23 June 2017

Yesterday, June 22, I received a letter from Jessica key, patient experience coordinator at Banner health.  It was dated June 19.  Jessica wrote:

Dear Mr. Muzika,

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention regarding her mother’s visit to Banner by Medical Center.  Your feedback is very important to us and I appreciate you for taking the time to share your concerns with us.

Your concerns have been shared with the appropriate leaders for review and follow-up.  Our review is currently taking longer than we anticipated as it is important to us to be very thorough in this process.  When a review is completed, you will receive a formal response in writing with the results of our investigation.  I apologize for the delay and thank you for your patience and understanding.

If you have further concerns or questions please contact us at (623) 832-6657 or you may email Bannerhealthpatientrelations at@BannerHealth.com.

MY RESPONSE:

Dear Jessica,

I got your June 19 letter today.

I have no patience.  I see my mother deteriorating each and every day.  She is a completely different person since the ER experience of June 2.

I have reached out to social media and 28 area reporters about his case.  I have tried to get increased caretaker hours for my mother since she can no longer walk or sit up for more than 5 minutes at a time.  Her speaking now is entirely different, being with a weaker voice and much less comprehension.  She still retains her sense of humor and says she does not want to die, because “living is so much fun,” not said sarcastically.

For 27 years I was an animal welfare activist in the area of feral cats, and now I am fighting for her life.

A do not resuscitate note on her file SHOULD NOT MEAN ‘TOO OLD TO TREAT’.  That is hos Banner-Boswell has treated my mom, as too old to treat.  This is your DNR policy.  This is your Sarah Palin version of Death Panels in my POV.

She is too weak to be transported to a cardiologist to be transported by car, or by a transport service with the wheelchair we just got because she hasn’t needed one before.

Hers was a sudden deterioration, and your ER treated her like trash in my estimation, and entirely discounted my pointing to her swollen ankles, sudden loss of comprehension with confusion, sudden inability to walk. 

Apparently B-B policy is to treat a DNR notice as a do not treat notice.

I really see that B-B is not taking my complaint as an active plea for help, nor do I see anything about allowing for a re-exam and admit for treatment coming out of your investigation. She needs a non-emergency transport to the ER or a direct admit.  I will be receiving her ER records soon, and I understand her blood test results there were much worse than those obtained by her nurse practitioner a week before.

The blood test taken at the ER on June 2, indicated that the D Dimer test, with the normal high of 499, and a previous May 25 high of over 7,600, was now over 12,000.  This is the test for clotting.  Her BNP with the normal high of 500, and which had read 1,176, at the ER on June 2, was 1,818! 

How could she not have been admitted?  Was it your DNR policy?  I wouldn’t know because neither the doctor or the social worker gave me any credible medical information as to her condition or Dx or the reason for refusal for admission.

Yours Truly,

Edward Muzika, Ph.D.


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