Monday, June 6, 2022

Hanoi Hilton



image from IMDb. 

Hanoi Hilton


“A group of American POWs  held in the Hoa Lo 

Prison during the Vietnam War endured some brutal

lessons in the art of survival.”--John Frankenheimer.


Recently I spent a month in a Retirement/Rehab

Center so that my wife could take a trip to Italy. 

It was respite care. I was a guest. I had a private

room. I assumed I would get priority service.


I asked for a recliner to sleep in. They gave me a

wooden chair. There was a phone, but no operator, 

no extensions to call staff; the nurse’s call button

took twenty minutes to respond to. There was no menu. 

Mystery food would show up, 85 terrible meals. 

I need assistance with showering. I was allowed two a

week. They put me in a shower chair, and two

strangers hosed you down like in a prison. The laundry

lost my clothes. My medical needs were never

addressed properly. I assure you, these are the things

they never tell you. Quite the vacation.



Glenn Buttkus


Prosery


Posted over at d'Verse Poet's Pub

12 comments:

lillianthehomepoet.wordpress.com said...

Ohhhh Glenn! When I saw you'd posted, I though, HURRAH! Glenn is back. And then I read this. I am so very very sorry for the lack of care you received. I am so very very glad you are back home. You were missed and are a much-loved member of the dVerse crowd. May you never have to experience that kind of experience again. I feel so very sorry for those what are still in the facility.

JadeLi said...

Glenn, Please Promise you will never go back there again, no matter what. I have been up close and personal with what you experienced but with my mom, who has been on quite a journey that started around the first of March and is just now starting to smooth out. She ended up in one of those places you describe for a couple of weeks. I'm starting to see what a big industry is built around the geriatric population, and most of it has NOTHING to do with caring or good health. If you need someone when your wife takes another trip, please hire a home health aide or visiting nurses that can come right in to your home and do it your way. {{{{{HUGS}}}}}

I can see why you compared it to a POW camp!!!!!!!!!

Merril D. Smith said...

I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Recently my mom's cousin told me she would rather die than go back to the rebab floor in her building.

Tricia said...

Wow, a tough read knowing you lived it! I echo Lisa, it's a sad industry that cuts corners all too often. I hope you filed some complaints and send them this story! Hugs! 🤗

K.Hartless said...

This was hard to hear, but necessary to be told. What a way to be treated and to know that for so many it is unending. What does it say about our society that we treat our elders in this manner? There is a lack of respect for the value of human life. I am appalled by this and I, too, would like to hear more stories of this nature.

Anonymous said...

I get the comparison with the Hanoi Hilton. Sounds awful. Glad you made it out Glenn.

Pat

Callsign Santa said...

I cannot believe what I read...it sounds like torture....and these kind of places really exist....shocking stuff Glenn. Really is. I hear similar now and then in GB. Is just terrible.

Jane Dougherty said...

There is something particularly scummy about these places that make money out of exploiting people. Elderly, sick, children, abused women, the mentally ill, there's always a vulture waiting to prey on them.

Helen said...

This is a nightmare come to horrific living color. No one deserves to be treated so poorly in "this land of opportunity (?) ... I am feeling devastated you had to. (sorry about the preposition at end, I know better)

Tzvi Schnee said...

This is shocking.

sarah said...

Thats awful, Glenn. They should be shut down. I'm horrified that you had to go through that.

Mish said...

I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Glenn. Terrible stuff! What I can't wrap my head around with these places is how each individual working there decides to treat people that way. I found my blind, non-walking grandmother in her 90's hovered over on a toilet, completely alone waiting....I just happened to visit.