Carey
I remember that cat bite. It was surreal tha you ended up staying in the hospital, and it was your own cat - noot some stray that attacked you!

Linda said I have been hearing hospital horror stories like Paula’s since I was diagnosed 15 years ago. It’s time to say “NO MORE” . And I have had PD for going on 18 years. Not only have I been hearing about this kind of thing, I have experienced it!

The first was during an outpatient short-stay hospitalzation for bladder surgery. When I showed up early that morning to have surgery, everthing got quiet, then various hospital staff were running in and out of the surgical "hold" area asking me questions. Then I started asking questions. It seems the anesthesiologist was refusing to put me to sleep. Why??!! This surgery had been planned for weeks, but the only one paying close attention was the anesthesiologist.

You see, if you take an MAO-Inhibitor (such as Selegeline/Eldepryl or Rasagiline/Azilect; you have to clear that med from your system (preferably 14 days prior to surgery) due to the fact that the anesthesia meds and gases can interact and be fatal. Oh! Just a minor detail overlooked! Now, how many reading this knew that? Not many, I am certain.

At another hospitalizatrion, like Paula, I cold not get the nurses to give me my meds on time. I explained that just 15-30 minutes late could reall mess me up. I had to demonstrate what happens when that schedule is not followed. I nearly fell when "off," but instead of the nurse calling the doctor about me not getting my medication on time, she requested the doctor to write an order restraining me in bed - i.e., I had to call for assistance to go to the bathroom or to get out of bed. That was a nightmare, and the nurses took offense at me saying I was "tattling" on them, etc. After some heated disputes, the doctor simply wrote an order saying "Patient or a family member can administer her own medication at bedside." In Paula's case, that would not have worked, because she was not alert ernough to take her own meds.

Finally, I was reminded how important it is to be your own advocate during another surgery I was to have. Most pre-op patients must be npo from midnight the night before surgery, (nothing ti eat or drink) but you can take your PD meds with a "sip of water." That can be a problem for those who have trouble swallowing, so make sure your doctor knows that you have had more than a "sip" to get your pills down.

During this same surgical event, I knew that a medication that is often administered as part of the regular protocol before surgery is Reglan, given for nausea caused by the anesthesia. I reminded the staff that I could not take Reglan, as it interacts with the carbidopa/levodopa and some of the other PD medications and can even make PD symptoms worse. . It must have been the Good PD Fairy looking after me, because as I was going into surgery, the surgical prep nurse shows up at my doorway just prior to going into the operating with a cup of water and guess what else? Yep, Reglan! Even as doped up as was, I refused to take it. After some discussion the head doctor over surgery told them that I was right to refuse to take the Reglan. http://www.rxlist.com/reglan-drug.htm

Fortunately, I was spared some adverse effects that potentially could have occurred. But that is something I shouldn't have had to worry about! But doctors and nurses cannot know al things about all situations, and that is why we need to get some protocol in effect to prevent things like this from happening. There are some facts we need to make known to have in an electronic record that PD patients should have on their person (a bracelet maybe), some of which I have mentioned above.

This thread has already been brought to the attention of some of the orgs and we will get the ball rolling. Another thing in my favor is that my two daughters are Nurse Anesthetists - and they look closely after me. If a patient who has difficulty breathing or swallowing when not keeping his/her meds on schedule, doesn't it make sense for the staff to know how risky that can be when anesthesia is being used? Or if we get bad dyskinesia after neck or hip surgery, shouldn't the staff and doctor be prepared for such things? You had better believe it!
Peggy