Reply #9: Another problem is that doctors change so frequently that one doctor may

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order something that another doctor decided the patient shouldn't have. This happened to my Mom in the hospital a couple of years ago, when the doctors making "the rounds" rotated, and the new doctor didn't realize my Mom's history of hemmoraghic stroke, and prescribed Coumadin, a blood thinner. Fortunately I was there all the time, and when the nurse came in with the first dose, I questioned her and said that they previous doctor had decided to avoid all blood thinners. She called up the new doctor and he cancelled the Coumadin. So you really have to be there all the time and be the patient's advocate and stay on top of every single thing they are doing. They often fail to do what the doctor ordered (such as ambulate the patient 4 times per day) or do something wrong, like crush a pill that can't be crushed because it's time-release, etc.