My grandmother had a stroke about 1 year and a half ago, it was mild so she just needed a bit of rehabilitation. After a few months she then had another stroke which left her in a vegatable state. She was at a hospital that didn't take the best care of her which caused her to get ganggrene and lose her leg from the knee down.

She is 78 years old and it seems there's no hope for her to get well again, so I was wondering how long she'll have to suffer like this? I don't like to see her like this and I know she doesn't want to live like that.


Any information will be great

I would sue that hospital first off for the negligence.

There is no telling how long she will or will not live. That is up to her to be honest with you. I would, however, find an attorney specializing in medical malpractice to see if you can sue that facility as well as the nurses who were supposed to be taking care of her.

This happens more than you want to know in rehab centers and nursing homes.

Yeah there is no excuse for people to get bedsores or gangrene like that, they should be checking her limbs, back, etc. every day and washing her with a warm clean towel daily as well, that is most definitely negligence and you should not let them get away with it.

Charlotte, have you ever worked in a nursing home or long-term care facility?

While it is not impossible, it is hard to take care of every patient, turn them ALL every 2 hours, bathe every one, hand out meds, change linens... especially when you are understaffed.

Many of these people come to the units already with pressure ulcers that are so far gone they will never heal 100%.

Certain ailments, such as diabetes, predispose some people to pressure ulcers much quicker than the healthier people.

Unfortunately, sometimes it is just unavoidable.

Not in a nursing care facility, but I've spent time in hospital, and I know it is hard to care for all the patients, but there isn't any excuse for them to let her develop gangrene and not do anything about it, so unless it was a condition they couldn't have prevented, I really do think they are at fault.

It could have happened before she reached the particular facility in question. We don't know the particulars.

Once a pressure ulcer develops it never heals back to 100% again. NEVER.

And, as I said, certain illnesses can cause it to happen extremely rapidly, like diabetes or inadequate tissue perfusion.

Actually my father IS suing the nursing home and they were guilty because they were well aware of the gangrene and as we thought it was a bedsore wrapped up and trusted the nursing home - when we unwrapped her foot to check on it, it was actually gangrene.

So where was the doctor assigned to the nursing home while all this was going on? Someone in authority must have ordered some kind of treatment the nurse and/or PSWs were following.

As everybody knows nurses shortages are all over the world plus the fact that nurses are not well compensated (business schools get more admission than nursing schools). You can consult a legal nurse consultant if you want to press charges against the hospital that took care your grandma. But right now I think you and the other members of the family should focus on improving your grandma's health condition and quality of life. If she is at home or in a nursing home, make sure that she receives the medical help she needs. She might be both diabetic and hypertensive, the reason of her 2nd stroke might be due to her not well controlled diabetes or high blood pressure. Another advice that could be helpful is that in the patient care plan make sure that you as a family member should be actively involved, ask questions if you have to and make sure that the health team who is taking care of the patient knows what they are doing. Always remember, in every step of patient care the family should be notified or included in the plan except of course on an emergency situation.

A review of the care plan should occur every six months with the immediate family, major care giver attending with the head nurse and PSWs immediately responsible for the patients care. This way any medical issues can be addressed. An up date of meds administered, new ones proposed and any physical needs of the patient addressed. This should be a mandate in any long term care facilitiy.

Does she have a living will in place which would "let her go" in case she had another problem health wise that comes along? She could last months in that condition or years.

My grandmother is in incredible care now that she is out of the care of that terrible nursing home. She had one leg amputated due to gangrene, and the other foot was getting it as well. The hospital she's currently in now has been giving her the antibiotics she needed for it and where the gangrene was is just a calus, and they keep her clean and comfortable. They keep in touch and let us know how she is doing every week because we live in NY and she's in NJ. The other nursing home didn't even tell us about the gangrene, and when we found out - they already knew about it. We are pressing charges but it is a long and painful process, which we aren't worried about - we are just glad my grandmother's in better care, even though she doesn't want to be living like this in the first place.

Thank you so much for the update, pie, I am glad your g.mother is more comfortable now, and in better care, but the hospital isn't a long term care facilitiy. Where will she be golng after the hospital?

Well the thing is she has the trach, so we can't have her home. She has to stay in the hospital with hopes she'll get better, but to be honest I don't see that happening. I hate to say it, she was always my best friend growing up and when I visit it's hard because she used to be so jubulant and talkative, its not the same. But she does have to stay in the hospital, there's no saying where she'll be in a few months, to be honest...

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Originally Posted by pie812

Well the thing is she has the trach, so we can't have her home. She has to stay in the hospital with hopes she'll get better, but to be honest I dont see that happening. I hate to say it, she was always my best friend growing up and when I visit it's hard because she used to be so jubulant and talkative, its not the same. But she does have to stay in the hospital, there's no saying where she'll be in a few months, to be honest...

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They won't let her come home with a trach? Must vary from State to State or insurance carrier to insurance carrier because they would have let my husband come home with a trach. Of course, a visiting nurse would have had to come in twice a week (2 or 3 times, I can't remember). The papers were in the process early in his hospitalization.

Homecare from the Canadian Red Cross is a big thing in our community. Homecare being Personal Support Workers (myself) and Victoria Order of Nurses to carry on hospital care in the clients home without having to progress to a nursing home or staying in the hospital. Staying in the hospital is a drain on OHIP but PSWs and VONs aren't, so it works for rehabilitation. PSWs bath and do procedures under the direction of VONs, prepare meals (no housework), respit for caregiving families, etc.