I wrote this letter to the wheelchair manufacturer that supplied my husbands wheels during his prostate cancer battle. I have submitted this letter along with many photos to the company. I have yet to hear back from them since they said they will contact me asap.
I
will start off by stating that I commend your products that we have
used so far. The wheelchair we have used for the past 4 years has been an outstanding companion to my husband and myself.
It is reliable and easy to manage. It is a bit heavy for me to lift,
but I make do.
The
walker my husband uses has been a godsend. It amazes me how just
a few pieces of metal put together can hold up his weight and allow
more freedom and flexibility. In the 3 years we have owned the
walker, I only had to replace the feet once. The walker is a well
built product.
The
product I have a major complaint about is (insert product name).
The
insurance company sent my husband the (insert product name) wheelchair a couple
of years ago. Brand new. While this wheelchair is lighter and
cheaper made, we didn't have a need for it, but I kept it around
just in case. That "just in case" happened on May 18th, 2015.
First,
I would like to share a bit of history about my husband and myself.
He was diagnosed in 2008 with metastatic prostate cancer. It has
been one hell of a roller coaster ride. Non-stop, constant treatments
helped keep him alive. We are thankful for those treatments. I am his
sole caregiver and trust me when I say that I take my job VERY
seriously. I am like the mama bear that will defend to the death,
luckily I never had to go to that extreme, but my temperament
has been very close.
Cancer
almost took him quite a few times, but it seems to be that he
has more lives than a cat. Most likely a mountain lion. Dave is a
brave man. A true fighter. He never complains through any of his
treatments. He rarely succumbed to the side effects of
the treatments. Like a good soldier, he marched forward and I
held him up.
Well,
on May 18th...I failed. Actually, you and I failed. While I was
trying to guide him from the wheelchair to the bed, we had a major
problem. He had been having some slight leg edema issues and needed
assistance getting out of the chair. When he stood up, the
footrest latch caught his leg or possibly his shorts, we are not
sure, what I am sure of is the next few moments were pure hell.
I heard and felt his scream of agony.
I
looked down and noticed the blood quickly pouring from his leg.
I immediately sat him back down. I elevated his leg and also
searched for a towel to cover the gash to his calf. I completely lost
it. Amongst the blood, I saw flesh and a sight no one should
ever witness, especially someone who has given 7 years of her life to
keep him alive. I sure as hell wasn’t going to allow a
wheelchair to take him down.
You
see, along with his cancer comes low hemoglobin and low
platelets, these issues do not affect his balance or gait, but could
cause him to bleed to death on the spot. Due to low hemoglobin, his
blood levels could plummet and he could go into cardiac arrest
very quickly. I sure hope you understand where I am going with this.
Due to a unsafe latch on your wheelchair Dave could have lost
his life!
Like
I said, I take my job VERY seriously and I was NOT about to allow his
death certificate to state "Killed by Wheelchair."
Imagine all of this going through my already overworked brain in
less than 30 seconds before I quickly phoned my neighbor while
also tending to the bleeding. She arrived in less than a minute
and called 911. The paramedics arrived in less than 4 minutes.
One
paramedic asked if I needed oxygen because I was clearly having a
panic attack. I said no, just help my husband. They were so gentle
with Dave. They tended to his wound, calmed me down and had us
at the Emergency Room in less than 30 minutes. This is where we
spent the next 25 hours.
While
the ER doc tried his best to repair the wound, he had much
difficulty and had to reach out to wound specialists on how to
proceed. He was shocked and bewildered on how a wheelchair
mechanism created such a mess. Remember that he is an ER doctor who
has already seen unimaginable things. The doctor placed 9
stitches but the top section of the wound was not repairable. He had
to leave that section of the wound open. He did his best. Dave
was still in shock of everything that had just happened.
The
ER doctor ordered some labs and just as expected, his hemoglobin had
dropped to a dangerous low of 6.7. Dave was admitted to the
hospital and a blood transfusion was given. The wound doctor came to
see us in our room a few hours later and he shared more bad news with
me.
Due
to so much missing skin, even though the ER doctor did the best
he could to repair the wound, the skin that was there will
not survive. It will turn black and will fall off, but by
keeping his body as healthy as possible while in his condition, the
wound should eventually heal on its own. Unfortunately, it will leave
a large scar. Just like all of the other mental and emotional
scars that we have acquired during our cancer journey.
Dave
now has a home health nurse who comes to treat his wound for him.
When she isn't here, I tend to the dressing and each time I
change the dressing, the nightmare comes flooding back. What could we
have done differently to have avoided this unfortunate accident?
Nothing that we haven't done repeatedly over the years.
We
did nothing out of the ordinary. Dave had some slight brushes with
the latch, but no injuries. He also had some slight brushes with
the actual footrest, which by the way, PLEASE add a smooth rubber
border to those things. They are just as lethal as the latch to
remove the footrest. The latch is a deadly weapon.
I
have since placed that wheelchair in the garage to one day
possibly dismantle it and dispose of it. I no longer will use
that wheelchair.
We
did go back to using our trusty and faithful companion, but each time
I see the latch on either chair, the horrible memories come flooding
back. Same latches are on both. Each time I look at my bedroom
carpet, where the incident occurred I see the faint reminders of the
night from hell. Suffice to say that was a horrible experience. After
the past 7 years, how one faulty latch could cause such havoc
and set us so far backwards in our cancer journey is beyond my
wildest imagination and trust me, I have a wild imagination.
I
ask that you take our pain and suffering into consideration. We have
had years of pain and suffering but we always remain optimistic. So
many other people have it far worse than we do.
By
now, you should have seen the photos of the destruction and
aftermath of Dave's leg. Consider our history. Consider how this
could be avoided in the future and consider placing a smooth
covering on that darn latch and the border of the footrest. Please
help others avoid having a similar horrible incident.
I
close this letter by stating that as a wife, caregiver, mother,
grandmother and blogger that I go above and beyond to use my voice to
right a wrong. We are on this earth to help one another, not hurt one
another. I believe your company is helping others, while faulty
equipment is also hurting them.
Update
as of July 4th,
2015
– Nearly two months after the accident
My
husband's wound is still not healed. He has been treated by home
nurses with three treatments and antibiotics twice for infections. He
was placed on Hospice care on June 30th
because there are no more treatments available for him. While trying
to keep him comfortable during the last few weeks of his life, we had
to also care for the wound. The wound that never should have happened
but due to poor workmanship, it painfully did.
My
husband's prognosis is one to two weeks. I will still care for his
wound, but it will never fully be healed. As he peacefully rests to
await his demise, I plead for him to eat one more bite of food or
take another sip of water. Sadly, he doesn't have the energy to do
so, he just sleeps. The moment when I tend to his wound, I then know
that he hasn't passed on yet because he grimaces, moans and cries in
agony. Cancer might be painlessly killing him, but the wound is
causing the pain during his end of life. Seems like it might be
infected again, but does it even matter at this point? A damn shame.
I truly hope your company has learned a lesson.
Update
as of August 17, 2015:
My husband passed away on July 6, 2015, peacefully from cancer, not peacefully from his leg wound.
Company motto: "We exist to enhance the quality of life of the people we touch." How ironic.
