My father was taken to the emergency room at approximately 4:15a. M on Friday, May 15. He was experiencing weakness and cold sweats. We waited over 1 hr for dr. Then when he arrived he said dad had perhaps an ulcer or the makings of one. My dad had a history of heart trouble and so my mother and I asked if it could be his heart. The dr. Said no he had done 2 electrocardiagrams and both read normal. He had taken blood and said my dad was anemic and he had found blood in his stool. He then ordered some blood for my dad. He then checked his sugar and it was over 200. I asked if he could get some insulin since it was elevated. The dr. Said no it may drop to sharply. He then left never to be seen again. We stayed in the emergency room until approximately 10:20A.M. Where my dad was sweating so badly they changed his gown 2 times and his bed linens once because they were soaked. He also said his elbow hurt. The nurses changed shifts and another came on and saw that he had gotten no blood yet and said she would put a rush on it. They then took dad to a room to stay until the following Monday when they were going to do some lower and upper GI work to see where the blood in his stool was originating. They changed his bed linens again and his clothes again in his room. Still no blood came. I noticed his breathing had changed and said something to the effect to the nurse in his room and was told to sit down and quit worrying. They took his sugar again and it was OVER 300 and my mother at that time asked for him to receive some insulin she made this request to the nurse and the nurse just walked away and left the room. It was approximately 11:00A.M.By this time. And my dad wasn't responding well to our questions by this time. I THEN ASKED THE NURSE WHERE IS A DR? I had become very frustrated by then. She left and returned with a Physicians Assistant. The took his vitals and the Physicians Assistant left the nurse then returned an said they were moving my dad to ICU because all the sweating was abnormal and he just didn't look right. Still no insulin or blood. As they were wheeling dad to the ICU the blood arrived and they hooked him up. We were visited by another dr.in the ICU waiting room who informed us my dad was experiencing a major heart attack. It was approximately 3:30P.M.By this time. While in the ICU with dad my niece who is a nurse came to the hospital and arranged to have dad helicoptered out to a major hospital, Charlotte CMC. The dr had told my mother he was dying and we could just make him comfortable. But my niece wanted to have him looked at by a bigger facility. My niece told us she had to go to work but if the helicopter wasn't there in 30 minutes to start pushing for it. I waited 45 minutes and then started asking where it was. I was informed by the ICU nurse that MY DAD WASN'T A PRIORITY BECAUSE HE WAS ALREADY IN A HOSPITAL. I then askd who I had to talk to to make him one. Since he had had a good reading on his heart before he got there and was denied insulin the entire time there. She then left and returned to say that the helicopter would be there in approximately 15 minutes. That's how long it takes to for a helicopter to get to LIncoln CMC from Charlotte. So she had just then called for them! When we arrived at Charlotte CMC we were met with 2 drs and 1 nurse and the first thing out of their mouths was DID YOU KNOW HIS SUGAR WAS OVER 400? We were told that could have caused all kinds of chain reactions to occur in his body because it makes all organs malfunction. We were told it could have possibly caused his heart attack and cardiac arrest (which occurred in the helicopter trip). My dad lived for 12 more days in Charlotte CMC and was awake and able to see his family and say his goodbyes. He tried his best to get better and said he wanted to live but the drs. Said the damage was too great. My world will never be the same, I wish I could go with him. But what I can do is make sure people know about the treatment we received from Lincoln CMC. I'm trying to get my mother to seek legal council. Not any big money thing maybe just to refuse to pay his LIncoln CMC bills. But most importantly to make that horrible place stop and look over their procedures and never again kill another person. They could also do with some public relations training.
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