I never thought that my second blog during this campaign would be so personal and close to this cause.
Sadly, we suffered a bereavement in the family and it has taken a little time for the full story to come to light.
To give some perspective, Uncle Stephen was not a well man, but by no means at any imminent risk from passing away. Throughout his life he had battled many illnesses and ailments and survived.
Living in a nursing/residential home, he was being looked after well.
Requiring a potentially minor operation, he was admitted to hospital where he underwent examination. It was decided that surgery was too high risk for him and that an alternative procedure would be undertaken. At no point was he ever declared or treated as an end of life, or palliative care patient.
After the procedure and whilst recovering in hospital he contracted pneumonia.
Battling this took a number of weeks (3-4), but a full recovery was made, and he was later discharged from the hospital with no recommendations for future care.
Moving on a couple of weeks, he had started his normal day. He got up, dressed and had breakfast. Within a few hours, his health deteriorated at an alarming rate. By the time the alarm was raised and the doctor arrived, he was pronounced dead.
In the UK it is a legal requirement that any death in a nursing home must have a coroner’s examination. The finding of the autopsy showed that Stephen died of a Pulmonary Embolism (PE).
At no point was anything remotely suggesting a Thrombosis picked up either prior, during or post the weeks spent in hospital. As such, no further treatment was suggested, such as anticoagulation, low molecular weight heparin or any form of mechanical thromboprophylaxis to help prevent the formation of dangerous blood clots.
