What a day...what a day...what a day. I found out from Jim that this nurse SAW him with blood coming out of his mouth and he waited TEN MINUTES for someone to come. So I spoke with Dr. Jewell first thing this morning. Luckily Jim's pathology report came back and the tumor was not cancerous. But this is the barrage I gave him after I told him the story about the "nurse" (and I use that term loosely):
You'd better find that woman before I do. She'd better be transferred downstairs to work in the morgue because then she can't do any damage. Even people who fry french fries have to move a little quicker or the fries will burn. I demand a complete investigation. She's lucky that Jim didn't suffer any brain damage or die or else this place will be called Pam Primiani Clinic instead of Lahey Clinic. You know, "I'm bleeding from the mouth" is a lot different than "I need my morphine" or "I need a blanket" or "I need to go to the bathroom". She should have hauled ASS to find someone to help him right away. If I find her, I'm gonna bust HER carotid artery, because this hotel is costing me money...jail is free. That woman better not be anywhere NEAR my husband. Well, at least that made me feel a little better.
So then I talk to Jim's nurse to see how he's doing and now he has pneumonia. I know this is common in ex-smokers who have surgery, but I'm sitting in my chair here in the hotel and I can feel another panic attack coming. I popped two valium quickly so I didn't hit the floor again. And I know I need some serious help, but I'm not getting anywhere here because they won't even talk to you unless you have a primary care physician at Lahey. And yes- my in-laws are here, but that doesn't really help. I could have 10 people here with me and all that would accomplish is that there'd be ten people to carry my ass to the emergency room.
So we went to see Jim. Now, I'm already having drama with Aetna about covering this hotel bill. Our rep that Ingrid hooked me up with is great- (I'll refer to him as Mr. Smart Guy)- he's actually got a brain AND a heart. What a combination. This Miss Dingledong from Aetna that's managing Jim's case is another story. She's giving me crap about how we have to "start from the beginning" - whatever that means - and "I don't think this is going to be covered." Apparently they cover the hotel for transplant patients, but Miss Dingledong's really not interested in trying to find out if Jim's tumor was rare or not. I told her, "Look- they pop kidneys and hearts and lungs into people every day. I challenge you to find me even TWO more people who've had what Jim has. Don't even try to give me this hassle." I told Mr. Smart Guy to forget about talking to Jim's primary care physician. He's the one that poo-poo'd the situation from the beginning. If you want to know about how rare this is, call his endocrinologist and his surgeon. Mr. Smart Guy at least realizes that I didn't come to Boston for a vacation. So while we're sitting in the ICU with Jim (and I'm frantic about his pneumonia) Mr. Smart Guy calls me, is very nice, and says he's going to get this covered come hell or high water, so don't worry about it. He's in the process of getting in touch with the endocrinologist now. FIVE minutes later I get another call from Miss Dingledong who starts yammering again about how it's not going to be covered and "we have to start from the beginning". I told her, look- the reps taking care of it. She's still yammering on. I just hung up on her, then I called Mr. Smart Guy and said I really don't want to talk to her dumb ass anymore. I'm a race car and I'm in the red.
I spoke with Jim's social worker here and she was fantastic. I met her at her office this afternoon and she could easily see that I'm a woman on the edge. She worked the phones for me for an hour. She called Aetna on my behalf to get a list of primary care physicians that work here at the hospital, and then she called all over the place to the people she knew off the list to get me in to see someone right away and at least start the ball rolling for me. She was so funny....she asked me when my last physical was. 20 years ago. When was my last OBGYN visit? 4 years ago. Who's my primary care physician at home? Nobody, because I fired him and haven't had time to pick a new one. Who's your case manager with Aetna? Miss Dingledong and I hung up on her ass. Where'd you get your valium and Xanax? Off the internet because my cardiologist laughed at me when I told him I needed it. She said he probably did that because I have a sense of humor and they can't see beyond that to recognize that I really need help. She said in her proper British accent..."You've been a very naughty girl." She found a doctor she knew well and sent her an e-mail that I need to get in right away because this is a very unique case. I'm going to check back in with her tomorrow morning. "Are you going to be o.k. tonight?" she asked. I told her I got his far, one more day isn't going to kill me. I'm just so glad I found someone here that gives a damn.
So my in-laws are taking me to dinner tonight again, but I have so little appetite. While I was at the social worker's my in-laws sat with Jim, and he was getting annoyed at them. He finally growled at them and kicked them out. We'll go by again tonight after dinner and the next shift change and see if he's any better. I'll go in alone this time.
And on top of it all, it's my son's sixth birthday today, and I'm not there. That really doens't help.
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