Conspiracy Theory

Okay. So I know it's been awhile since I blogged but here's a rundown of the last month and a half:

February 4-7 - Jack's in the hospital having surgery for a staph infection.
Two weeks later - Jason's in the hospital for a week for a diagnosis of chronic GVH of the liver and skin.
A few weeks later - Jason's in the hospital again. This time he's in the week before Spring Break in ICU with low blood pressure. This results in temporary heart and kidney damage. Turns out an MRSA bacteria entered through the port in his chest and spread quickly almost killing him.

March 11th - he gets out of ICU and goes to a regular floor.
March 19th - he's sent home while the kids and I are in Ft.Worth at the Zoo (big mistake going the last pretty day of Spring Break).
March 20th -Two hours after returning home from the Ft. Worth, Jason's back at the hospital for weakness and dehydration.

So here's the conspiracy theory:
Jason is in NO WAY ready to go home on the 20th. My two 67-year old in laws argue with the medical staff that Jason isn't ready to go home. But they are over ruled and Jason has to be LIFTED into his mother's car by two really big ladies. Jason has no strength in his legs or arms (mainly due to muscle atrophy from the steroids he's been on as part of his treatment). Two weeks of laying in bed didn't help either. He was sent home with no oxygen as a back up in case he had trouble breathing, no nursing help other than every other day for an hour or so. I can't lift him, his parents can't lift him and I've got to go back to work on Monday. It's obvious he can't stay at home by himself. Our options? Paying $2,000 for a babysitter to come and sit with Jason while I'm at work (insurance doesn't cover it). Then there's the little sticking point of his office visit on Tuesday. He can't get to the car and his parents can't carry him to the car. So the only way to get him there is to call an ambulance. Yeah right! Luckily, Jason started experiencing 2 out of the 5 symptoms that were listed as "Call your Physician right away if you experience these things" category (isn't it sad that something really bad can be considered lucky). So back we went to the emergency room at St. Paul via ambulance.

Jason was finally admitted to the hospital at midnight. When the doctor came in at 7:00 a.m. it was mentioned that he would go to rehab this time when he was dismissed from the hospital. so my question is: If you knew he couldn't go home and care for himself, why the hell did you send him home? I've come to a one word conclusion: Insurance. It's my thinking that the insurance company said, "We'll pay for rehabilitation (because they've met their yearly deductible and out of pocket) if you can prove that he can't take care of himself." I get it, but I don't like it.

For 24 hours, his parents stressed and worried about their son because of his inability to get up and take care of himself enough to function well. What happened if he fell while I was at work? What if he got stuck somewhere? Worse yet, "What if his oxygen level got so low and there wasn't anyone home to help? Then I get home from Ft. Worth to a stressfull situation. Do we or don't we try to get him in rehab? Do I or Don't I take a day off on Monday and get docked (because it's the day after a holiday) and try to straighten this out? Do we or don't we take him to the emergency room and hope to God they admit him? And what about the kids? They were so very excited that their daddy was finally home. Caroline went to go play with a friend only to find out later that her daddy (whom she kind of blew off when she got home) went back to the hospital. Jack was THRILLED his daddy was finally home. He went and laid down with Jason for an hour when we got home and told him everything he'd been wanting to tell him for 2 weeks, only to be called home from his friend's house to tell his daddy goodbye because he was going back to the hospital.

Sending him home is not an option right now, and no one is mentioning it as an option. They're only mentioning rehab. It's a question of where - here at the hospital that knows him or somewhere else. We'd obviously prefer here, but it's about what the insurance will cover. Rehab will last 4-8 weeks -- depending on how intense the therapy goes. But at least this way, the kids will be able to see him and visit. It's not great, but it's what we've got right now.