hospitals forgetting to give you your medicine

[sullidog]

My center drawls phosferous levels constantly. At the monthlys mine was 3.6 which is fine, then I had my surgery for my new graft, and after I got out they drew it again and it was at 5.1. The reason for the jump? My nurse in the hospital forgot to give me my binders! This seems to happen all the time even if I remind them. Is it just my hospital or is every hospital bad about given the meds at the right time?
Troy

[jbeany]

You have to stomp your feet and demand them - they sure can't keep track of anything correctly.  If it's ever been entered in the computer, then it's there for eternity, whether you are still taking it or not.  If it's not in the computer, then it can't possibly be right and you aren't allowed to have it!

I take my own meds with me to every hospital stay, just in case.  When I had my parathyroid surgery done, the doc had written a scrip for some heavy duty pain pills, narcotic stuff that knocked me out completely.  I didn't want them, since I wasn't in that much pain, only a little discomfort.  I asked for a couple of tylenol, and the nurse couldn't give them to me, since it wasn't in the @#$%@ computer.  So I said I'd just skip the pain pills altogether, and as soon as she left the room, I got up and got two tylenol out of my bag.

[MooseMom]

I had a hysterectomy back in Nov 2008.  Knowing that I'd be in the hospital for several nights, I brought all of my pills (and there's a lot of them!) in my pillbox, but after my surgery, the hospital wouldn't let me take them.  I had to take THEIR pills.  I was taking a specific kind of cyclosporine, but despite the fact that I had them with me, they made my husband go home and return with the medicine bottle.  I'm sure they charged me a shedload of cash for the very meds that I had brought from home.  It's a scam.  Maybe someone here can explain why the hospital did this.

[sullidog]

Oh that's weird, when I don't want one of the strong painpills they will usually give me the tylenol.
Troy

[RichardMEL]

I think we should take responsibility for ourselves. I keep track of what I am due in terms of what the unit is supposed to administer (iron, aranesp) and tell them before they even look it up. If I was in hosp and needed stuff like that I'd remind them rather than relying on them to remember, or check a chart or whatever. I see it as my responsibility to look out for my body - after all who else cares more?

[billybags]

jbeany, That was really naughty, my husband does the same thing, he keeps an extra tub of Renagel in his bag so he hasn't got to keep asking, the paracetamol are also there. They seem to take all your tablets and forget to give them to you. Ok if you are extremely ill, that is alright but when you are in for minor surgery why should you not be able to administer them your self. You do at home, and then there is the waiting for them when you are discharged, it means the pharmacist has to come down and give you them back. What a waste of time.

[Darthvadar]

Oh Folks....

Don't get me started on this one!... Renagel being dispesed hours after a meal!!!...

Mum's Neph. knows I bring Mum a supply of it... There's no comment made since the time she tore her skin, she was so itchy...

I also make sure that she has a supply of her pain meds... If she's waiting too long to take it, it doesn't work, and she's miserable pain-wise!...

I agree it's about personal responsibility... One nurse asked me if 'I thought myself to be a medical expert???'.... I replied 'No, not a medical expert... Just an Elsie expert!'... That put her firmly back in her box!...

Love to all...

Darth....

[kellyt]

Same for me.  Drives me crazy.  I also take my meds with me (Prograf and Cellcept most importantly).  On my last visit they couldn't GET the Prograf.  I told the nurse I had my own and after her making several calls with no luck in getting them she stuck her head in the door and whispered "Go ahead and take your Prograf".  I didn't get the hospital statement so I'm not 100% if they charged me or not for them.  But my guess is they did.  Ticks me off!!!

[monrein]

I'd never think of leaving it up to them. 

[sullidog]

Yeah the after meals, I will always say too late they won't work, then they're like they won't work? I'm like yeah it's suppose to be before each meal.
One time I hit the call button before a meal the tech came in and I said I needed the renagel, she said ok let me get the nurse, well the nurse didn't show up til after dinner.
Troy

[RichardMEL]

If this is in dedicated renal wards this is absolutely ridiculous and I'd complain about this to the neph and the ward admin/renal dept. These nurses should know how vital it is to have binders with food and to have your anti-rejection meds(if on them) at specific times etc. It's just lazy and is bad for patients in my view.

I think I'll be keeping my own supply of binders with me just in case also - should I ever be admitted to the ward for anything (though I understand at my hospital we're all put into the renal ward, so the staff there know the drill)

[kellyt]

Mine wasn't a designated renal ward, but regardless.  Surely I'm not the only transplant patient they've ever had.  But then again, they always act like I am.  That particular time I didn't even wake up from surgery until 8 p.m. and by the time they got me to my room it was 9 p.m., which is when I take my evening dose, and it wasn't until close to 10 p.m. that I finally took my own meds.  I didn't even bother with the nurse in the morning and I just took my meds again at 9 a.m.

You would think that kidney transplantation is a new development and not everyone knows about it or something.  I'm constantly "educating" the nursing staff everywhere I go.  Amazing.

[kitkatz]

They changed my binders in the hospital to renvela,then put me back on my tums when I went home home. I told the nurse Renvela is a new binder, not renagel. She looked at me like I was nuts. 
They did better this time I was in hospital, because I brought my pill bottles with me. I also refused meds the doc put in the chart but did not discuss with me.  I told the nurse if the doc has not discussed it with me I am not taking it. Call him and get him in here with an explanation for me.  She said I was within my rights as a patient to do that.  I am telling my docs from now on, you have to discuss new meds before they are given to me or put into my chart. I like the Kaiser nurses because they tell me everything they are giving me before handing it to me to take.

[RightSide]

Yes, on occasion I've had to remind the techs to get my Zemplar before the hemodialysis session ended.

After what happened in Texas, it's incumbent on all of us to know exactly what the techs are putting into the line and what they're not putting into the line.  Never sleep all the way through the dialysis session.  Keep an eye on the techs.  If they put something into the line, ask what it is and what the dosage is.  If they haven't put anything into the line by the final half hour of the session, ask why.  Know what meds and dosing schedules your physician has described.  Keep a list with you if necessary.

[billybags]

kitkatz, I completely agree with you about the drugs. We get prescripts sent through the GP and I ring them up and say "who prescribed these and when and then I ring the hospital and talk to the neph or the nurse. They are not always right. Some of the drug changes are some times made by junior docs who just look at the charts. Our way of thinking is: if the neph hasn't told us, we wont take it.