Hello all,,,

I was admitted into the hospital this past wednesday. My blood pressure drooped to about 45/30. Scary!!!

Anyhow,,, I had always been afraid to be admitted into a VA hospital. Well,,, my fears came true.

My first night was wonderful,,, maybe because I was really being monitored. However,,, the morning on was scary.

Whenever my I.V. finished,,, it would make that sound. I would call for the nurse,,, if I got an answer,,, is would be a "yes" as if I was bothering them. Once,,, the man came on and said "what do you want?"

After four pushes,,, I learned my lesson that pushing that nurse button is a "no-no." And,,, that I would have to live with the continuous beeping of the I.V. pump.

I also had to clean myself up. I found myself in the bathroom with stuff coming out of both ends of my body. Okay,,, this part is TMI but I must share.
--I went to the restroom,,, sat on the toilet,,, Boom, Boom, Bam!!!!,,, turned over,,, put my head in that stinky toilet (yes, I flushed),,, Boom, Boom Bam!!!. I pulled that string to call for the nurse (ooops,,, wrong response). They came in and said,,, "Ewwwwww, let me get YOU a towel. You going to be alright? Here, clean yourself up. Next time,,, try to get your bowel movement in the container, not the toilet."

So,,, I cleaned myself up and went to bed.

This is just the beginning. I never been so scarred in my life.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

Honestly,,, I thought that they wanted to "do me in" cause I am a costly liability. I begged to be released Friday and actually told them I was going to walk out. They released me with a blood pressure of around 95/50 AND with some labs still abnormal and a follow-up appt with my providers. I told my doc that I can deal with my kidney levels and will eat salt lick for my blood pressure,,, just get me outta here. Since I personaly knew my doctor, he agreed and will call me everyday (which he has done today and will come by tomorrow for dinner).

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPERIENCES???

Tayo

My experiences are that VA hospitals suck. I have been an in-pt for several things and every experience has been horrid...at more than on facility. This past Wednesday I had a colonoscopy and I was released before I could even walk and with a BP of 92/60. I was very overmedicated.

What you need to do as soon as you feel better is get a copy of your records from that visit...all records...in pt notes, labs, everything. Go to the ROI office, complete the form and get those records. Then file a formal complaint with the patient advocate...name names if you can recall them. Don't let your horrible treatment go.

I hope you are feeling better!!!

I really think that the care is different at the various hospitals, because I have heard horror stories from other veterans; but they were always from different areas. I have always appreciated the care I have received at either Ft. Meade, SD or the Memphis VAMC. The only problem I ever had was due to a personality conflict with an anal orifice, and he had to apologize.

I recently had a tympanoplasty (hole in ear drum repair), and was very pleased by the whole procedure. But I will admit I was very nervous beforehand.

Louis

purple, did the VA clean the colonoscopy equipment properly, before they used it on you? There was a report on dirty colonoscopy equipment, used at VAMC's, recently.

Ya know.....I can only hope; the staff was doing those procedures one right after the other, literally less than 10 minutes between procedures...

Years ago my youngest son and I were rough housing and he broke my ankle. Here I was no job, no insurance and a broken ankle. I did not want to go to the VA hospital so bad that I almost decided to just suffer and hope it would fix itself. We walked (hobbled) into the hospital about 7PM and got taken care of around 10AM the next day. But, the things that I saw and did is almost unbelievable. I was watching a VA employee with a clip board yell at this old soldier (must have been from WWI or Spainish-American War) who was on a bed staring straight up at the ceiling. She kept yelling "you must sign this form" over and over. I got pissed at her yelling at this old soldier, hobbled over there and checked him for vital signs, he had none. He was dead. The part that really got me was when she said that he can not be dead, "he has not signed this form yet". My wife had to come rescue this stupid b*t*c*.

Oh, they finally got to my ankle and put a cast on it. Unfortunately, I had fallen asleep while they were ding the casting, woke up and discovered, yes you guessed it! Wrong ankle! That is the first and I hope ...oh I forgot about the ear ache, but that is another disaster for later.

Papa

My Hospital experiences at VA have not been so hot. It seems that VA does not have adequate staffing to properly care for patients. Fortunately for me last time was just an overnight but they never did get my medications to me and they totally screwed up the amount of insulin and kind I needed even though it was documented in my medical records.

Probably the most annoying is they totally falsified how I would answer questions cause they actually have defaults that take over if the nurser skips it.

These are HORROR stories. Where is "60 Minutes" when you need them?? Someone seriously needs to get documentation on these abusive heartless neglectful acts. It is almost unbelievable the lack of human care these stories, that medical personal could be so distasteful in not providing decent care to their fellow commarades.

I thought BH were the jack-offs but am finding the care is worse when it involves medical issues. Where are the licensing boards?? These people need to be investigated, loose their licenses, and have criminal charges brought up against them. Health care is the binding to life. There is no room for those who devalue life. What for a paycheck? They will not reap the benefit of everlasting glory when it is time to meet their maker.

After surgery, at a VA hosp., I was sleeping in...I was awaken abruptly by a doctor grabbing my cathater and yanking it really hard back and forth...I [ tried to ] come out of the bed and [ go ] went for His neck [ the bed rails, not to mention the cathater stopped me, of course ]...He was scared to death, I told Him if you ever touch me again it will be the last thing you do! Didn't see Him again.

I had to go to the VA ER three times with severe upper left quadrant pain, a young intern kept acting anoyed and sent me home saying I had gastroenteritis, on the third visit to the same VA ER, He got his boss, He did a MRI, I had a kidney stone that had ruptured my urater on that side...emergency surgery, and the surgeon asked "why did you wait so damn long!" He was quite after I tolf Him why I waited so long...

I'm afraid of the VA hospitals, and wouldn't use one unless I absolutely had no other choice.

BoonDoc

I know I had an EMG and cardio tests done at the VA. They made a mess out of it. I sure would not bet my life on VA health care. They just don't use their staff or medical hardware correctly. Some go to the VA for serious surgery because they don't want to pay co-pays. That is really foolish if you want to keep living.

Well, I've had my share of broken bones and I assure you, I NEVER slept thru the setting of the bone or the immediately following casting procedure.
So, I have a little trouble with your story.

Invoking the benefit of the doubt rule....And in defense of Papa's hospiTall Tale. He did arrive at the ER about 7pm, the night before, and waited all night in pain, till 10am the next morning. That's 15 hours... Maybe a pain shot around 9:30 am after the x-rays came back, and the doctor got around to it. And Bingo,..., one dead tired, racked with pain papa, goes out like a light. Now add the trauma of the old dead soldier, catching hell in the stretcher next to him???? Tell us more Papa...

Set my Ankle? They were suppose to set my Ankle. I've had my legs set, arms set, etc, but never my ankle. Before I forget, Boondoc, here is a good one for you, and this was the military doctors that said I had gas! I now have an 16 inch scar across my stomach. I don't recall any X-rays being taken, but it has been many years ago. When you have not slept for hours waiting on someone any one to take care of you, you will eventually fall asleep. However, one thing that I would never do on this great site is call another Veteran a liar, no matter how politically correct they make it sound.

Papa

Good Morning Papa,...In defense of LarryJ posting that he had a little trouble with your story... He never said that you were a liar. No one on Hadit is calling you a liar. Actually your recounting of your nightmare at the VAMC is not out of the ordinary. Especially when you go back to the old days. I believe you Papa.

I both contracted and worked for the Indian Health Service (IHS) for 11 years, which is another Government run medical system for a individuals who qualify. The IHS hosptials have patient advisory boards, where patient issues can be brought up. I have not heard of the VA having the same, which is a shame.

Commander you are correct. LarryJ I apologize for useing the word "Liar", it was amit to strong.

Papa

Oh, that's okay.

I'd also like to apologize. Under the circumstances that you were under when the event occurred, I can see how you could go to sleep.
I'm just afraid of docs, and broken bones (a bad experience when I was 11 years old, and broke BOTH wrists, and by the time they got around to setting them, my arms/wrists had swollen, so they put casts on both arms/wrists..........then the swelling went down......and I wound up with the wrists "healed" in the position that they wound up in, after they kinda flopped around inside the oversized casts........and then they had to go back in, REbreak the bones...yada,yada)!
(I spent 6 MONTHS in casts)

So I guess I'm kinda HYPER vigilant when it comes to stuff like that, besides the pain involved....but I couldn't go to sleep after having had happen to me what did.

I'm sorry. I just got carried away with my paranoia.

Papa,

You got Me beat with a 15 inch scar.

They went inside Me, so no scars, except bad memories of having a stint replacing My urrater, Mine was shredded, so a stint from My kidney to My bladder was put in, it was drawing up every time I urinated...brought Me to My knees...but no big scar to show...no body want to see my wounds

BoonDoc

Well, I do thank all of you for the responses. Don't get me wrong,,, I am grateful for the VA and all they do. After all,,, they pay for my medications and a few aren't even in the VA formulary.

But still,,, I do not want to EVER be admitted into another VA hospital. I've been through a lot these past few years. Close to seeing my Maker a few times, especially this last time with that low blood pressure. I took my B/P again and it has been running low. I had a laugh with my provider: He told me if my B/P continues to ease downward, he will have to admit me again. I told him I will do anything,,, just don't send me back to the Boogy Man (the VA Hospital).

Staying Strong,
Tayo

Hang in there Tayo.

I was in a bad car accident when I was 18 and when I came out of a coma I did not know anybody in my room although it was full of relatives.

My Uncle leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"Don't worry nephew bad weed never dies"

LOL!!! That is the funniest thing I've heard in a loooooooong time. LOL ROTF!!! Okay,,, I'm gonna use that. LOL

Pete53,,, just recently, I've come to learn how true that really is.

To Funny LOL

Tayo