Catheter probllems

When I left the hospital on Wed. I was given a number to call on Thursday. My dressing had seeped on Wed. night so at least I knew that had to be changed, but I was not given instructions how to do this, nor was I given supplies to do so. I called the number yesterday, (Thurs.) and the infusion department did not have a record of me or orders for me. I called my Dr.’s office, knowing he was out of town, but left a message for his assistant. I did this several times. After several more calls, I got the assistance of someone in the infusion department. She said she had left a message for my doctor earlier but she would see what she could do for me. I never received another call. Today, I decided I had better just go to the hospital to go to my Dr.’s office and see if I could get helped in person. If they couldn’t help, then I planned on going to the ER and staying there until something was done. I was not given blood thinner meds to stop any clotting in my tube and no instructions on its care. A catheter of this kind has risks of infection, blood clots and sepis.....When I got to my Dr.’s office, his assistant said he had left a message with the on call doctor. Apparently he had gotten my messages but didn’t let me know. It took about two hours, but he managed to get me some help in the infusion clinic. Course, he didn’t tell me that until after waiting for a while, I asked him what was going on. (He needs some lessons in communication!) My Doctor will not be back in the office until Wed. The infusion department flushed out my catheter with saline and heparin, an anticoagulant. Then they changed my dressing and scheduled me to come every day around 3pm to do the same again. They said they would cover me until Wed. when my doctor will be back. Their supervisor said they needed to do so to legally cover the hospital’s butt.... I was surprised they said that in front of me but I think they were shocked that I had been left high and dry after such a procedure. Apparently, my doctor had left orders for me to get the catheter put in. The department who does that had an opening and put me in at that time, hence the short notice. After it was placed, there were no further orders so no one knew what to do. The infusion department mostly works with cancer patients and does not deal with my kind of catheter. I think one of the problems is the nurses do not see this type of catheter too often. In fact, I was told that the 3 nurses who helped me today would be gone this weekend and I needed to explain my type of catheter to whomever is working this weekend. They said they were just covering me until my doctor gets back and I won’t be seeing them when he does. I think the other problem was the assistant did not follow up with me or with the on call doctor. I think he just assumed I was taken care of. And you know what happens when we assume....we make an ass of ourselves. Anyway, I think I will be in the ICU the end of next week getting my medication started. In the meantime, you can catch me at the hospital every day around 3 pm.