At some point in each of our lives, we learn 2 simple truths. First, we don’t know everything and second, we are not invincible. I met some people in rehab that helped make that completely clear to me..Part of what am addressing is he know it all thing. We see people and right away at a glance assume we know everything about them. Clearly nothing could be further from the truth.
I had a private room for about a week out of the 5+ months I was there. For the most part the roomates were eventless. There was one however who was a plain junkie addicted to opiates. He would call 911 every night to try and get his fix from the hospital. It never worked and they finally moved him to a different room.I think the nurses finally got sick of him and he wasn’t participating in the recovery process. The one who followed him was complete with dementia, with a violent streak.. He was a returning customer and quite the asshole..One night he threatened me with the leg support to my wheelchair.. They moved him out that night after I promised to sue the staff, the administrators ,and the owner of the facility. That after I also promised them he would be sent out of the window to the parking lot below.. They were all apologetic the following morning so they must have believed me. Two weeks later the admins came to me to find out what had happened..These people have the brains of a wet rock.. I think the rock is more intelligent.. Some them had giant poles up their butts. I have a lot more gripes about all of them but that is enough for now.
Everyone on my floor had had surgery of some sort.The floor I was on was the ‘rehab’ floor. That means you have to participate or say goodbye… When I first got there I was one floor up which is a long term resident floor. Some are there permanently, others, like me, they stick up there because they don’t know what else to do with them. I was one of those and they pretty much ignored me. That is until I pitched a bitch. Squeaky wheel sort of thing. They were content to let me lay there and rot. I guess that is what that floor was for.. Two floors up was the nut house. Whatever you are thinking about me, I didn’t belong there either… I am convinced half the people on my floor belonged on that nuthouse floor. On the surface most of the people seemed normal but that is where the normality ended. I will take a few of these case by case at a later date with one exception.
Meet Angel aka Bobby.. He is woman on top, still man on the bottom.. Get the picture? This is the one however who blew my assumptions out of the window. The first was that he was gay. Not true.. For whatever reason, he lived as a woman. He said his original path to change was due to hormones in food and such. Okay, whatever but he chose through shots of female hormones to finish the job. It all seems far fetched to me but who am I to dispute it? In a way I felt bad for the guy as he was basically alone in this world. Most if not all of his family had turned their backs on him by this point and would have nothing to do with him. He didn’t seem the type that would piss on your leg and tell you it’s raining. All in all a pretty decent person.. While there he turned into something I never imagined, a friend. It made the days go faster anyway..
There were some who had convinced themselves they were were THE answer needed by everyone in the place. Including the preacher who told me I was going to hell because I didn’t want to pray with him. I told him I would be sure to visit him there. He never bothered me again. Neither did the shrink who couldn’t convince me I must be depressed because I had lost my leg..
In a way, generally this place was kind of sad. Many of the residents were hoping beyond hope that their family they remembered having would visit them and get this place in order for them. In reality, they were there to be forgotten and die.. However it happened, Sad…What many of them have to look forward to is the quarterly trip to WalMart, after their SS checks arrived of course… “Welcome to WalMart… Get yer shit and get out..” 😉
Most days all I could imagine was Motel Hell and One flew over the cookoo’s nest complete with nurse ratchet..Emphasis on the nest and the nurse.. I do have a great deal of respect for many of the nurse’s aids in this place.If not for them this would have been complete hell. There were a few who seemed to make hell their goal but I didn’t have to deal with them very often. They were mostly the type who would roll their eyes and bitch when asked to do their jobs.
That is about it for now, I will continue with this saga at a later date.. For now I want to wish you all the best of holidays, however you celebrate them.. Also I want to thank each of you who attempted to keep me in touch and informed of all the reality goings on. Peace to each of you AND our departed friends, whether I got along with you and them or not 😉 …
realhousewifeofaiken 
MTH, all I can say is I’ll bet you are glad to be out of that place. I have had older relatives who have experienced their share of long hospital stays, rehab facilities, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, etc. If it weren’t for me or my husband physically visiting those places on a daily basis, our loved ones would have fallen victim to neglect or worse. But those people knew not to mess around with us. I felt so sorry for the people who had nobody to advocate for them. It makes me mad and sad just thinking about it. So glad you made it through that process and are in a better place now. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much for telling us about your experience… Straight up… With no sugar coating on it. I expect nothing less from you. I’m sure there are layers and layers… These things put stuff into perspective, don’t they? I will always enjoy reading yours. Your voice has been sorely missed. Please know that… It is so great to see you posting again… Love you!
Mel – Thanks for sharing. I visit a nursing home/rehab facility with my dog twice a month. I’m thankful that you were able to speak up when needed. I’m wondering if you were a good patient or were they ready for you to leave? 🙂
I am sure after the first week, they were ready for me to leave though they couldn’t say so.. I made them pretty miserable during the first couple weeks telling them precisely what i thought of this place.Turns out, as far as they were concerned, my overall attitude was nothing new and in a strange way kind of refreshing..
Mel, this was a sobering read. It took me back to my dad’s stay in a rehab/nursing home. In that place, the rehab patients got the attention and best care because they were being paid more for them. My dad was there on a VA contract…aka bottom of the care pyramid.
I am convinced his death was a result of a coverup after an accident resulting from negligence (long story).
I hope you continue to share your experiences and your thoughts. They are valuable.
“Neither did the shrink who couldn’t convince me I must be depressed because I had lost my leg.” Maybe it’s the perspective that comes with age and/or experience. My neighbor, who is in his 60s, lost both his legs and was in a VA hospital and then a rehab facility. It was a year before he could come back home. He talked about the young men in their 20s who were there and were depressed and pissed off that they had lost a limb. He wasn’t happy about his situation, but, like you, he didn’t feel it was the end of the world–especially considering how close he had come to end.
I am glad to hear from you. I wish this hadn’t happened to you. But it did, and it was difficult and I’m sorry. So sorry you went through this. But you’re back. You’re still here and you have a voice and I’m glad to ” hear” it again.
So glad you’re back and telling us about it. You were very missed!
So glad to have you back with us … sure have missed you!
Peace be with you, Jeff 🙂
(((((Jeff))))) Merry Christmas, my friend 😊
GOOD A/M MTH… nice read this morning with my java…I so understand where you are coming from with all this…my heart is with you as you continue on the path of recovery…
DONT YA JUST HATE WHEN DRS TELL YOU THAT YOU MUST BE DEPRESSED…WTF…. have they not met STRONG WILLED people in their profession…why do they feel each SHITTY event in our lives will be the one that does us in…..sure.. we might sit alone in our rooms when all the world is safely tucked in bed w/ visions of a wonderful life going on , while we ponder that age old question WHY THE FUCK ME !!!!
then that bright light of sanity comes on and we snapped out of our momentary part of teetering towards the edge and we then again become part of the rest of the folks trying to get by…….. I know..I have had more than my fair share of them it seems lately…and YES…we do get tired of putting on the happy fucking face that everyone expects us to have,,,,, but yet we do…..
We should get together and write a book on our stays … we would have some real zingers I am sure… my next stay …bringing the A LUE MEE NUMB BAT with me…. ever hear that SWANG STING sound it makes when it contacts skin….whoo hooooo
glad to see back and around for SURE….
HUGS AND PEACE
DIVA
Diva you could throw in some of Mr. Ford’s, or should I say your experiences during Mr. Ford’s stays. 🙂
Sounds like an experience not to be repeated. Sorry you had to experience it. Its great when you meet up with folks who like their job but its the ones who don’t like the job that make your life miserable. I was fortunate to only come across one of them between 2 hospitals so I had nice people to deal with for the most part. Sometimes you have to rattle a few cages to get something to happen. It’s good you were able to do that.
I look forward to the next installment. You’ve been missed. Glad you are back.
MTH I’m glad you go through it and are now home to live your life. You sure made me think about life. We sure don’t know everything. Thks for sharing your experiences and thks for the laughs. BIG hugs to you. 😊 🙅
So glad to hear and see you Jeff! Thankfulness, its all some of us have some days.
What kind of rehab is this?
The kind where you are supposed to learn to walk again after losing a limb.. See the picture..
*hugs Jeff really hard* I miss you my friend – hope things have gotten better – stay well and come back to us at NMD – we miss you – much love always –