Getting out alive

I just spent a week caring for a family member who is hospitalized, and I'm not very happy about it. It would take more space here than is prudent for a dog to use to explain my irritation, so I'll just cover the basics.

First, because of our health care system, too many people use the emergency room as their primary care physician. They wait until they are very sick, and then they show up with an expensive illness instead of a cheap one. This is stupid.

Second, a lot of the people in hospitals wouldn't be there if they followed even the most basic tenets of good sense and healthy living. They are overweight, they smoke, they drink too much and they can't deal with stress, so they get sick. We need to work out a way to stay healthy, and we're the ones most likely to succeed at this because we already have a disease we know we have to keep an eye on. This makes us more sensitive to other illnesses, and, hopefully, we take care of them early. Because the people I saw at the hospital didn't.

Third, the nursing staff works 12-hour shifts three days straight. This must make sense to some Wharton MBA, but it does nothing for patients and even less for the nurses. By the third day, they are zombies injecting your loved ones with all manner of potentially toxic substances.

Fourth, stay with the person in the hospital because the right kind of care isn't there. You must kiss the ass of every nurse to get them to like you, then you have to monitor everything they do. They make stupid mistakes. And there will be a steady stream of them, so forget about creating any kind of long-lasting relationship.

Fourth, when the battery is dead on the pulse ox monitor, get a new battery. Don't tell me there aren't any.

Fifth, ask for physical therapy, psychotherapy, a dermatologist, and any other specialist you can think of. Doctors will OK most of these requests and your loved one will get better faster.

Sixth, give them vitamins.

Seventh, read the charts and learn as much as you can. It's only life.