So as promised here is what happened to me while I was in rehab. As I said before the details are fuzzy so the gaps were filled by my family.
I was transported from the hospital to the rehab by my family as I refused to take the ambulance. I didn't want to be treated like a patient because I felt like I was fine again, even though I couldn't even really walk. When we got to the rehab they didn't know who I was or that I was suppose to be there. Are a few calls they realized the other receptionist had messed up and never made sure anybody knew I was coming.
They put me in a room with broken beds while they were getting my actual bed ready. They then decided the bed I was in was the one they were going to give me to sleep on, but it's wheels were stuck. Now I still had a massive brain injury, but this didn't stop them from taking a piece of a wheelchair and slamming it into the bed I was laying on repeatedly. I head quickly started hurting and my family tried to stop them. They then went to get the sister in charge to help with the bed and she did exactly the same thing. My family was very upset and also stopped her.
They explained to her that I have a brain injury and they can't be doing something like that. The person in charge showed up at this point and apologized for the stupidity of the staff. They gave me a brand new bed and moved me into a room with 3 other people. I was terrified being there alone so my daughters stayed with me while my husband had to go back to work. This is were the next horrible thing happened.
The rehab had not informed us they do not provide the nappies for me. My family did not know this as the hospital I had been in did supply them. It wasn't long before I needed a new diaper and they told my daughters they don't supply them. My daughters walked a my nearby to look for diapers for me. They couldn't find any and returned. They called my husband and told him what was going on. It had been more than 2 hours I had been laying in my own poo and urine. He immediately called the nurses at the rehab and demanded to talk to the sister. After scolding them over the phone they suddenly had diapers they actually could give me. At this point I was crying hysterically because the nurses wouldn't help me and I wasn't sure what was going on.
They sent in a nurse to change my diaper. She didn't tell me who she was or what she was doing. She just started taking off my clothes which were soaked by now. I tried to fight her off. My daughters heard the noise I was making and ran to me. They tried to calm me down while she was changing my diaper and tried to explain to me what was going on. The nurse lost her temper with me and told my daughters to just pin me down.....
But this isn't were the unprofessional-ism ended. When the shift changed happened the night sister arrived for work completely drunk with her makeup smeared across her. After what had happened that day and now this drunk sister was just about enough for my family. They were terrified to leave me there for the night, but they couldn't reach anyone who could help at this point.
The next morning my husband called the person in charge of the rehab and told her there will be a meeting at 10am that morning and he expects her, the 2 sisters that worked and all my therapists to be there. At the meeting he told them everything that had happened and that he is planning on taking this story to the press to make sure nobody ever has to endure what I had the past 24 hours. The person in charge begged my husband not to do this. She told him she would personally make sure I get the best possible treatment and that every staff member would be re-evaluated.
My husband agreed and within a hour they moved me to my own room free of charge. I also got my own nurse who had to be with me at all times during the day. I was not allowed to be left alone and I was to receive a lot of extra therapy. They also fired the 2 sisters and the nurses who had put me through hell the previous day.
It all seemed to be going well now, but as the days went by the staff started to get sloppy again which got another nurse a written warning. I was not to be left alone because I can't walk or operate the call button, but my nurse left me alone for over an hour and when I tried to go look for help I fell out of bed and hurt my knee badly. The person in charge of the rehab knew about this incident before my did and called my husband to inform him what happened and to apologized and let him know the nurse has received a written warning for not doing her job. This actually happened twice and the nurse was fired by the time I was out of the rehab.
After my second fall they decided to move me to a room meant for 2 people, but the other bed was removed so I could have a larger room to move around in and practice walking with my therapists. But during the move from one room to the other the nurses stole most of my clothes. When questioned about this they all pointed fingers and each other. My family just decided it wasn't worth the battle. The next time they stole things was the day I had to leave and come home. They had stolen almost all my toiletries!
Personally I would never recommend this place to anyone and whenever I hear about someone I know who is going to go there I am sure to tell them about my experience and they always end up choosing a different place in the end.
Light and Love
Annelie Jordaan
