An issue that's been a huge problem that I've been forced to think about lately is how damaging it's been to restrict visitation at hospitals and clinics all over the country.
When he was admitted to each hospital he's been in, my FIL (father in law) was confused and in and out of consciousness. For godsake, the second hospitalization was because he thought he had a stroke. His speech was slurred and he wasn't in his right mind at all.
Moreover, just as an individual, he'd probably never be a very reliable narrator about his own health situation because whenever you ask him how he feels, his default answer is "Eh. I'm fine."
We had a physical therapy consultation at our house before he went back to the hospital on Monday and she pressed down on his distended stomach and asked if it hurt.
Keep in mind that we now know his stomach was full of air that had not gone into his lungs, and most of his body was filled with fluid that needed to be removed via dialysis (which he was supposed to have done later that afternoon).
I'm quite sure most folks would have confirmed to the nurse that it hurt.
My FIL was just like, "Meh. I guess it's ok."
Now, smashcut to the Emory Decatur ER later that evening. He was sent there from dialysis because his BP was dangerously low. Doctors there start asking him all sorts of questions, and he's only moderately conscious and an unreliable source in this context to begin with.
It was only thanks to the fact that that hospital seems to be better at their jobs and have fewer dumb restrictions that my wife was allowed to go sit in the room with him and talked to the doctors about his medical history. She's also taken a million notes since all this stuff has been going on, so she knows everything that all the other hospitals and doctors offices have done.
My FIL doesn't really have any of that information.
And yet, imagine how incredibly important it is for the doctors to get an accurate picture of what's going on. Imagine trying to diagnose a medical problem without knowing what symptoms someone has had or knowing which are chronic vs. new. Imagine not knowing what medications someone has already tried that didn't work or knowing when exactly a new problem came about?
As I said earlier, my FIL could walk until a week and a half ago. That's a pretty significant difference for treatment than if he'd never been able to walk.
But when you don't allow visitors or talk with family regularly, you miss all this stuff.
