Ernie spent another day in the ICU, once again largely due to his persistence.
Although the Cancer Center has one nurse for every five patients, it seems that everyone rings their call buttons at once. This concerned Ernie as he can not anticipate when his trach will get clogged and he will need suction. No suction, no breathing. Also, he is hooked up to so many tubes, it is impossible for him to go seek help. Thus, he was determined to spend another day in the ICU where there was one nurse per patient. .
The family galvanized behind him. We followed Ernie's tried and true approach. Do not argue and do not get mad but do not agree with the plan. Simply keep repeating your position over and over until you either convince the other party or wear them out. So, whenever any doctor, nurse or staff member approached Ernie or one of us about moving to the Cancer Center, we repeated our mantras... "We do not feel that the Cancer Center is a safe place for Ernie right now" or "Ernie is not a typical trach patient so the family does not think he should be moved yet.", etc. Pretty soon the subject was dropped and Ernie spent an uneventful day in the ICU.
He will be moved back to the Cancer Center sometime tomorrow but now he feels ready for the move.
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