Mark had a stroke in November 2021. He was at Medical City Denton for the stroke. After, he was sent to Good Samaritan in Denton. They then suggested Pate Rehab. That place was a disaster. I wrote about it here. https://www.zant.com/adventures-in-rehab/ They gave him Covid then sent him to the hospital emergency room ALONE without letting me know for hours. When I finally arrived (30 miles away from home), they had admitted him to the Covid ward. He was barely verbal and cognitive function was compromised because of the stroke. Initially, they wouldn’t let me see him.

They wanted to put him on remdesivir and a vent and I refused. Numerous times. He had, at the time stage 4 kidney disease, and one nephrologist stepped up to run tests and supported me in my decision to not do remdesivir, but the medical records showed that I was vehemently denying him care. That nephrologist did find a tumor on his adrenal gland that had initially caused the blood pressure issue that caused the initial stroke, so that was one blessing that came out of this nightmare.

One nurse was smart/kind enough to give me a pass to be his advocate, otherwise he would have been isolated. Because it was so far away from home, I was alone with a teenager and just starting a new job, and I could only spend a few hours a day at the hospital with him. They would not give him any physical therapy and documented that he had refused. He wasn’t cognitively able to understand the importance of therapy. Pate Rehab (horrible place) refused to take him back because he was weakened by the Covid THEY gave him. Because he “refused physical therapy,” no other rehab place would take him. I gave up. I asked that they send him home. One doctor argued with me for 45 minutes about bringing him home and refused to sign off on it. I argued that he couldn’t do that, and he eventually capitulated. He’s been home for 3 years. It has been a brutal journey being a caregiver, but he’s healthier now. He’s at stage 3 kidney disease, so improved due to one treatment: sodium bicarbonate. Baking soda! Kind of crazy, but he’s doing a lot better.