Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Based on a recent report on medical mistakes from the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, the IOM estimates that 44,000 to 98,000 Americans die each year not from the medical conditions they checked in with, but from preventable medical errors.

That is alarming statistics and scary to think that could be you. There are steps you can take to cut-down on the chance that a medical mistake or error happens to your or someone you love.

When my son Cade was battling brain cancer in 1999 he had a very severe seizure that put him into a coma. They intubated Cade in the emergency room and admitted him to ICU. In a couple days he came out of it and we were able to take him home. But he developed an infection in his throat from being intubated because he was going through chemo at the time. He began to have a very hard time breathing and we ended up back in the ER on Thanksgiving night. Of course they admitted him because his O2 saturation levels were around 80% or lower. They began giving Cade breathing treatments to open his throat and lungs and he was receiviing oxygen through a nose tube (we thought). The doctor came in at one point and said they didn't think he would make it through the night because nothing they were doing was helping. I remember sitting there in our usual rocking chair and holding him tight. We had called all the family in to see him because we thought we were going to lose him. I looked up at the oxygen hose connection to the wall and noticed that the tube wasn't connected to the oxygen side of the cannister but to air instead. (If you have ever been in the hospital you know that they have oxygen connections and air connections on the walls beside the beds.) I got up unplugged the hose from the connection that was clearly labeled air and connected it to the other side clearly labeled oxygen. Cade's oxygen saturation level immediately went up into the 90's. Cade was released to go home only 2 days later. They had him connected to the wrong side the whole time. Of course, the hospital and doctor were very apologetic but that was no consolation when we had thought he was going to die that night and he had suffered as bad as he suffered not being able to breathe. However, we were so happy that he was better that we never pursued the issue. We were just thankful. Thank God I looked up and knew enough to know that he should be on oxygen instead of air.....WOW, it still makes me shiver just thinking about it.

Okay, the point of that story is......stay involved, aware and educated about every part of your medical care. Ask questions, know how things are supposed to go and be done so you recognize it when it is wrong.

Here are a couple tips I learned while we battled my son's illness.

1. Ask questions, when they come in your hospital room to do a procedure, give you medicine or anything if you do not know what it is or why you are being given it then ASK!!!

2. Find out what medicine they are prescribing, how many times a day you should receive it, how should it be given (ie orally, injection, IV push) and time it should be given.

3. Write down all medicines you are given and the amounts and times they are given to you, verify it is correct, ask to look at the medicine and verify the amount, dosage and medicine before taking it. If you cannot do this for yourself make sure your caregiver or family member is doing this for you.

4. Verify doctors orders. Don't let a nurse or other medical personnel perform invasive procedurs or administer medicine that you are not aware is supposed to occur. Verify the orders with the doctor.

5. If you do not understand something then ask for it to be explained to you until you do understand.

6. Always verify the wrist band they put on you has your namely correctly spelled and all the information is correct. Sometimes one letter misspelled in a name can bring up someone who is not you (ie, Thomason, Thompson, Murrey, Murray). I think you see where I am going with that....dont' assume that they know it is you.

7. Always report all your symptoms. This way the doctors have all the information they need to make a correct medical diagnosis.

8. Always report all the medications you are taking. Sometimes there can be drug interactions that you are not aware of.

That is a few tips that I have learned and some others I picked up from other people that helped me while my son was battling cancer.

Ultimately, your medical care is your responsibility....now is not the time to sit back and let someone else steer the wagon! Take responsibility.