she'll have to pay for or she can stay where she is,
but she'll have to pay the $380/day out of pocket.
i feel clearer on the whole mess, even though it's still not a pretty
picture.

diane