The Disabled Community in the US

Chapter 13

DX to DX

The last time I served as a volunteer at a Psychiatric Hospital, I was amazed. The people come in for from three days to a year all paid for by the State. The hospital keeps them because they don’t have a place to stay. They are kept as regular patients with the usual staff, groups, good meals, clean clothes, and free phone calls from a pay phone.

They come in at 12 to 8 A.M. and wake everyone up in the room. The lights go on, doors and drawers slam, toilets flush plus the TV comes on. That makes it impossible for anybody even like me to sleep. That makes it impossible even for a person like me to sleep. If the person that is awakened by the newcomers early in the morning goes out of the room the nurses tell him to go back to sleep. They say that because they want to sleep instead of control the noise in the rooms. They always chart why the man or this man or anyone didn’t sleep all the way until 7 A.M. because they don’t like anybody to be awake while they’re there. You can only sleep so many hours on a pill and then you wake up. It is unlawful for somebody to tell somebody to stay in his room. The staff should have had more common sense to get themselves to that room and give the noisy man his sleeping pill even at 4:30 A.M.

The second day, the short timers get bothered by all the jerks in the place. None of them are in street clothes. They are dressed in jeans and a sweat shirt plus sock slippers. They all go to the chained in yard where they get their cigarettes every 2 hours of which they get 5 of them each time. At 11 o’clock, on the second day, all the doctors show up. The attending Physician Psychiatrist shows up and reads his next patients new record. He asks “why didn’t you ask me before you as a nurse prescribed that medicine for him.”

Doctor she said, “Are Director of Nurses told us that we can give a patient any drug that is a minor tranquilizer at bedtime. That way they’ll go to sleep.”

“Nurse! You’re going to get fired for practicing medicine without a license. I’m taking this down as evidence and sending it to the State Medical Licensing Board for determination. I need to see James Clark first because he has been her for two dayson the medicine you’ve given him. Where is he?”

“Doctor, he is in the TV room watching TV and enjoying himself. You should read his chart first. I’ve left some good and bad behavioral notes in that.”

“The patient you say slept all night and cleaned his face, hair, showered and put on clean clothes. Good for him. He seems to be responding to therapy or treatment here on the unit. He has been here for two days and after I see him I’ll probably discharge him from the hospital to his family with some prescriptions. I had better do it by taxi because his parents live in Oregon. That will be at 10 o’clock after breakfast with some new medicines.”

“Doctor, can I stay on the new medicines for a long time. I like the way they make me feel each morning when I get up. My doctors usually change me every three or four months. I don’t like that.”

‘James that I think we can do. I’m the Medical Director of the Meat Grinder Behavioral Services, Inc. You’ll be coming to our clinic for your appointment. Your first appointment will be this Friday in two days at 10 o’clock with Doctor Janis. James, I’ll see you from time to time to solve minor behavioral problems. Dr. Janis will see you then Friday at the time that I told you. You’ll get directions to the clinic and your appointment time along with your new Prescriptions in the morning. See you then, James?”

Thanks, Dr. Tomas?’

********

The next day, James got up at 6 A.M. and got into the shower. They provided him with a razor and he shaved with it. After that he got into the lukewarm shower and got the hospital odor off of him. James had some breakfast which didn’t look to good and then he drank his coffee.

After breakfast, Nurse Linda Jones told James that Dr. Tomas has prepared your discharge.” Go to your bed and strip the sheets plus take everything out of the bedside table. Then after that come back here and I’ll sign you out.”

James got that done very fast like. “Is that my Taxi over there?”

“Yeah! He has been waiting for ten minutes.”

“Jim, here is your list of things from the clothing inventory list, your wallet, your money and all the rest of your other personal belongings. This paper is your After Care Plan with your appointment time with Dr. Janis for this Friday at 10 A.M. Here also are two prescriptions for you to get filled today at your regular Pharmacy>”

“Thanks, Nurse! I’ll get them filled at Rite Aid this morning. I’ll take them at noon, Dinner and the other at Bedtime?”

“Yes, that is right?”

“Well, James----Let’s pick up your things and go to the door.”

They reached the door; the taxi driver took his bag and opened the door. James told the nurse good-by.

James was then told by the cab driver that his vehicle was right outside the main Hospital door. “Let’s go because I got me another call in 25 minutes.” They got their and James got in. He took James bag and put it in the rear seat next to him. The driver afterwards, went to the driver’s side and got in. Ten minutes later, the driver dropped Jim off.

James grabbed his bag and went into his apartment. He turned the heat on because it was cold outside; the minute it got warm he thought that he had to go fill his prescriptions. So he took a heavy jacket out of his closet and turned the heat off again.

He carefully, locked the door and went down the block. It was about a mile to the local Rite Aid. He walked into the Pharmacy and his friend Candy asked, “Jim! Are you OK?”

“Candy, I was just in the hospital for a few days. They gave me some new medicines today and I came to fill them. Step over to the receiving window because the Pharmacist can fill them right away. Thanks, Candy!”

The Pharmacy Tech told him after taking his insurance cards that the Prescriptions would be ready in five minutes.

Five minutes later, James was called to the counter by the girl. “James! Here are three prescriptions for you. These first two take at Breakfast and Dinner. Then take the next two at Bedtime. They all will help you go to sleep.”

“Thanks and my insurance covered them.” Before leaving the Pharmacy, James made a date with Candy for Breakfast that next Saturday morning.”

James walked out of the front door of the Pharmacy. He walked the same way home. After he got home, he took one of the medicines, fixed himself some soup and did some reading.

*******

James arrived at the Doctor’s Office at 9:30 because he had to fill out his chart. He also brought his mediations with him in a plastic bag.. It took him a few minutes to get the chart filled out. and he gave the nurse his insurance card.

She copied them, took the chart and gave the cards back to him. “James! Dr. Janis will see you in a few moments.”

A few seconds later, a tall muscular man came out and said, “Are you James?”

“I am James.”

“I’m Doctor Janis. My office is right down the hall.”

James mentioned, “I think that I can find the right one.” He walked into the right one and Dr. Janis told him to sit down. He did the same thing that all of James’ Doctor’s have done before.. “These medications you have were given to you by a Doctor on our staff. So I’ll have to change them to outpatient style medications.”

“Doctor, I like those drugs. Can you re-prescribe them? I would like to give you better drugs than the Cymbalta? I’ll give you 400 mgs of Seroquel at Bedtime and Citalopram at Lunch and Dinner. They should help you very well.”

“Fine! After three months on the Seroquel, I’d like to give you three Seroquel at Bedtime.

“Is that fine with you?”

“That is okay! But please leave me on the hospital ones for a month. After that put me on the new ones that you ordered?”

“James! I think one can do it that way?”

A few seconds later, Dr. Janis took all the hospital medicines and all the new ones and put them where James could find them. next month when he would start taking them.

James went straight to bed feeling bad about his change next month. He wondered that if they would work like the hospital ones.

Explanation: This chapter has been just a part fictional more narrative account of someone’s stay in a Anaheim, CA Hospital in a ward where he should not have been for three days that Summer. He is taking medicines and seeing a Doctor and a Therapist for six months. My communiquwent to the White House and the State Department for a legal determination by Department o f Justice and Health and Human Services. Well Readers keep tuned the days of mine are long studying this stuff and I get very tired and thirsty after one of these writing and inputting scenes. I will be back with you in a few days with some more discussion of this topic of the problems of the Disabled Community in the US. Until next time, Happy Thoughts. Lightfoot.