I didn't know where to put this but here goes.....

My husband's mom;

A lively, active, happily married 88 year old with a few minor forgetful issues & some blood pressure problems, but mainly very healthy. She & dad travelled, regularly hosted dinner parties for family & friends, walked a lot, participated in everything they could find to do outside their home, did her own cooking/baking, visited casinos, read, still drove the car, etc., etc.

June 6th, mom went to hospital to have a simple surgery, & was supposed to be released the same day but as she's a drug sensitive person, they kept her overnight. June 7th, they administered a blood pressure med which reacted badly enough to crash her blood pressure. She flatlined twice, & was brought back twice with CPR, then put on life support & moved to ICU.

Dad & their sons, (including my husband, as we happened to be visiting there at the time because I was going to do the cooking/laundry etc., while mom recovered from the operation,) were called to a meeting with the doctor about 'pulling the plug' that same day! No way of course without giving this feisty woman a chance to fight back!

By June 10th/11th, mom was up, eating, drinking her beloved Tim Horton's coffee, & bossing everyone around in the hospital, which she has a way of doing without causing any friction. She was moved out of ICU, & we thought we'd have her home soon.

The night of June 12th, they gave her the SAME DAMN BP MED AGAIN, which flatlined her.....AGAIN! Because she wasn't in ICU, it took longer for the staff to get to her & bring her back with CPR, only this time, they brought her back with severe & completely irreversible brain damage. All because the nurse saw there was no bp med ordered & called for the attending doctor to order some.....not bothering to read all the paperwork!

We were called to another doctor conference to explain things & got the 'it was a mistake & we're sorry to have put you all through this' routine. Well......that's not enough, since this was far more than a 'mistake'! A simple reading of mom's whole chart would have shown her reaction to that drug, but the nurse chose not to do that. It was a staff change so you'd think the new staff would be more diligent about reading everything about a 'new to them' patient. 

Dad has had a few mini strokes & although he can still function reasonably well, he can't live alone, nor attend to daily living & paying bills etc., without assistance. He & the whole family are shattered over this needless destruction of a perfectly energetic woman! We are all devastated, & very very, angry.

Thanks for listening. Patricia