Our Story Part 1
This is what my sister Amy wrote up for our lawyers when we were looking to see if we had a case against the hospital. Our lawyer said since we cannot prove dad's stroke did not actually start the night before, we did not have a strong case. We will not be pursuing a case against them. I am using my sister's words here because she was there. I can give my perspective, but this isn't about me or what I went through that day. This part of the story is about dad.
There will be more to come tomorrow on what happened June 5 and 6.
Friday June 4, 2010 my mother (Kathleen Hammitt) and I (Amy Hammitt) took my father (Norm Hammitt) to the Fulton County Hospital ER for treatment. We arrived around 11:00 a.m. and my father was admitted to the ER shortly after. The ER doctor’s name was Dr. Hoffman. My father wascomplaining of chest pain, weakness, and numbness in his right side. His skin tone was grey, he was
having problems with confusion, and over all did not look well. After answering some questions about his medication and medical history (and later confirmed by blood tests) we found out my father had not been taking his coumadin regularly for about a week.
After about seven hours in the ER, the attending physician blamed my father’s condition on his heart. He believed after several tests, my father’s none compliance with his medication and low magnesium levels caused the “problem”. My father received two IV bags of magnesium over a six hour period to correct his low magnesium level. Mean while the doctor was not listening to what my father
had to say. My father kept trying to explain to the doctor that he had forgotten to take his medication rather than not being compliant.
My father was released from the ER around seven pm. At this point we stopped by the local Wal-mart to fill some prescriptions. My mother and I left dad in the car for about thirty minutes while we
waited. By the time we drove him home (about five miles) he could not use the right side of his body. My mother and I managed to get him out of the car and into the house. At this point he lost all control of his right side and fell to the ground. My mother called 911. This was only about forty five minutes after we left the hospital.
The EMTs arrived shortly after the call and took my father back to the Fulton County ER. At this point he was treated by a Dr. Lewis. When my mother and I arrived at the ER, Dr. Lewis was almost yelling at my father to get an answer out of him that he could not answer. He was confused and was not
even sure what event lead to his return to the ER. After another round of tests they could still not find anything wrong and Dr. Lewis implied my mother and I were over reacting to what was going on with my father. After wasting several hours of time asking my mother, father, and I questions and not listening to
us he told us nothing was wrong. Upon our adamant request he called our family doctor and was waiting for a call back. He speculated my father’s condition might be Parkinson’s disease. He gave us a
print out from Wikipedia about Parkinson’s disease. He also started my father on a Heparin I.V. Finally, our family doctor called back. After several more comments and half accusations from Dr. Lewis, he informed us my father would be transported to Bay Park Hospital and that our family doctor would be taking over his care.
The transport arrived around one a.m. My mother and I arrived at Bay Park around two or three in the morning. When we found his room, the nurse informed us that our family doctor had stopped the Heparin IV immediately after my father arrived at the hospital. My father was already being treated for a stroke but most of the tests would have to wait for the morning because we arrived so early in the morning.
My mother and I slept in dad’s room so that we would not miss our family doctor first thing in the morning. After only two hours of sleep my mother drove me to work and went back to the hospital to be with my father.
More to come tomorrow.
There will be more to come tomorrow on what happened June 5 and 6.
Friday June 4, 2010 my mother (Kathleen Hammitt) and I (Amy Hammitt) took my father (Norm Hammitt) to the Fulton County Hospital ER for treatment. We arrived around 11:00 a.m. and my father was admitted to the ER shortly after. The ER doctor’s name was Dr. Hoffman. My father wascomplaining of chest pain, weakness, and numbness in his right side. His skin tone was grey, he was
having problems with confusion, and over all did not look well. After answering some questions about his medication and medical history (and later confirmed by blood tests) we found out my father had not been taking his coumadin regularly for about a week.
After about seven hours in the ER, the attending physician blamed my father’s condition on his heart. He believed after several tests, my father’s none compliance with his medication and low magnesium levels caused the “problem”. My father received two IV bags of magnesium over a six hour period to correct his low magnesium level. Mean while the doctor was not listening to what my father
had to say. My father kept trying to explain to the doctor that he had forgotten to take his medication rather than not being compliant.
My father was released from the ER around seven pm. At this point we stopped by the local Wal-mart to fill some prescriptions. My mother and I left dad in the car for about thirty minutes while we
waited. By the time we drove him home (about five miles) he could not use the right side of his body. My mother and I managed to get him out of the car and into the house. At this point he lost all control of his right side and fell to the ground. My mother called 911. This was only about forty five minutes after we left the hospital.
The EMTs arrived shortly after the call and took my father back to the Fulton County ER. At this point he was treated by a Dr. Lewis. When my mother and I arrived at the ER, Dr. Lewis was almost yelling at my father to get an answer out of him that he could not answer. He was confused and was not
even sure what event lead to his return to the ER. After another round of tests they could still not find anything wrong and Dr. Lewis implied my mother and I were over reacting to what was going on with my father. After wasting several hours of time asking my mother, father, and I questions and not listening to
us he told us nothing was wrong. Upon our adamant request he called our family doctor and was waiting for a call back. He speculated my father’s condition might be Parkinson’s disease. He gave us a
print out from Wikipedia about Parkinson’s disease. He also started my father on a Heparin I.V. Finally, our family doctor called back. After several more comments and half accusations from Dr. Lewis, he informed us my father would be transported to Bay Park Hospital and that our family doctor would be taking over his care.
The transport arrived around one a.m. My mother and I arrived at Bay Park around two or three in the morning. When we found his room, the nurse informed us that our family doctor had stopped the Heparin IV immediately after my father arrived at the hospital. My father was already being treated for a stroke but most of the tests would have to wait for the morning because we arrived so early in the morning.
My mother and I slept in dad’s room so that we would not miss our family doctor first thing in the morning. After only two hours of sleep my mother drove me to work and went back to the hospital to be with my father.
More to come tomorrow.
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