The Red Stethoscope: July 5, 2010

Monday, September 27, 2010

July 5, 2010

As I sit here contemplating Linda's steady progress over the holiday weekend, I wanted to take time out to thank each and every one of you for the steadfast friendship you have extended to both of us through these trying times. Please know that, near and far, we have been supported by your thoughtful, caring concern throughout Linda's illness and her transplant surgery.

All the greeting cards, balloons, teddy bears, hard candy, board games, playing cards, personalized M&Ms, portable DVD player and the numerous movies and TV episodes to view, reading material, phone calls, homemade fudge, on the road hair cutting and coloring, and personal visits from you make Linda's stay in the hospital here in Indianapolis, so far from home, bearable, and the many needle sticks, X-rays and other hospital indignities seem less fearful and invasive. Linda's spirits are buoyed every day by these constant reminders of the wonderful life she will soon be returning to at home with all of you around her. Our experiences during Linda's ordeal confirm the observation that a strong network of social support is a major key to recovery of health during any serious medical problem. We could not do this without the beautiful emotional support from each and every one of you.

I don't mean to be getting maudlin, but when each little reminder arrives it brings a tear to my eyes to think how lucky we both are to have such caring friends in our lives. Those of you who have visited here have also met some of the wonderful doctors and nurses who have been caring for Linda, helping her get well enough and strong enough to come back home and get back to work. Without all of your support it would be difficult indeed to keep that seemingly distant goal in mind. I know many of you have gone through similar tough times, or are going through them now, with your own families and with other friends. The older we grow, the more frequently situations like Linda's touch each of our lives, and the more precious becomes the knowledge that there are other people out there who care for and about us and wish us well. I can't thank any of you enough for backing us up through this rough patch in our lives.

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Why The Red Stethoscope?

Ever since the Mayo brothers discovered the importance of doctors washing their hands before and after touching each patient, infection control in the hospital setting has become a major concern of all doctors, nurses, and other health care providers. Recently, hospital acquired infections by strains of bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics, passed from one hospitalized patient to another, have been a major source of concern among infectious disease specialists.

As a result, rather than using the same stethoscope to listen to every patient's heartbeat, breath sounds and bowel sounds as they make rounds from room to room, and risk carrying bacteria from one patient to another on the steoscope, hospital patients who have infections get a red stethoscope placed in their room, and each doctor who visits that patient uses the red stethoscope to listen to the infected patient's chest and abdomen. The red stethoscope never leaves the patient's room, and hence cannot be the source of infection passed from one hospitalized patient to another.

I chose the red stethoscope as the symbol of this blog, because its advent and use proves that there are still many lessons to be learned by doctors, nurses, hospital administrators and other health care providers from the mistakes in their hospitals which continue to injure or kill hospital patients who should not be suffering and dying .

About Me

I am a lawyer, and husband of a liver transplant patient. As I begin writing this blog my wife has been hospitalized for four months following her transplant surgery, and it does not appear she will be well enough to get discharged any time soon. During her hospital confinements she has suffered just about every indignity and injury any person her age could be expected to survive.

I want the world to know about her ordeal, and about the terrible things done to her by doctors and other health care providers who believe it is their right to treat a patient however they please, even if the patient doesn't want the treatment. Everything in this blog is factual. Most of it I saw with my own eyes. The dates and times given are real, and the names of the patient, the hospitals, the doctors, the hospital administrators and other hospital personnel used in this blog are real names of real people.

If there are any print or broadcast journalists out there who would like to help publicize the egregious health care abuses described in this blog, you can E-mail me at red.stethoscope@gmail.com and I will arrange to provide you with documents supporting all the facts set out in my blog, to assist you in your work.