Mom is in the General Hospital in Ottawa; room 7106 (bed 1)

The Back Story:

At the end of February, mom asked to go to the hospital - upon the recommendation of our family Dr., we went to Winchester in case she needed a CT scan.  She did, and it was determined that she has a rectal/vaginal fistula and would need surgery to remedy the condition.  Our family physician made a referral to a surgeon in Ottawa.  The surgeon to whom mom was referred at the Civic (Dr. Oboo) declined to take the case without having even seen mom. (After about 2 1/2 weeks from the date of the initial referral, and prior to mom going into KDH, I phoned his office to alert him to the worsening of mom's condition - the receptionist's response was that they have a long waiting list.  It was within a few days of this call that the Dr. declined her case.)

On Wednesday, March 27, mom again asked to be taken to the hospital as she felt that she was no longer able to take care of herself even with the support of Donna, the person who has been assisting mom for the past 10 years, and an additional person we hired to come in twice a day to assist. (We had been on the waiting list to hear from CCAC to get further support from them - when I called them at the same time that I had called the Ottawa surgeon, they at least acknowledge that mom’s condition had worsened and would schedule the next available appointment which was in 1 week to do an intake assessment. Unfortunately, mom's condition degraded to the point that she needed to be admitted to the hospital before that happened.

When seen in emergency at KDH on March 27, the doctor was astounded that mom had not seen a surgeon since the initial assessment had been done in Winchester three + weeks earlier.  Mom was admitted to KDH even though there were no beds available and spent the night in an emergency hall.  There was great difficulty in getting a surgeon to even consider taking mom's case.  The surgeon that works between Winchester and Kemptville, after seeing the CT scan from the initial hospital visit in Winchester, indicated that surgery was more complex than he was able to deal with.  The complexities include:

• Damage to mom's the abdominal area from  previous surgery
• Damage to the abdominal area from radiation treatment 
• A number of unrepaired hernias
• Diabetes
• Recently discovered heart fluctuations that make being anesthetized a high risk

As a result of all this, the attending physician in KDH (Dr. McCallum) made several attempts to get a surgeon, but only to be rebuffed by some rather arrogant surgeons.  She eventually took mom's case to the KDH Chief of Staff.  He took action and dealt directly with the Chief of Staff for the Ottawa hospitals.  (I don't know if my asking whether a doctor could be directed by a court to take action had anything to do with it or not).

On Wednesday, April 10 when she was sent in from KDH to the General for a consult with a colorectal surgeon, mom was admitted and has been there since.  Based on his study of the CT scan that was that day at the General, he noted that her colon has an irregular shape and wanted further diagnostics before deciding on whether surgery to rectify mom's fistula could be conducted.  According to the CR surgeon, diverticulitis may be a factor that has exacerbated mom's condition.

Today, Friday, April 12, mom finally got a colonoscopy and we are now waiting for the results.

Mom appreciates all the prayers, well wishes, and gifts; she knows that folks want to visit and offer their support but her energy level is very low and both phone conversations and visits are thoroughly y draining for her.  To be blunt, visits are really a waste of time as the duration needs to be kept to 5 or 10 minutes maximum.  Cards are welcome:

Patient: Carmel Jean Brooks

RM 7106, Bed 1

Ottawa Hospital, General Campus

501 Smyth Rd, 

Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6

I plan to update this blog as information becomes available and I hope to get mom adding things herself.

Thank you all for your support.