CRITICAL CONDITIONS - a book by Martine Ehrenclou

Personal Stories from REAL People

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I welcome all of your stories about your experiences
with loved ones in the hospital.

My hope is to create a community of support for people who are taking on the role of advocate for their hospitalized loved ones. Sharing your story on this website will provide comfort, inspiration, and a sense of community for those who might be in need. In turn, when you read about others' experiences, you might find comfort or inspiration too.

Your personal experiences and stories can be uplifting, perhaps illustrating how your role as advocate for your hospitalized loved one helped the patient recover more quickly, how you successfully prevented medical errors, medical mistakes, a fall, or the spread of hospital-acquired infectious diseases. Or you might write about the special nurses, doctors, or other medical professionals who touched you or your loved one and made the hospital stay just that much easier.

Also welcomed are personal stories that are not uplifting, that may be about how difficult it is to oversee and support medical care for your hospitalized loved one. Or you might write about the obstacles you faced with the hospitalization of your loved one.

Personal stories emailed to us may be edited for content and only first names will be used. Names of hospitals and medical staff will be changed to protect privacy. We will never disclose your name or contact information to other parties. Your information is confidential.

Personal stories will be posted on this website so viewers will gain a sense of comfort, a source of inspiration, and perhaps learn about helpful resources and tips.

Thank you - Martine Ehrenclou

Please send stories to: mehrenclou@criticalconditions.com

"This book exceeds my expectations. I wish I'd had it for myself and my family years ago. Critical Conditions will be in hand if any of us are hospitalized. This book is number one for our family and friends."
Mia Vloet, RN, Newport Beach, CA

"I wish I'd had your book when my mom was in the hospital. Maybe it would have helped save her life."
B. Marcus, family member,
Los Angeles, CA

Personal Stories from REAL People

I will never forget my experience in trying to oversee care of my father who was in his 90s in NSG Care Center. I was 65 miles away and visited on weekends...they were giving him Mellaril because they thought he was combative....I had not observed any of this behavior....they were giving him Mellaril which I did not think he needed but thought maybe it would help him to be a little calmer.

I noted that he was spitting it out and notified the person in charge...they started crushing it. I asked if it was the same dosage as I noted some tardive dyskinesia and asked if he was getting the same dosage as before. They assured me he was. I later found out that they had doubled the dosage and that he had lost the ability to swallow. He was in his 90s but I was very upset to learn this.

I believe this contributed to his death. The care of the elderly is sadly lacking. I was sorry that I could not have been closer to more closely supervise his care...I was still working as an RN at the time. This was 20 yrs ago. I don’t think things have improved.

I felt that the care givers for the most part were poorly trained and that there needed to be a lot more family involvement in the decisions that were made.

Anonymous RN

As a physician, I've often wondered how an individual can advocate for ONESELF, not just for a patient or loved one. My first introduction to these on-going answers began in medical school, some 35 year ago.

In my third year of medical school, I developed erysipelas (a dangerous streptococcal skin infection), and was admitted to the hospital by my internal medicine resident.

Besides being uncomfortable with a physical examination by my "colleague," I also had to convince him that I was allergic to PCN, and that Erythromycin was always my antibiotic of choice. He didn't believe me and said, "Oh, everybody says that." IV Keflin (there is cross-sensitivity with PCN) was begun.

Very late that evening, I broke out in head to toe hives; the nurses had to awaken him for an order of Benedryl. He did apologize the next day, having learned the first lesson of pediatricians, "always listen to the mother's story." During the same hospitalization, I was placed in an open ward (talk about observing medical care for the indigent), with men on one side of the room and women on the other, divided by a thin curtain that barely obscured inadvertent flashing or extraneous nighttime noise.

My fellow medical student visited, to "practice starting an IV" on me, no kidding, and was so appalled by the conditions. The only way he could get me moved was to write an order in my chart under the guise of having an OK from the attending physician!

My suggestion for any kind of advocacy would include, "ask lots of questions, teach oneself as much about one's condition, show that one is aware and expects competency." A caretaker can pick up a patient's attitude toward him/herself. However, even such close contact is no guarantee even for those of us in or with connections to the medical profession.

Anonymous MD