Key Takeaways

If you or someone you love needs surgery, here are some lessons learned - the things I wish I'd done and known ahead of time:

1. Be informed ahead of time: I wish I had known more about Ron's surgery, the risks and potential complications ahead of time. I also should have had his family health history, C-PAP settings, and names of all his physicians handy.
2. Keep a journal: The hospital staff only records the essentials - vitals, equipment used, major procedures. You are the continuity in terms of mental status, response to drugs, pain.
3. Start a blog ahead of time: It is an easy way to share your experience and helps others know best how to help you.
4. Challenge appropriately: Nurses change every 8-12 hours and the handoff is not necessarily everything you could wish. If something doesn't make sense to you, ask for a rationale.
5. Stick around, ask questions and listen closely: You can earn your way in by being as cool and composed as the staff. Your presence is helpful to the patient and can make the difference when it's time to make decisions.
6. Remind each shift how to reach you: Make it clear you want to be involved in decisions. If you have to leave, even momentarily, make sure they have the right number or know when you will be back.
7. Request a consultation: The attending physician isn't a specialist in everything. Getting the pulmonology team involved with Ron was key to his recovery. (Note: I had to suggest a consultation or it would not have happened, and I only knew to ask because Nancy suggested it).
8. Remember you have power of attorney: If you are sure a drug isn't necessary, don't be afraid to refuse it. The hospital staff has to act conservatively, your goals may not always be aligned.
9. Ask for a discharge summary: Don't leave the hospital without a written record of what happened to give to your primary care physician.
10. When all else fails, ask to speak with a hospital administrator: This definitely gets everyone's attention and gives you more say in what is going on.

Carol