Sewing Sunsets

I am happy to report that Denton Regional Medical Center finally decided to do the right thing and pay the entire cost to replace my mother’s hearing aids.  While she was hospitalized there a few months ago, her hearing aids were lost, and it is my belief that a hospital employee mistakenly threw them away.  At that time, I told the employees that I expected the hospital to pay to replace the hearing aids.  What I did not expect was the battle that I had to endure in order to get the hospital to do the right thing.  My poor mother has suffered without her hearing aids for three months, and because of that, she is going to have to get used to them all over again–just as if she had never worn them before. 

Hopefully, this episode has taught Denton Regional, an HCA owned hospital, that they need to have specific policies in place for keeping up with things such as hearing aids, glasses, and dentures.  Maybe Denton Regional Medical Center will now implement some new guidelines for their employees in order to avoid situations like this one in the future.  I am just glad that this battle is over and that my mother will now be able to hear. 

Now I can return to sewing and will be able to share my sewing projects with you here in the near future.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Denton Regional Medical Center has made a step in the right direction by paying part of the cost of my mother’s hearing aids.  I will always believe that a hospital employee mistakenly threw the hearing aids away, and by the time we discovered the loss, it was too late.  What makes this situation very unfortunate is that my 83 year old mother is the one who has paid the highest price!  The hospital, in my opinion, should have done the right thing at the beginning and paid the full cost to replace the hearing aids, and then they should have looked at what policies and procedures they could have put into place that would reduce these types of events.  Instead, they have fought and fought and fought to avoid paying anything–for several months.  And, as I stated, earlier, my mother is the one who has suffered the most!  Once again, I say shame on Denton Regional Medical Center and HCA/HCA North Texas for not placing more value on a human life—a real human being.   My opinion is that they are more interested in preserving the hospital’s profit margin than in showing a commitment to improving the quality of human life. 

My hope is that Denton Regional Medical Center and HCA North Texas will take the second, and final, step in the right direction, and pay the rest of the cost to replace my mother’s hearing aids.  She really needs those hearing aids in her daily life, and it is a shame that Denton Regional Medical Center hasn’t shown more compassion in this situation. 

In spite of all that has been going on, I have been doing some sewing lately.  In fact, that is the only thing that is keeping me halfway sane in all this mess! -ha  In the near future, I hope to sew you some pictures of my project and start sharing a new sewing journey with you as well.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Today, I am still quite angry with Denton Regional Medical Center because they have continued to refuse to do the right thing and pay the full amount to replace my elderly mother’s hearing aids.  Of course, as I have said before, I think they lack compassion for people, but they have a real passion for preserving the bottom line–their profit margin. 

It is interesting to note that Denton Regional Medical Center, an HCA owned company, seems to have a new job opening.  I find this rather amusing.  I believe the job title is  Director of Service Excellence.  The duties of this particular position seem to include such things as analyzing patient survey satisfaction results, providing consultation to improve patient satisfaction results, and other related duties.  The main goal seems to be to improve Denton Regional Medical Center’s customer satisfaction rate.    Perhaps I am not the only “customer” who has not been satisfied with Denton Regional Medical Center recently?  Hmmmm……….

This hospital has had more than ample time to decide to do the right thing in this case, but they keep stalling and trying various tactics in hopes that I will stop fighting them on this issue, but I can’t.  My 83 year old mother’s well being is at stake and she is the one who is paying the highest price for Denton Regional Medical Center’s lack of compassion.  That angers me every more and makes me much more determined to fight for my mother’s rights.  She has the right, and deserves, to be able to hear clearly on a daily basis, but because of Denton Regional Medical Centers passion for preserving their profit margin, she is being denied that right on a daily basis.  Shame on Denton Regional Medical Center!

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Today, I am beyond livid!!!  My mother was hospitalized at Denton Regional Medical Center a few weeks ago, and I believe that at some point during that time, a hospital employee made a huge mistake and threw away her hearing aids.   Another hospital employee told me that the hospital would “make it right”, which I  interpreted to mean that the hospital would pay the full cost to replace the hearing aids, but I have been engaged in a battle of epic proportions to get this hospital to agree to do the right thing.  They have refused to pay and I have battled on on behalf of my mother. She NEEDS those hearing aids!!!  I have written letters to the parent company HCA and received no communication from the parent company headquarters in Nashville.  Last week, I met with a patient advocate at the hospital and advised that person that this was the hospital’s last chance to do the right thing before I started pushing even harder.  Yesterday, I got a phone call from someone at the hospital.

You would think that the phone call would have brought the news that the hospital had finally agreed to do the right thing.  At that time, that’s what I thought, but once again, I was wrong. Denton Regional Medical Center administration still can’t seem to understand.  The hospital employee who called me yesterday told me that the hospital would be issuing a check for a certain amount.  I asked this person why the amount was so low because that was not the full payment, which is what I expected.  The response I received was that a document clearly stated that this amount was  partial payment.  I interpreted that to mean that the balance of the payment to replace the hearing aids would be forthcoming.  This morning, I went to the hospital and asked for something in writing to ensure that the balance of the payment would be forthcoming and was once again met with something entirely different than what I expected.  Evidently, the local division of the parent company HCA,  is still trying to only pay for part of the total replacement cost of the hearing aids.  In fact, in the copy of the letter that I received, it keeps referring to a hearing aid, which reflects that either there is a lack of understanding that my mom wears and needs two hearing aids (plural), or they still think that if they pay part of the replacement cost, I will stop fighting.  Well….I will NOT stop my fight for Denton Regional Medical Center to decide to do the right thing and pay the ENTIRE replacement cost of the hearing aids.  Today, I am beyond angry; I am simply livid!!!!!

And it also makes me angry that instead of spending some quality time sewing this weekend, I have to write more letters and file some formal complaints in several different areas.  What will it take for this hospital to finally decide to do the right thing and pay the TOTAL cost of the hearing aids?!!! 

I want to encourage all consumers to fight back when something isn’t right!  Too many times, people are faced with issues such as this and simply give up and go away instead of continuing to fight.  This means that the large corporations continue to win these type of battles.  I am going on record here, stating that I am not only going to win the battle, but I will win the  figurative war.  Denton Regional Medical needs to pay the entire amount of $3, 5888 to replace my mom’s hearing aids.  They seem to think that $2000 will appease me, but it will NOT!!  I will continue to battle for my mom.

For those of you who will actually get to sew this weekend,

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Denton Regional Medical Center continues to play “pass the buck”.  Yesterday, I finally got the name of the Risk Management person and when I called, that person claims to have no knowledge of the situation with my mom’s lost hearing aids.  This person informs me that the CNO has the final say, but I find that rather odd since it seems to me that the CEO should have the decision making power, but the CEO is also choosing to ignore me, hoping I will go away.  I won’t!!  My elderly mother’s well being is at stake and I will continue to battle this as publicly as I can. 

This morning, I contacted someone at AARP in my area and he gave me some very good advice.  For those of you with elderly loved ones, please fight for them because many of them can’t advocate for themselves adequately–especially if they are in any stage of dementia as my mother is  now.   Sometimes when just one person stands up and fights for what is right, others have the courage to do the same thing, and change occurs.  I am hoping that Denton Regional Medical Center in Denton, Texas will soon learn that they should always opt to do the right thing instead of trying to ignore complaints, pass the buck, and show a lack of compassion for humanity. 

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Most of the time, I write about sewing, but lately, “Real Life” has been quite hectic and has often interfered with my sewing.  Of course, I have tricked real life lately and I have actually done quite a bit of sewing.   I’ll show you some of my projects at another time.  Right now, I have a few other things on my mind.

As you know my 83 year old mother was hospitalized for three weeks recently.  During the course of her hospitalization, it seems that a hospital employee may have thrown the hearing aids away.  Of course, the hospital administration doesn’t want to admit that it is possible that an employee may have made a mistake.  However, they can’t prove that this employee did NOT make a mistake, and I can’t prove that the the employee MADE a mistake. ( What can be proven, however, is that my 83 year old low income income mother has been forced to face each day without her hearing aids for almost two months.)  However, when I walked out of the of  hospital that night, January 19, 2010, the hearing aids were in my mother’s ears and nowhere to be found the next morning.  I am 100% certain of this fact! My mother was bedridden and very ill that night so she definitely could not have lost those hearing aids.  I have asked repeatedly for the hospital to do the right thing and pay to replace the hearing aids, which I contend are medically necessary devices that allow someone to function on a daily basis,  but the hospital has continued to refuse to do the right thing.  Of course,  they did the standard Public Relations move of offering to pay  half of the cost, but my husband and I said no to that offer because both hearing aids were lost and that would only replace one.  Plus, my mother is low income and does not  have the financial means to replace hearing aids, which she did not lose. I, however, refuse to take “No” for an answer, so I will continue to fight on behalf of my poor low income elderly mother, who is the one who is paying the highest price in this situation.

My main reason for writing my thoughts here is to encourage consumers to fight back when it becomes necessary.  In situations like mine, too many people throw up their hands and deal with it on their own, rather than fight for what is right.  My particular case involves advocating for an elderly person because in all of this mess, as I said earlier in this post, my poor mother is the one who is paying the high price and is suffering because a hospital administration lacks compassion  for a low income elderly woman.   In fact,  Denton Regional Medical Center and their parent company,  Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) seems to lack compassion, esepcially in this particular case.  However, they seem to have one thing in common, and that is passion–passion for the bottom line, that is, their profit margin and the almighty dollar. 

Another passion that Denton Regional Medical Center and HCA seem to share is the passion for ignoring complaints such as this one.  I have written letters both to the CEO of Denton Regional, and also to the CEO, President, and Chairman of the Board of HCA, but they apparently continue to ignore my complaint.  I’m sure that the hope is that I will go away and stop fighting for the hospital to pay to replace my  mother’s hearing aids, but I can assure them that the fight has just begun.  This whole issue could be resolved quickly and easily if Denton Regional would simply fax back the contract that Beltone sent them at the beginning of this whole mess.  Sometimes, you should just do the right thing, and in this case, Denton Regional Medical Center should do the right thing and pay to replace my mother’s hearing aids.

Carrie Underwood has a great song on her new album.  It is entitled Play On  and has a great message.  The lyrics encourage us all to “play on” and keep going even when we are facing difficult times in life.  Here are the lyrics to this great song:

Whatcha gonna do when the show is over?
Whatcha gonna sing when the song ends, yeah?
How you gonna cope when there is no closure?
Where you gonna reach when the goal gets higher?
How you gonna make it through when you think you lost your chance?

Play on when you’re losing the game
Play on ’cause you’re gonna make mistakes
It’s always worth the sacrifice
Even when you think you’re wrong
So play on, play on

Even when the floodgates swing wide open
Never let the current take you down, no
Even when you’re not sure where you’re going
Swimming through a mess and you can’t get out
Just going through the motions and trying not to drown

Play on when you’re losing the game
Play on ’cause you’re gonna make mistakes
It’s always worth the sacrifice
Even when you think you’re wrong
So play on, play on

Even through a storm on the darkest night
Don’t you ever give up the fight
Even when you feel you’re all alone
Play on, play on

Play on when you’re losing the game
Play on ’cause you’re gonna make mistakes
It’s always worth the sacrifice
Even when you think you’re wrong
So play on, play on

Play on
Ooh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na

It may look like I’m “losing the game” at this point, but I can assure you that my mother’s well being and ability to function well every day is well worth the sacrifice.  And I will also assure Denton Regional Medical Center here in Texas and HCA that I will indeed continue to “Play On”.

www.sewseamless.com

My last post involved telling you about my mom’s illness and hospitalization, and how that affected my sewing.  My poor mother was hospitalized for three weeks, initally for pneumonia, and then for an intestinal infection that the antibiotics caused.  Of course, this could have been prevented, but conventional medicine seems to be unaware of nutritional therapies.  As a result of the intestinal infection, my mom received even more IV antibiotics, and endured many, many days of frustration, pain, and weakness.  During the course of this particular infection, my mother’s hearing aids disappeared. 

My mom was admitted to this hospital during the wee hours the morning of January 15. 2010.  She did not have her glasses or hearing aids that time, but I told the night nurse that I would bring them later. This night nurse was wonderful, and she did her job and documented that I had taken home two rings, but that I would bring the glasses and hearing aids that morning.  Basically, it was later that morning, and after giving my mom her eye glasses and hearing aids, I went in search of the day shift nurse.  Unfortunately, this nurse wasn’t as friendly as the night shift nurse, so when I told her that I had brought these items to my mom, she just said ok and walked away. Evidentally, it was her job and responsibility to document that those items had been brought into the hospital, but she didn’t do that. As a family member of an ill patient, it is not my duty to know, or to make sure, that the nurses follow proper procedure.   Both the hearing aids and eye glasses remained in my mom’s possession for the next several days.  Also, I was staying at the hospital all day every day, and often going back at night to check on my mom.   I told every person who took care of my mother that she wore hearing aids, so everyone was well aware of this fact.  The night that the hearing aids were lost, my mom had a nurse and a tech (the person responsible for taking vital signs) that she had never had before.  Several times that evening, I told this tech that my mom had hearing aids, and went as far as to point to my ears and also point to my mom’s ears.  This particular tech was so involved in moving an IV pole (that didn’t need to be moved) that she apparently didn’t pay attention to what I was telling her, or maybe she didn’t hear me, but I am positive that I told her about the hearing aid three times that night.  This particular employee was very hasty and speedy with her work; perhaps she should have slowed down and paid more attention to what she was throwing away.  (We all know the story of the tortoise and the hare.) When I walked into the hospital room the following morning, those hearing aids were nowhere to be found.  I gave the hospital ample time to find the hearing aids, although I had made it clear from the beginning that I expected the hospital to pay to replace the hearing aids if they were not found. 

I met with the appropriate people, followed all instructions that the hospital requested (forms, documents, etc), wrote letters to the CEO,  and remained patient for quite some time–until my patience ran out. I marched into the hospital a few days ago, and an artifically calm woman (this only served to make me angrier on the inside) met with me, and when she realized that I wasn’t going away quite so easily, she made the offer for the hospital to pay half of the cost of replacing the hearing aids.  However, those that I consulted, and I, think that is not acceptable because my mother wears two hearing aids and basically, they were only offering to pay to replace one hearing aid.  The bottom line is that those hearing aids disappeared on their watch and they should pay to replace them!

 I simply want the low end basic hearing aids that my mom had replaced, and this hospital should do the right thing, but of course, they can’t prove anything so they are refusing.   And the one suffering the most is my mother.  She moved into a rehab facility a couple of weeks ago, and not having her hearing aids is hindering her and definitely lessening her quality of life.  Not only do I hold this hospital responsible for the loss of the hearing aids, I also hold them personally responsible for reducing quality of life for my mother.

I am now begininng to fight this hospital to do the right thing and pay for the hearing aids.  Today I will not name the facility, but if you keep watching this blog in the days to come, I will be filling in details about this ongoing ordeal and saga.  I say “shame on them” for causing a poor elderly woman to continue to suffer because they (the hospital) can’t admit that maybe one of their employees made a huge, and costly mistake!

And believe it or not, I have actually volunteered to sew for this hospital, and I will honor that commitment, in spite of their unwillingness to do the right thing and pay to replace my mother’s hearing aids.

During this whole process, I have actually managed to do a little sewing, and that is probably the only thing that has continued to keep me sane.   More about my sewing in future blogs.

Stay tuned for the rest of this hospital/hearing aid saga. And…

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Unfortunately, real life has decided to throw another curve ball.  I had hoped and planned to sew, but about nine days ago, my mom was sent to the hospital with pneumonia.   She is still there and still on IV antibiotics.  Unfortunately, she will seem to get better for a day or two and then have another major set back.  She is extremely weak and tired and just hasn’t recovered enough to get up and move enough to regain some strength.  My mom is 83 years old so this is very hard on her, and of course, I’m exhausted as well.  It’s hard to watch your parent decline and it’s especially hard when they are ill.

A few days ago, I did manage to get some hand sewing done, but this past week has been a difficult one.  My mom will be fever free for a few days and then she’ll have fever for another day or two.  It doesn’t help that she is getting very little sleep.  Not sleeping well is going to make it harder for her to heal.

I’ll update as I can and when Real Life settles down again, I’ll try to get back to blogging about sewing–and do some sewing as well.

Happy Sewing to you all!

www.sewseamless.com

Before I share more sewing projects with you, I want to share some of my holiday thoughts–after the holidays.  One thing that always intrigues me every year during the holidays is that many individuals, organizations, and churches scurry around trying to make sure that the less fortunate have a good holiday by providing food and clothing and presents for these families.  This is a great thing to do and I think it’s wonderful that so many people are willing to help someone else have a great Thanksgiving and Christmas.  However, once December is over and January rolls around, I often think that the same people, who may have had a much merrier Christmas  because of someone else’s generosity, are forgotten for the rest of the year. 

As you know, I encourage those who sew, craft, quilt, knit, or crochet to donate items to the less fortunate.  You never know how one small quilt or a new shirt might encourage someone who is experiencing hopelessness.  Carrie Underwood has a song on her new album that illustrates what I am talking about here.  The title of the song is “Change”.  I love the sentiment and the message in this song.  The verses more or less ask the question of how we react to seeing some very real needs of the less fortunate and poverty stricken.  Do we actually get up and do something about it by donating our money, our time, or our talents, or do we simply tell ourselves that we are fools for believing that we can “change the world”?  I love the chorus that says something along the lines of  “do you tell yourself that you’re just a fool for believing that you can change the world?”  The truth is that one person may not be able to change the world for the better, but if each one of us helped those less fortunate in some way, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to us, we could change the world–at least we could change the world for the better for one person, a families, or even a few families.  Many years ago I heard a sermon entitled “The Power of One” which has always stuck with me.  A recent news story in my area illustrated this.  In this area, a retired grandmother decided to do something to encourage those men and women serving in the military, so she sewed pillows.  A friend helps her with this process and at the time the story aired, she had donated 6,000 pillows.  She goes to the airport to give the service men and women this small gift and token of appreciation as they are headed overseas to serve our country.  This is just one example of how one person can make a difference in someone else’s life.

This year, I want to encourage all of us to donate our hand crafted items to those in need so that the new year may shine just a little bit brighter and a seed of hope may be born in a discouraged heart.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I promise that I’ll post a picture of the finished apron here soon, as well as a tutorial for sewing pajama pants.  However, today, I want to give you a few thoughts about December and this “most wonderful time of the year”. 

December signals the beginning of a month filled with holiday gift giving, parties, church services, and family get togethers.  The music heard often contains lines about how magical and wonderful this season is, and for some, that is true.  For others, this is a difficult time of year.  That is true for me because I struggle with just trying to keep my head above water and put on a fake smile and appear to be “happy”.   Part of the reason is that my dad passed away in mid December a few years ago, and some years, I handle that well, but this year just seems more difficult for some reason.  Part of that reason may be that my family won’t be together this year, and watching my mother decline is beyond difficult.

In spite of the sadness and disappointment that I feel during this year’s holiday season,  there are others who have much more difficult situations in life.  Those who live in poverty on a daily basis, face each holiday season wishing and hoping that things were different.  At this time of year, I always think  of Mission of Hope (www.missionofhope.org ), which is a charity that helps people in southeastern Kentucky.   Many of the people who live in that region are deeply rooted in poverty, but often seem to find ways to be content  in spite of their situation. 

Mission of Hope provides tangible, physical needs for the people of southeastern Kentucky, but they also provide what is needed most—hope.  Even the smallest gift or act of kindness may help to foster a glimmer of hope in the hearts of the people of this Appalachian region.  I would encourage all of you who sew, crochet, quilt,  or knit, to use your talents to help foster a glimmer of hope in the hearts of those less fortunate than you.

While I tend to find this holiday season a sad and difficult time for me personally, I find that the one thing that puts a genuine smile on my face and makes me feel happy is sewing items that will be donated to Mission of Hope.  I like to imagine the children’s faces lighting up as they receive new clothing, blanket, or toys.  It gives me a feeling of hope to think that in some small way, my little bit of effort might give at least one child hope for a better life.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com