Way OT-Rehabilitation For 82 Year Old With Triple Bypass

To keep this somewhat tractor related heres me pulling my 1953 E-5 Coop at Adrian,MO in June..

On July 11th my dear 82 year old mother-in-law became very ill and needed a triple bypass due to 98% blockage...Successfull surgery was preformed on July 15th in Joplin,MO...They had her up and walking right away...With help she was walking 4 times a day on July 21st which was the last day she was in the hospital.....Her heart surgeon stressed to us that walking was very important..

The evening of July 21st she was taken to a nursing home with the idea that she could possibly go home in 3 weeks...On July 22nd they were letting her push a wheel chair down to eat and she was doing fine..We came back on July 23rd and she was no longer being allowed to walk....She had to be pushed in a wheel to go eat and elsewhere.....We questioned them and they said that it was just too soon and that they were just scared that she might hurt herself....No doctor ordered it and no medical reason was given.....She wants to walk and get out of there as soon as possible but doesn't want to rock the boat..

My wife and I are not happy and we are wondering if they are just dragging their feet hoping to keep her there longer and get more money as she has 100 days insurance coverage......Is it time to move her elsewhere or are we just over reacting???We are calling her cardiologist and local doctor in the morning...Most everyone tells us that no matter what the age its walk-walk-walk to help her recover as fast as possible....What have been some of your experiences??

They had me walking a couple hours after they took all the plumbing out of me after my by-pass.

A year ago, my 87 y.o. mom went in to the Nebraska Heart Institute in Lincoln to have a stint installed. They said it was almost completely blocked and did a quadruple bypass the next day.
They had her up and going in no time and released her a few days later. She currently lives at home on the farm, takes care of beef cows, chickens and has a large garden. She quilts with the church ladies, plays cards with what few friends that she has that are her age and drives wherever she wants to. She currently takes no medication of any kind.

When I was 75 I went in and had 5 bypasses. Was in the hospital for seven days and walking the halls on the sixth day. Sure was a cute nurse that took me walking. They kept me an extra day because the old ticker started fibrillating and they had to hit me with the paddles a second time during recovery.

Upon release Cardiologist told me to do plenty of walking. In fact he wanted me to get a treadmill to get the heart rate up. Told him I live in the hills and get plenty of normal exercise. This was eight years ago and all my checkups have been fine since the operation. Have to do the stress test again in late September of this year.

Had two stents installed last Wednesday AM. Shown the door Thursday by noon. Didn't feel terrible before, but can do push mowing chest tightness free now.

The truth of the matter is cost. They do not want to tie up a nurse or aid walking with her. That is the long and simple truth. Then they may have some dimwit lawyer telling them not to do anything like walking her for fear of a lawsuit if she might fall.

IF she was any relation of mine she would be out of there ASAP. My wife worked in several Nursing homes over the years and many of them are just holding pens for old people.

If she is good mentally I would get her home and hire home health care for her. It sounds like she would not need long term care and you may have to pay out of pocket but it would only need to be for a few weeks if she recovers better/faster. Which I think she would in HER own home. Just my opinion.

If you leave her there and she does not recover NOW she maybe never will. As we age we do not get do overs when it comes to health issues.

Definitely get the doctors involved. And don't be afraid to complain to the county and/or state. The home shouldn't do anything like that without a doctor's order, and it sounds like they might have gone against an order.

P.S. I'd try to get the surgeon's help first, they tend to be much more assertive than GP's.

A friend who is in her late seventies went to a county home after replacement knee surgery. They were not following the prescribed regimen. Her husband brought her home after two days and she is coming along great.

Dittos to what others said. After caring for my mom for almost 6 years in nursing and assisted living places, if they ain't gonna follow dr.'s orders move her to a place that will or check into home therapy. Get her doctors on top of this. Also report them to your state health department or its agency that oversees nursing homes.

My wife had quadruple bypass at Bryan East in Lincoln in 2003. The Heart Institute was only a month old at the time and we were afraid they might not have all the bugs worked out of the system. We've stayed with Bryan East for other things, too, when we've had a choice, but I hear the Heart Institute is doing good.

My wife was 63 at the time and went from not knowing she had a problem to the OR in less than 12 hours. Heart problems run in her family. Her oldest brother died from complications following quadruple bypass, another brother had successful triple bypass, another died recently of congestive heart failure, and still another is on blood pressure medication.

But, my wife has done great since. And as everyone else has said, the doctors told her to do a lot of walking.

It is not their call, get a new recovery center tomorrow. Not a nursing home. Jim