Trying to get it all straight...

I received a call this a.m. from an internal med doc whose name I didn't get because I'd just gotten out of bed and hadn't even had any coffee yet. I'd been waiting for this internist to call me since Sunday, so I'm happy that he finally contacted me, I just wish I could have had an opportunity to get things together before I spoke to him. I wasn't even able to record the conversation, I was caught so off guard.

Dr. No Name sounds Indian (Eastern, that is) and he has, presumably, seen Cathy at least once. I had asked Dr. Allen, the psychiatrist overseeing Cathy's care in the hospital, to have this physician call me when he (Dr. Allen) couldn't answer the question as to whether or not Cathy actually has liver cancer, as she claims. Unfortunately, Dr. No Name wasn't able to answer the question either. In fact, he asked me whether or not Cathy has cancer! I wish I'd recorded the conversation.

Not only did Dr. NN not know whether or not Cathy has cancer, he then stated that he couldn't just go and do random tests to determine if she has cancer. Excuse me? If a physician at a public hospital can't determine whether a patient has cancer or not WHO IN THE HELL CAN?!!! I said essentially that very thing, in not so many words, to Dr. NN, and he finally agreed, sort of, that he would explore the possibility of ordering some tests if Cathy's primary care physician couldn't be located. (She's been at Florida Hospital since Dec. 4--I would think that her primary care physician would have long ago been located, assuming she had one, and if she didn't have one, I would think that tests would have already been ordered and carried out. But hey, I'm not the one with the medical degree, so what do I know?)

On a happier note, I received a call back from the Citizens Commission on Human Rights Florida (http://www.cchrflorida.org/abuse-florida-involuntary-commitment.html), whom I called yesterday in hopes of getting some assistance regarding potential abuse of the Baker Act, which I strongly feel has occurred in Cathy's case. I'm waiting for an emailed release form and then I plan to turn everything I have about this situation over to them. At this point, "everything" consists of some faxed medical records that Florida Hospital sent yesterday, recorded phone conversations from yesterday (I so wish I'd have thought about recording calls earlier), this blog, and my notes, which I hope to get typed up in some logical, readable fashion today.

Unfortunately, I had an entire list of stuff I wanted to accomplish around my house and with my family while I'm on vacation these next two weeks, and this whole ordeal has thrown a monkey wrench into those plans. So beyond getting all of the info together to send to the CCHR folks, my hope for today is to outline in another email to Carol and Cara (Nurse Manager and Social Worker) what my goals are for the next two days. They are as follows:

• I need Cara or Carol to fax a statement to the NC Dept of Vital Records stating that they can release Cathy's birth certificate to me because, due to medical reasons, Cathy is unable to request and obtain her birth certificate herself. (I need the birth certificate because Cathy doesn't have any form of photo ID, meaning I won't be able to get her on a plane. If I can get her birth certificate, hopefully we can get a Florida ID or simply use the birth certificate to get her on board.)
• I need Cara or Carol and/or Ellen (Florida Hospice Social Worker) to communicate with SECU Hospice in Johnston co., with the goal of ensuring Cathy can, at least temporarily, be placed at SECU Hospice.
• Once those two things are accomplished, I can arrange a flight to Florida, as well as, hopefully, two return flights.

Written out like that, these things don't seem like such insurmountable tasks--but I have my doubts as to whether or not they'll actually happen today, unless, of course, I plan to spend the entire day following up on the phone.

So now off to type up my notes and scan medical records.