Not Sick Enough To Stay; Too Sick To Be Somewhere Else

Cathy had a very good day today. Cathy says her headaches and nausea were not any better today, she just had more energy and was in better spirits. Cathy was cared for by a team of two nurses today. One of them (who had cared for Cathy in the past) brought in brownies for Cathy and I.

By the time of this blog posting we had not heard anything about the transplant committee's decision regarding re-listing Cathy. However, a surgeon did drop by and evaluated Cathy this morning.

I have spent most of today dealing with discharge coordinators, administrators at prospective hospitals, and insurance case workers. At one point this morning it was looking like Cathy would be able to go to a hospital in Camarillo CA (just a few miles up the road from home). This hospital has a sub-acute care unit (health care lingo for rehab facility). Initially the administrator I spoke with said that they would take Cathy. However, after the doctors there reviewed Cathy's case, they thought that Cathy needed more care than what they could provide. They also could not provide the isolation that Cathy requires. (They actually thought Cathy should stay at UCLA). It was the same story for a facility in Santa Barbara and Goleta. So far, the only facility that will accept Cathy is one that has had 13 substantiated complaints for substandard care during the past 24 months (several more are pending investigation). This is the most of any of the facilities that have been proposed. Additionally, this facility is on the other side of downtown. The insurance case worker understood my concerns and, for now, will not require Cathy to be moved to this facility.

The last word I got from the discharge coordinator this afternoon was that a hospital in Oxnard may accept her (St. Johns, its a good one). I am not getting my hopes up. The insurance coordinator and I had discussed this hospital and she did not think they could accept Cathy because of her oxygen and Bi-Pap requirements. UCLA's discharge coordinator is trying to have Cathy placed and moved by tomorrow or Monday at the latest. The insurance case worker does not think this will happen (wink, wink.... she is my new best friend).