Geriatrician - Detroit, MI

"My 73 year old father had open heart/double bypass surgery on August 30th. He was released from the hospital 4 days later, despite not really eating, drinking or urinating. Two days later he was back in the ER, dehydrated and not urinating. The ER dr called in the attending physician who admitted my dad to give him IV fluids. He still wasn't urinating so they put a catheter in and sent him home. They were supposed to set us up with a urologist to deal with the catheter and him not urinating. By Friday that still had not happened and I told his surgeon this. By Monday my dad was very sick. I spoke with his surgeon's NP who said she would see him THURSDAY despite everything I told her that was going on with my dad. By Tuesday his urine smelled horrible, he was terribly sick. I took him to his PCP who sent him for bloodwork and tested his urine. His blood pressure was very low and his labs came back showing infection. His PCP wanted him back in the ER but consulted with the surgeon's NP who didn't agree. So by Thursday when he finally sees the surgeon's NP, his blood pressure is very low and he is throwing up. She sent him down to the ER, where once again, they gave him fluids and sent him home despite me begging for help. He had lost 12 pounds in one week. The next night my dad was awake all night complaining that he couldn't breathe. I took him to a different ER where they did some tests and gave him lasix to help him get rid of fluid retention. The next day he seemed to feel worse. By Monday he was even worse and passed out. I called an ambulance and he was transported to the hospital with critically low blood pressure and he was in a fib. His surgeon came down and asked my mother if she thought she could take him home and care for him. I was in disbelief. FINALLY Dr. Misra got involved. His cardiologist blamed the lasix even though he only had 3 doses. His blood pressure continued to drop, even after a week of being on fluids, medication to raise it, etc. Dr. Misra kept a very close watch over my father. She kept him until he was stable enough to be moved to rehab. I truly believe if she had not been there, they would have sent him home again. His after care was non existent. No home nurses or therapists as promised by his surgeon. Week after week he just became more ill. Thank God Dr. Misra took the time to actually care about him. "