My MIL went into the hospital on the 4th of this month. Family members thought she might have Alzheimer's. To their dismay, she was diagnosed as having a bleeding brain tumor, and the doctor said that she had 2 months left to live. The test that was performed to determine this was a CT Scan. She was supposed to be taken to another city with a better hospital, but she never was.

MIL has been on Plavix, and the doctor took her off of it, as the Plavix needed to be out of her system in order to do further testing.

MIL was discharged from that hospital on the 6th and sent home. No transfer was arranged by the doctor to send her to another hospital to have further testing, etc. In addition, no hospice was arranged or authorized by the doctor. A nurse was sent to her home, and she was there briefly. The doctor said that someone needed to stay with MIL 24 hours a day, and that if she started showing any "symptoms" to bring her back to the hospital.

In the meantime, family members were going to take MIL to another hospital this weekend. My husband was going to see MIL and assist the family in taking his mother there. The night before my husband was going to leave, the family informed my husband that this other hospital's specialist cannot see her until the 26th of this month.

My husband went to see his mother all the same. Just as soon as he arrived, MIL started having a "spell" (that was what my husband described it as) where she was dizzy and her speech was slurred, so he and other family members took her back to the original hospital that she was at.

Another family member said that she was going to send MIL's CT scan results to yet another hospital that might be able to help her sooner (that was stated on Wednesday of this past week), yet as of yesterday, that still had not been done.

All throughout this ordeal, I have strongly encouraged my husband to call and speak with his mother's doctor himself and get the story from him. My husband was reluctant in doing so. I started to suspect that he was not being told everything, and even started to doubt whether or not my MIL even has a brain tumor, as her symptoms (and the responses and actioins from the doctor) sound like she had a minor stroke. That makes the most sense in all of this.

I called the hospital where MIL is at yesterday to see if I could get a straight answer, and I was told that due to HIPPA, I needed a "code." So, I asked my husband if he knew the "code", was he authorized and privy to the medical information from the doctor. He said "No."

What I would like to know is if the protocol of this situation sounds like a valid one for someone that has been diagnosed with a bleeding brain tumor that has 2 months to live.

Thank You,

Not Sure