Hospital discharge planning: successful transitions are key

Hospital discharge planning:  successful transitions are key

Recently, my mother’s 88-year-old sister fell.

As she went down, her husband said, “You just broke your hip.”

I am not sure if being a medic in the army sixty years ago qualified him to make that diagnosis, but he was right.

My aunt and uncle live about 90 minutes from their only daughter, my cousin Beth.

As Beth rushed to the hospital, I am sure she was thinking of her mother, but also about her husband who was currently receiving chemotherapy and radiation for a tumor in his throat. He had been having an extremely difficult time eating and lost almost twenty pounds in a matter of weeks. The doctors were talking about inserting a feeding tube that week.

Beth arrived at the hospital and learned her mother’s surgeon wanted to perform a total hip replacement. They were checking her heart to ensure it was strong enough for the surgery.

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