Linda and Greg,

I am saddened to hear about Ivan, although I am new to this board and do not
know much about him. Having a Mum with PD who is currently in a rehab
hospital, I can testify to the need for a constant vigil and, at the least,
for a patient advocate for Ivan. A few points that you may want to convey to
Ivan if you speak with him:

1. All hospitals are required to provide a patient advocate who supposedly
works as a go-between the patient and the hospital staff. Right now this may
be the next best thing to finding someone outside the hospital staff to help
him with staff issues.

2. Medication protocol. In almost all hospitals, nursing staff are allowed
an 45min to hour's leeway in giving medications. For example, if his Sinemet
is due at 8 am, then the nurses can give it to him anytime between 7am - 9am
(if there is an hour's leeway)! Of course, there are always meds that need
to be given on time such as PD meds , etc., and there are some nurses will
try their best and some won't because they don't always know about the meds
they are giving out. Yes, it was a shock to find this out but it is true.
Even, if Drs. write down about giving certain meds on time, it is not always
noticed by the nurse (and there is always a new nurse everyday just about!).
Medication errors occur ALL the time and for a PD patient it can be really
bad when that happens.

3. This was not mentioned in your msgs but you may want to keep him on alert
about Urinary tract infections which are common place in a hospital setting,
these as you probably already know can be a nightmare for a PWP. My Mum has
had 4  after she went into hospital. She never had one before.

Does Ivan not have any family?  His regular PD specialist should be able to
help with the meds issue. If you know his PD specialist you may be able to
contact him and explain what is going on and see if he can intervene and
talk to the hospital attending physician.

Also, how about posting this call for help on other boards and see if we can
find someone in the area that you can explain the situation by e-mail and
then have them go in as an advocate. It may not be a good idea to post all
the details. e.g. Ivan's name and phone#,  till you actually hear from
someone in the vicinity. For example, Healthboards.com  -
www.healthboards.com , MGH - Neurology - PD forums
http://neuro-mancer.mgh.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&n
umber=71&SUBMIT=Go , etc.

The problem with one of us calling the hospital administration is that we
are not family and they most likely will not talk to us. But it may be
something that can be attempted.

I don't know if the above information will help but I thought I would share
with you my experience with my Mum and hospitals.

Just a brief background on my Mum. She is 76 years old and was diagnosed in
1997. She is currently in hospital after her cervical stenosis symptoms were
misdiagnosed as being PD for over a year, was overmedicated. she had to have
surgery to release the nerve compression in her neck, and since being in
hospital I am battling with Meds issues from day one. I am just glad that I
will be bringing her home soon to Virginia. She is currently in upstate New
York where she was with my sister for a year when all this stuff started. I
can tell you from experience to other caregivers, listen to your loved one
when they complain about symptoms, keep a diary, and stay on top of the
situation because it can quickly get out of hand.

Sorry , I did not mean to make this so long! I hope it helps. If there is
anyway I can help, please let me know.

Dabu Patel