...this is the last picture I ever took of mom. It was on her 83rd birthday on May 11th 2010. This would be her last birthday. The family tried to rally around her and we had a little party in the lounge of the hospital, but as can be clearly seen she was not in good shape. She had been in the Abbotsford Regional Hospital since Feb.25th. They had now destroyed her with their “chemical cosh” of anti-psychotic drugs.
Mom would remain in the hospital until June, awaiting a room to come available in Langley, the home chosen by Fraser Health to place her in, for the short time she had left.
It should be noted that the hospital did not want mom there. Numerous staff (doctors and nurses) stated that she should go back to the nursing home and that the nursing home was just sloughing off their issues onto the hospital, however, the social worker Karen Darts, who was in close contact with Sharon Dubois (Residential Services ) veto’s any attempts to send mom back.
We really didn’t want mom back at Maplewood at this point either after the physical and sexual assaults that had taken place there (an altercation with this abuser trying to get into moms bedroom at bedtime and mom resisting the attempt had taken place two nights before she was dumped at the hospital - FOI documents).
Mean while Sharon Dubois was busy (not the first attempt) trying to get the OPGT to take over mom’s affairs stating “neglect” on our part. Everyone in the Acute Care ward was waiting for this “takeover” to occur, including the rude and hostile Dr. Danescu who brought it up on more than one occasion. There was also an attempt to take over my mom’s assets, even though both my sister and I had an “Enduring Power of Attorney “ I may say more on this on a future blog as FOI documents show they tried to take over the WRONG persons assets and certainly breached someone else’s privacy.
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| Dr. V. Danescu |
FOI documents from ARH show Dr. Danescu tried to discharge mom twice in the first few weeks, once back to Maplewood and then again to the families care. He approached and stated to my husband and me that he could not find a home in Abbotsford that would take mom (Sharon Dubois had already taken care of those options) and that mom would probably do better on less medication if the family took her home.
If she was certified as an “involuntary” patient and he was one of the doctors to certify her, and he was discharging her then how could she have remained “involuntarily” certified or certified at all? This is to add to the fact that they screwed up the legal process to begin with (certifying someone has strict laws that must be followed). None of it made any sense, and Sharon Dubois would also put up a stink about mom going home in our care as well. That is not what was in her plans (she had already made a formal complaint that we were negligent). She also elicited the help of numerous others which will be the subject of another blog.
I had accepted what Dr. Danescu said to me about family taking mom home knowing full well that I was unable to do this, but that my sister had gone back home (400 miles away) to make plans to take mom home with her. She had found a doctor that would take mom, had spoken to a friend of hers who was a nurse, and had contacted her MLA in an effort to get help and guidance to have mom moved.
My sister was devastated when she saw what had transpired while she was gone making plans to take mom home. She realized that she would now need substantially more help in order to cope with an invalid. We tried to see about getting this help, so mom could be taken out of the hospital, but were met with opposition. Lots of excuses from everyone including the social worker Karen Dart at the hospital, who stated flatly that we would not get enough help. But then it would appear that she was also doing the bidding of Sharon Dubois.
We kept trying to turn things around for the better at the hospital, but instead they were to get even worse. We voiced our concerns often that mom was getting worse by the day. Sharon (my sister) told the nurses on several occasions that mom was having small seizures (as she had in Maplewood), but no one really believed anything we would say. We had been “labelled” from the beginning. The certifying phyciatrist Dr. Pieter Strauss had stated that we had drug concerns that were not justifiable (FOI ). We had never even met him. He’d made no effort to talk with any family member at any time. So I guess he was just taking the word of ...??...and of course there were Dr. Macintosh’s statement of lies that suddenly appeared (only Sharon Dubois would have know they existed!)
We would take turns walking mom up and down the halls on the different floor levels , in her wheel-chair, for hours. We took her downstairs in the lobby and sat with her there, trying to make a difference for her, give her a change from her room. Mostly she just slept from the chemical onslaught. We would be there as much as we could be because we knew if we weren’t and she got one of the “wrong” care aids or nurses she’d be tied in her bed or...?? worse. Day after day this went on. After meeting with a clinical nurse specialist mom was put on a special “regime” that would and should have seen a bit of an improvement and this new regime was posted on the wall for all the staff to follow....but they didn’t. It was extremely frustrating and no one cared what we said....and day after day we struggled to get some sanity...some compassion into what they were doing to our mom....but to no avail. The anxiety that they were supposed to be treating, just got worse; and the solution....more drugs...and more drugs....coma. Take a break....more drugs...they just didn’t seem to get it that they weren’t changing anything but they were destroying a human being.
We contacted moms MLA office in Abbotsford to try and stop the insanity that was taking place and although many new “contacts” were made through this venue there would be nothing to stop the abuse or illegal actions that were taking place and time was running out for mom. Each day was crucial.
Although there were a few good and caring nurses and a small number of care-aids who were “gems”, there were more than enough nurses who were crass, lazy, and totally uncompassionate, and were definitely in the wrong profession. One of the most upsetting of all was the the PCC (head person) in Acute Care that stated that all dementia patients needed to be on anti-psychotics and that moms brain was fried and she needed to be injected with “Haldol” (anti-psychotic drug) until her right arm shakes!(presumable her right arm, as her left had paralyses from her stroke?) . Mom had bruises on her arms from injections because she started refusing to take the oral anti-psychotic drugs. In my opinion nurses with attitudes like this should have their licenses revoked!Then there were the care-aids that propped mom in a wheel-chair facing away from them on the other side of the room while they texted and talked on their phones. Is this the kind of “Care” that consumes our tax dollars? And what about the care-aid that was supposed to be “caring” for mom when she had a massive seizure from the anti-psychotic drugs and fell and hit her head. Or was there even one there at the time? We don’t know as this information doesn’t seem to be in any FOI documents from the hospital. I would assume they don’t want this information to get out for legal reasons.
Mom’s demeanour was very odd after the seizure and fall so I asked nurse “Lisa” if she had cracked her head open from the fall. She proceeded to check the computer file to see if anything had been posted on it and then replied that the scan did not show any “calcification”. (Not sure if this would have shown up that fast, being only a couple of days after the fall). Although it was never discussed with us by any staff we would assume that mom was suffering from a concussion after her fall as she developed bad headaches and was in constant pain that would remain with her until she died almost seven months later. She was put on pain medication and anti-seizure drugs. She had never suffered from headaches before this time.
Nurse “Lisa” was at meetings and taking notes when mom was first dumped at the hospital, so I had spoken with her on numerous occasions. After mom had a seizure she was not too keen to talk to me. She is also the nurse that signed the second “involuntary” certification papers that I received (after a two week “uncertified” interval). They were dated to the time that I had been speaking to her about moms “cracked head”, but “Lisa” said nothing to me about this at the time and instead sent the “involuntary” certification papers to me via snail mail and I received them ten days after they were dated. Strange as I was at the hospital almost every day and if I wasn’t there, then my sister would likely have been. This is not legal, but then nothing about the “involuntary” certification was legal.
What was the purpose of doing it at all? Were we going to abscond with an invalid...or what was their thinking??? Lisa’s favourite statement thereafter seemed to be “we just want to move forward” One has to wonder if any of them actually have a conscience, or can sleep at night, knowing the suffering and humilitation they caused another human being, and their family. This photo shows us with mom, while she was cerified as "involuntary". At this point she could no longer walk, was chemically immobilized and either strapped to her bed, or strapped to the wheel chair. The anti-psychotic drugs had given her an irreversible tick, twice put her into a coma, caused a massive seizure, left her an invalid, and never did a thing for her anxiety......there are many, many unanswered questions... these are just a few of our experiences at ARH... ... Dark memories to haunt us for a life time.
Someone needs to be held accountable for these egregiously cruel acts of elder abuse.
Continued details associated with this blog will be posted as quickly as time allows. Please check back from time to time for updates to this unbelievable abuse. There are no statements made herein that we do not have evidence of to substantiate. If you have had a similar experience please be heard, call your MLA.
