"Not feeling supported with rehabilitation"

My partner had covid and suffers from MS and she was in hospital for approx 5 weeks.  Every time she goes into hospital she loses the ability to stand and to do the simple tasks she does at home. She was in the Victoria but got transferred to the Queen Margaret.

I thought this was great as she had been there before and they were able to get her to where she needs to be, but this time it was a different kettle of fish altogether.

At the beginning it was ok.  I asked the doctor if it was ok to bring in the vibro plate and exercise bike for to help with rehabilitation and this was ok. Because of the situation she was being hoisted from bed to chair and then chair to wheelchair when I arrived.  After two weeks of stimulating and exercising her legs I tried to get her to stand with a walking aid. The ward sister  came in advising she might fall and that they had a duty of care for her.

In the Victoria she was fitted with a catheter. Every day since at the Queen Margaret Ward 3 I’ve been taking her out for a walk so she was not stuck in the ward 24/7.  I spent anything from 6 to 8 hrs day at the hospital. After being told no standing in the ward I had to look out for another alternative to aid in her standing and it just so happened the the urine bag needed emptying and we went to the disabled toilet. After emptying the bag I looked around the toilet only to find that there were bars attached to the walls that could aid my assistance in getting her to stand. The first five were a physical lift with me to get the legs working after that the bar took the strain and she  still needed assistance to stand for the next five. She then had a rest and then we did five more to which I had no input and she stood all by herself.

As the days went on we built the standing up by five stands every two days until she was managing up to 40 stands a day. Physio came in at the beginning and tried to get her to stand with the stand aid but she found that difficult to use.  They persisted with it. There was some success as they came four days on the trot and she was starting to stand more easily but they left her from Friday until they came back on Tuesday morning and expected her to be the same and this was not the case.

Towards the end physio advised that she would not need to stand and that she would be hoisted at all times even when they get home to which I advised them that she can stand and have video evidence to prove it, I showed the video to the physio and they said that was interesting, and asked if I knew the reason why she would not stand.  I thought they are the professionals and they cannot understand why she cannot stand.  I knew the reason why and explained it. Next time they used a turner and had better success.

I discharged her from the hospital as they did not have the staff on several occasions and it seemed a detriment to her health and well being. 

Since coming home we kept up the exercises and she can now walk with some assistance within the home from her chair in the sitting room through to toilet in the extension.

Social work come to see her walking and he saw her in hospital and was amazed to see her do this.