Nasty discharge from PT

[lieze]

🥵 It just went bad. I have a huge personality clash with the head of physical therapy from the home health service I chose.

It made me wonder if this is what they do to keep their load light.  Just cycle people through to keep the number of clients they serve low.

She said well we have it here you were up for 12 minutes. That is all you really need. 

I do not know how to communicate well any more. I was not able to answer her questions well. When she asked if I was any better I said no. Well that right there she said well if I am not then they cannot continue. I said I do not know how to answer your questions in a way that I would qualify for continued help which then made her angry as if I was trying to scam the system. She said well I cannot lie. I tried to explain but I don’t know how to reply to your questions in a way that is representative of me and where I am at that you need to know and she just got more and more defensive about me having any kind of service.

I told her the only way I have found to bathe is to just lean over my bathtub and spray my top half off.  She said that is not safe. And I could not help it I said that is not safe but you want to discharge me? She told me she did not appreciate my tone or the way I was talking to her. So I spent the tail end of her visit apologizing. Thanking her for everything she did for me. 

Then before she left she said you know when I came here I really thought you were borderline ( I guess meaning I looked too healthy to need PT ) but she said I took you anyway.

Now I will be going through a similar discharge on Monday with OT at which I guess I will just smile and nod. I’m tempted to just tell them when they start asking questions that I do not know how to answer them that whatever I say seems to be the wrong answer. Every time I answered PT it just seemed to get her going. She became argumentive and confrontational with almost everything I said and you should have seen her face. She was so oh my she just had this look all over her like she had some kind of issue with me before the convo even went south. 

Before she left I asked what I would need to do in the future if I needed services again and she said what do you mean what do you need to do? You need to need it? Talk about confusing. I felt like we needed an interpreter or mediator to even have a conversation.  

I’m afraid she will write horrible things about me on my report.

She said she would write on her report that she was discharging me but that I did not agree with her decision. To which I nodded.

She said well you baked a cake for your son on his birthday. She said some people can’t do that. And she threw up her arms. Like what exactly do you want anyway.

She kept telling me to get out. I tried to explain I can’t get out and even if I did then I would be spent for the day most likely and I have a family to try to cook supper for. Which lately here I have not been able to do that. Or if I do it is much later in the day by the time I can get up.

At one point when she said she was discharging me I teared up and I said in a very calm way that okay I guess I would just go on to the next thing and she in a really strange way said exactly what does that mean? Everything I said she cross examined like she thought I was faking the entire thing or something and was out to scam someone else. 

Maybe I should just be glad she will no longer be on my care team. Not that I have a replacement. But she seemed to just have this negative strange approach about her. I don’t understand what it was that set her off. She was the one who did my eval and she was strange then too but this one was much worse.

I told her my goal was to get back to where I was  6-9 months ago when I had many hours of functioning per day and that now I am down to hardly anything. That I have had this for 10 years dealt with limitations already to have it just get worse and this bad is so discouraging.

To not be able to bathe besides washing up. She says washing up in a sink that is all you need. 

Don’t you wish sometimes that people could live a day in your shoes so they would get it?

I feel so frustrated that I cannot even communicate well enough to get my thoughts and reality out.

I do think for whatever reason if I have these type needs again I will try going with a different agency.

I can’t say I would want to give her a complementary review.

[DizzyPopcorn]

What a ******* rude person. I'm sorry you had to experience that. Had i been there, i would've given her h*** even if my next 3 days would've been flared.

Do NOT make this your fault. You didn't choose your illness or this situation, and nobody should discard you for what you are and what you feel. Some people just hate their jobs, and some people are downright evil. Usually i give them my thoughts, because they deserve it.

You might want to consider adding security cameras in your home. Next time she wants to start an argument on your condition, you can report her for misconduct. No way this is the way you're meant to be treated.

I'm again sorry that you had to go through this.

Hope you have a good evening regardless

[Random-Symptom Man]

That's horrible. What an ***.

I'm sorry that you had to put up with that. 

I wish I knew a way to communicate with people who just don't get it. Most of the time, I just give up.

The only thing that seems to work is to show them what I look like when I crash. But they need to be there for It, and few people ever are. Today I was at the polm lab and the receptionist watched me go from functional to barely coherent in just a few minutes. She nearly called the ER. I hadn't even noticed that I'd gotten bad.

When I realized I wasnt doing well, I just laid down on that linoleum floor. I quickly started to feel better. The staff and technicians were super nice after that. I wish I had a video of that. Nobody in their right mind would have lain down on that floor.

[lieze]

At one point she pointed across the street and suggested I get a neighbor to come and do these things with me. I said I do not have that. Does that seem odd that she would suggest a neighbor do PT with me. Just seems odd and unprofessional. Then she told me I really needed a hobby that I should try crochet, 

[lieze]

I have no confidence to get through my eval with OT Monday at all. 

I worked in healthcare for 20 years by the way. 

I am a licensed practical nurse. I would think I could at least communicate well enough to get through this type of thing and I am just speechless. 

[Pistol]

@lieze - I had PT for a while through home health and the PT had trouble finding a reason to treat me. He had me stand at the sink three times until I felt symptoms. Each time it took just 2minutes. After that I was in bed for 2 days and told him I will never do that again. My doctor wanted me to learn exercises that I can do when I was bedridden to maintain my ability to get out of bed when I can. So they taught me very helpful exercises that I can do lying, sitting or standing, depending on my abilities each day. I don’t think we can expect them to make us better, but they can help us maintain. No PT can take our orthostatic issues away but thy can teach us how to do exercises that help with orthostasis. .... Regarding showering - l too have trouble with standing in the shower, most of us do. Have you ever considered a shower chair? .... I am sorry you had such a bad  experience. You can file a complaint with the home health agency so the issue will be addressed and it will not happen to someone else. Be well!

[lieze]

Pistol I wish that would have been her approach. That she would have acknowledged that I was in a sorry shape but explain how the system worked and what she needed to be able to document in order to keep me even if it meant I didn’t fit the criteria.

I didn’t sense any compassion at all from her. Everything she said to me she screwed her face up the entire time she was talking to me. I wish I did have video of it because it is just my word against hers.

I tried to tell her when I was able to do those twelve minutes it was because I had laid on the couch for 2-3 hours saving up for that little bit of activity. She just nodded and told me to start coping with my illness. 

It’s frustrating when one of the things stressed to do for POTS is exercise. I pay for Medicare the extra $100 plus a month that is supposed to provide that service. That was another thing she must have said she was discharging me 10 times. The one time she said it I said well if I don’t qualify for service then not much you can do. She says it’s not that I don’t qualify. 

When I told her that I get so symptomatic when up she said well then just take a pill so you don’t feel those things while you are up.

She had mentioned she had other POTS patients and I thought there was hope that she would have more understanding but I didn’t really get that vibe from her. 

I told her that I was at a place where I could not even come up with ideas for myself on what to do for myself and for instance a friend suggested I get RING doorbell so that if someone comes to the door I do not have to get up. On with the faces again and her eyes got as big as saucers. She had never heard of it but it was like I was talking to the wall. I just got the feeling everything I said at all entirely rubbed her the wrong way.

The only thing I can think of is we live in one of the two country club ritzy areas in town. I wonder if she had an attitude related to our home and the fact I am on disability. If there was some kind of jealousy or attitude because of her continued comments insinuating I was trying to take advantage of the system. Also pointing across the street indicating I get a neighbor. Most of my neighbors work they are not sitting home all day. They also have their own family and lives. It would be so awkward to come and sit with me so I can work in my kitchen or walk around my house. 

 

[DizzyPopcorn]

Some people just dont deserve their jobs. Your story is a prine example of it. 

[TCP]

She sounds like a complete a*******! I would have been livid with her dismissive attitude and tone. She doesn't know what to do to help so is fobbing you off. She's not helpful or the right person to have around you as she clearly is on another planet! I would put in a complaint if possible, but if not you are well shot of her. 

[bombsh3ll]

23 hours ago, lieze said:

just take a pill so you don’t feel those things while you are up.

If there was such a pill nobody would be on here. 

What a B****. You are well rid. 

You mentioned paying an extra $100 per month for that service - personally I would stop that & spend it on private help. That could include someone to be with you whilst you do floor exercises or supervise/assist you bathing. 

I am not able to stand at a sink (or anywhere), but can sit/lie in the bath to wash, so maybe with someone there in case you faint it may be possible.

B xxx

[KaciCrochets]

Healthy people have no idea what it's like to be chronically sick. Her attitude is inexcusable, I'd be writing some complaint letters. 

[p8d]

Oh I am so sorry that you experienced that.  She is so far out of line I am speechless.  Definitely file a complaint or if you can have an attorney draft something .  I have had such good luck with PT , it really does help, but you need a compassionate, understanding therapist.  What I do know about Medicare and PT is that you have to show improvement at the evaluations that are required every few months.  It doesn’t have to be great improvement but something.  I have been going for 3 years now and have real, significant improvement.  One thing my therapist does every visit is check and *document* my orthostatic vitals, then asks me a slew of questions about symptoms-length of time upright and symptoms, headaches and how painful, muscle aches, fatigue etc.  we use it as a way to document not only improvement but flares etc.  I think when anyone sees the orthostatic vitals they understand some of what we are up against.  Please don’t give up on PT but find a good therapist or as Bombshell suggests maybe a personal trainer that will come to your house although insurance won’t cover it.

[lieze]

I just had my OT discharge. I asked her to help me understand why I was being discharged. I told her how frustrating and bad Friday went for me. She said the PT therapist felt the same way.

What this person did differently was explain I had met all their goals for me so they could not keep me any longer there was nothing else they could do for me.

It does sound like conflicting info. The First Lady PT says they cannot keep me due to me saying no improvement then OT says I met all PT’s goals also and that is why they discharged.

OT says she thinks I need to work as hard as I can and exercise my way out of the place I’m in now. But the ball is in my court and I am on my own now. 

So although it seems confusing the main difference between the first discharge and this one was the therapist took total control of the discharge. She did not ask a lot of open ended questions to me like the first person did. That just left me confused. Made me feel like I needed to come up with the right answer. Then when I did answer and the therapist responded the way she did last Friday I got both confused and frustrated. So it could be the decision might have been the same way but the way it was conducted just went bad. We both ended up upset it seems over the visit.