a partial victory

My friend has written me:


After a battle of sorts, my father is now home.
I am not going to try to present all sides of the story.
I will say, however, that hospitals and institutional facilities
are cold and unfriendly.  They cannot compare to  one's home.
And that's how I feel, and I haven't got dementia and do
not have health problems.


Nor have I got a wife and companion of many decades.
My father was kept apart from his wife while he was in a so-called
rehabilitation center.  And, it was when he was alone that he tried
to find the exit.  Is that surprising?


Do you need a degree in medicine to understand that?


He was in an under-staffed facility which made it possible for him
to fall, to wander....


And, to top things off, his belt was stolen.  What sort of belt?
A white cloth belt that I purchased for a significant sum when I was
home a  couple of years ago.  It's a special belt used to help the frail
elderly.


Can I be sure it was stolen?  Maybe my father lost it?  Maybe.


But let's recall one thing.  My father was especially lonely in this
so-called rehabilitation center during the weekends.  And during weekends
 he did not receive therapy, unlike usual weekdays.


Now, you may say that I'm basing this on conversations with my mother.......
Indeed I am, and I trust her judgment.


But let's look at something that's not my mother's opinion.  Courtesy of Naked
Capitalism, I came across this fact:  that you're more likely to die in a hospital
over the weekend.  No matter when you are admitted, if you die in a hospital,
it's likely to be over a weekend.




"Risk of dying in hospital increases on weekend regardless of admission day, study finds"
Susan Perry, 5/15/2014, Minnesota Post
http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2014/05/risk-dying-hospital-increases-weekend-regardless-admission-day-study-finds


Thank god he got home before the weekend!