Theses: Piper (12) & Martin Luther (95)

In 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 theses as a protest to the religious practices of the day. I had a similar occasion occur when I felt I was ready to be released from rehab following hip surgery. After 7 days in the hospital and 3 days in rehab, I tried to make as lucid an argument as I could for my release.

I posted these arguments, virtually, in my room. Had these arguments not worked, I was ready to take the next step of contacting the hospital ombudsman. But Dr. Govani, the doctor for the rehab wing, fully agreed with me, particularly on item #3, and I rolled past the frowning nurses on my way out.

Positive

1. I want to go home.

2. There is no medical reason for me to stay.
   
   
3. Medicare is the #1 entitlement cost. Let’s both do our part, today, to bring this cost down.

4. My wife needs to go home.

5. My home has all the necessary equipment for limited mobility.

6. I have had 4 previous orthopedic and 3 general surgeries, so I know the routine.

7. I have Visiting Nurses service.

8. I have done everything asked of me in PT and OT.

9. I have returned to medication levels prior to surgery, i.e., no stool softeners, no pain pills and no supplemental Lovanox.

10. Further stay has increased risks to me, namely:
    a. heart stress: BP went up to 157/77 last night just thinking about going home.
    b. cumulative risks from infections to myself and wife are getting significant
    c. my brain is starting to deteriorate
    d. my general overall mental outlook is declining

11. Dr. Nick Ting actually was ready to release me to home last Friday (11/26/10), but I declined.

12. I have met all my personal, post-surgical goals.

Contraindicated

1. Limited mobility. I have always improved in the past. I have a functional family (wife, son & daughter) for support

2. Swollen legs. This is improving daily now that I am getting out of bed.

3. Shorten stay. The ‘normal’ stay, while undefined, seems to be about 10 days. While I have been here only 4 days, I believe I am ready & capable of going home.

4. Temperature rise and incision bleeding. The temperature rise to 101 is a fluke (just my body getting ready to go home); the bleeding is minor and not unexpected.

I invite you to check out the history of my pre-surgery and post-surgery feelings by checking out our blog at:

http://cc-hip-redo.blogspot.com

Let’s aim for a 12/2/10 release, sometime around 13:00 hours.

Larry L. Piper

12/2/10, 01:30

(The bottom line is that I rolled out of the rehab ward about 15:00 hours on 12/2/10. The doctor said he had a flat tire, so that delayed his arrival about 1 hour. We got home about 20:30 hours with only two brief stops. I slept the last three hours of the trip, all of which was in the dark.)