 |
| Oregon State Hospital: Salem |
The staff consisted of an East Indian Psychiatrist, Dr. Satyanary Chandragiri
He had a difficult time to express himself in clear English, neither Jacob nor Catherine understood what he was talking about, the majority of the time they met. To our recollection, this Dr. saw Jacob about once per month, and again, he had to training or understanding of TBI.
Nancy Doty, who by then was appointed by Oregon Judge, Thomas Hart, as Jacob’s guardian, had no treatment plan for Jacob, even though that was supposed to be done shortly after he arrived at said facility.
The next person that served as Jacob’s staff was the head nurse by name Shari Miller. Needless to say, she also had no clue about TBI, but felt that by overmedicating Jacob was the answer to all of the facility’s environmental problem.
To explain, the facility was basically a warehouse which kept persons with different behavioral problems.
One of Jacob’s problems came when he was given a bedroom right next to the laundry room, where the washing machine and the dryer kept running for most of the night. This deprived Jacob of his sleep.
Jacob’s lack of sufficient sleep, in turn, caused more behavioral problems, for which he got punished by not being able to call home.
When Catherine phoned gateway and told them the problem of the washer & dryer, the guardian put a stop on all communication with Jacob’s family.
At one point, after asking repeatedly, Catherine was allowed to visit her son for the first time. The conditions of the facility were deplorable. See attached letter from Orrin Grover to the Guardians daughter Emily.
After Catherine complained to the facility about safety problems and more, she was then retaliated against by the guardian in that they moved Jacob into a new building with more security.
What it meant for Jacob was, that he no longer could go to any outings into the community.
A very big problem for Jacob was that he refused to take a shower. The reason was, that the bathroom was very small and had absolutely no ventilation, so Jacob could not breathe properly which made him feel very uncomfortable.
Most persons that suffer from a TBI, especially Jacob who also had dysphagia, forget to breathe as they need to be reminded.
Because Gateway did not have one person that was familiar with TBI, or had studied Jacob’s medical records he suffered more than necessary, and again he was misunderstood in the way he behaved.
The last visit Catherine had with Jacob at said facility was on 13 October 2014. The backyard was covered with half-smoked cigarette butts and Jacob wanted to smoke. He noticed that the staff were all smoking, Jacob asked them if he could smoke as well…and he was told “NO”! That in turn became a trigger point that led to an argument between staff and Jacob, which got him thrown out of Gateway Facility on 16 October 2014.
To sum matters up, Jacob was in the wrong place again, and suffered tremendously at the hands of persons that had no clue as to how to handle or understand TBI, which includes his guardian and her daughter.
It needs to be mentioned, that in all of Jacob’s medical records or documents his TBI is mentioned repeatedly but only for the purpose so that the different facilities including the hospitals can collect extra money from the State & Federal Government, under which everyone is subsidized.
On or about 16 October 2014, Jacob was transferred to Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene, where he spent almost three months in the ‘Johnson Psychiatric Unit’!
On 9 September Catherine gave up her apartment in Salem and moved to a homeless shelter in Eugene so that she could be closer to her son.
Sacred Heart Hospital … Psychiatric Johnson Unit
Once at Sacred Heart, all communication was cut off under the guise that the doctor felt it was not good for Jacob that he could contact any of his family members, see them or write to them.
A young psychiatrist by name of Dr. Veles was in charge, who clearly was under the gun of the guardian.
I did communicate with Jacob’s social worker, by name Kate Hill, below are some of our communiqués.
Hi Johann, I just wrote you a response to your other email, and at this time, I am being instructed to have all communications go through Nancy Doty. This is per hospital policy. Given the complex dynamics in the case, the less ‘cross talk’ the better.
It only serves to further muddy the waters. I know that Catherine has been given this message but she continues to call and leave lengthy, angry messages. I will not be returning her calls and in the future will likely just delete them as they are not issues I can discuss with her. ‘
Take care,
Kate
Johann ~ I forwarded your message to Dr. Velez, his response is: “the only person I am talking with is the guardian, per the guardian’s request. They should make their requests to the guardian, who will pass them on to me”.
It is noted in his records both the allergy to penicillin and his history of Hep C. Catherine left a message on my voicemail 2 days ago insisting that Jacob has a UTI. MD ordered a UA to screen for this, but he is refusing. When he was admitted he was tested for a UTI and the results were negative.
I know this is difficult for you both, but all decisions about his care will be made by his guardian and the doctor. The only way this will be changed is if Catherine is able to convince a judge that she should be appointed his guardian. It appears this has not been successful in the past.
She brought him to Oregon and is now unhappy with that decision. He cannot be transferred to the state hospital in California because he is now an Oregon resident. He may have to go back to the Oregon state hospital if another program is not willing to accept him.
We are aware of Jacob’s TBI, and we do take this into account in his treatment. His condition is chronic and is unlikely to improve in terms of cognitive function. I believe that Catherine has been told this repeatedly, but she does not accept that answer. When he jumped off that building he did irreparable damage to his brain much of which cannot be reversed. Jacob seems to understand this, although he does find it discouraging. Some facts must be faced and it will benefit him if he is not constantly reminded that he is not who he was.
We are doing our best to give him good treatment, and to some extent he will cooperate. He receives injections because he refuses oral medications. I believe that what is happening in the communication between you and Catherine and Jacob is what we refer to as triangulation. Jacob is saying things to you that are not, in fact, true and this results in reactions that are out of context with the actual situation.
Please know that we are taking good care of Jacob and he we continue to work towards an appropriate placement for him, where he can perhaps find some happiness in his life.
We have also read through his website and have a better understanding of his history.
Sincerely,
Kate
The next time we heard from Jacob he was at Portland State Hospital. According to Jacob, Sacred Heart Hospital discharged him without our knowledge back to Salem State hospital, where Jacob stayed for approximately one month, after which said hospital attempted to discharge him into a community homeless shelter.
The Guardian at that time interfered and insisted that Portland State Hospital must accept him, because Jacob has been institutionalized almost the whole time that he has lived in Oregon.
None of the above mentioned items were known by his family, we found out by April 2014.
Oregon State Hospital Portland….. second time…..
At this time Jacob is back at Portland State Hospital, being cared for by the same psychiatrist as before,
namely Dr. Solomon Wolf.
Dr. Wolf also has no training or background in TBI, instead, he has prescribed 2nd generation psychotropic medications, which he has done since the first time Jacob was there, about May 2012.
The significance of the above statement is that the medication Risperdal & Invega, a derivative of Risperdal, have caused Jacob to gain a noteworthy amount of weight, about 80+ lbs. after he arrived in Oregon.
Invega: Weight gain (tends to produce a moderate degree of weight gain, possibly related to its potent blockade of the 5-HT2C receptor)
Risperdal: Adverse effects of Risperidone include significant weight gain and metabolic problems such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, as well as tardive dyskinesia and neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Risperidone and other antipsychotics also increase the risk of death in patients with dementia.
Now, after Catherine spoke with Dr. Wolf repeatedly, Jacob finally is being put on Haldol again, a first generation psychotropic medication. The importance of mentioning this is, that Jacob’s guardian, who has absolutely no qualifications to decide over Jacob’s medical treatment …is in charge of Jacob’s well-being. That in itself, is a crime by Judge Hart and the Oregon Judicial System etc.
From the time that Jacob entered Oregon, in November of 2011, he has been to 9 different facilities, none of them are qualified or trained in dealing with his disabilities. Instead he has gained more than 80 lbs. weight, has been excluded from society.
No comments:
Post a Comment