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Going, Going, Going...

Tough handful of days... Got real sick, no temperature but could not keep my airway clear. Husband spent hours with the cough assist on me since the nurses at the home are so miserably inept with it. (Not to mention any names, Fatou and Mercedes, and Lore. It may just save a life to have more than one penny anney on-site check-the-box class on the cough assist and bi-pap.)BTW, Lore did not bother attending and I know they had not bothered to train Fatou.

The nurse's priorities are distributing drugs and taking blood sugar readings but there is precious little nursing going on. It's a shame really. And I don't want to bag on the nurses. It was the nursing home representative that repeatedly assured me that they could handle ALS patients. They have repeatedly shown me just how incapable of the task they are. They were more qualified to kill me through gross ignorance.

Following a protracted argument with the ambulance company about where to take me and my competency to make that decision (Thank you Life Care Center of Federal Way for the erroneous 'dementia' diagnosis in my record.)  Can you imagine the additional stress and distress on me trying to breathe, argue, insist and discuss? I have never been so discriminated against before getting ALS! I finally get my way and off I go to the University of Washington. This is critical for somebody with a relatively rare disease. We need a facility that can support all facets of our disease.

I've been in the University of Washington Medical Center ICU for a week. Indeed, I almost died Christmas Eve while struggling to clear my airway of a flood of secretions. (No,  really, my husband told me on Christmas Day that the doctor thought I would not pull through. )  Let's see, what day did Life Care Center of Federal Way drop the bomb on me? I think the day before the day before Christmas, my nursing home calls my husband to demand money and to inform him my belongings are being boxed. Ho-ho-ho-homeless for the holiday! Joy!!!

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Location: University of Washington Medical Center, University of Washington, 1959 Northeast Pacific Street, Seattle, WA 98195, USA

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