By Philip Haldiman
Twitter: @PhilipHaldiman

Jacob Jordan woke up one morning at the end of May with excruciating pain in his abdomen. He said it was so intense that all he could do was call someone to help him get dressed so he could get to the hospital.

But he knew what he was in for — he was in the hospital in 2018 for four months due to pancreatitis and the pain was almost identical. It was the same diagnosis this year.

After checking into the emergency room, he was in such terrible discomfort it was difficult telling the nurse his name, let alone all the other information needed.

Mr. Jordan, 30, said waiting in the lobby was insanity. But a ruder awakening was that he would be spending the next two weeks in the hospital with no visitors, due to restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During his last bout with the illness, he had his father by his side, helping him with the logistics of a long-term hospital visit, day-to-day responsibilities, and just being there for moral support.

But this time around, it was very different.

“I love my family and them being around is an incredible help to my well being. The two weeks without them almost killed me. I broke into tears almost every time I talked with them on the phone, especially my 4-year-old niece.” Mr. Jordan said. “And all of this could have been solved with one visitor.”

Mr. Jordan, a Glendale resident, is not alone in those feelings of isolation. Arizona has become a hotbed of COVID-19 cases, and the health care system in Arizona has become more strained as a result.

Most hospitals and healthcare facilities right now are restricting visitors. For example, at Banner Health facilities — one of the biggest health care providers in the state — there are only a handful of exceptions to the restrictions. Pediatric patients under the age of 18 may have one adult visitor per day, laboring mothers may have one support person with them, and, under certain conditions, patients at end-of-life may have one adult visitor for one hour.

Banner Health spokesman David Lozano said visitor restrictions and pandemic data are reviewed on a daily basis to determine if changes can be made to ease restrictions and allow loved ones inside the medical centers.

“There is no cure for COVID-19, so we want to make sure we take every precaution necessary to keep our patients and staff safe,” he said.

Mr. Jordan said he understands the need for strict rules during the pandemic, but even if he could have had one visitor who was tested for the coronavirus, it would have made his stay in the hospital much easier.

“Trying to get through all of it while still trying to get the attention that I needed proved very difficult in my situation,” he said. “It’s amazing how much one person can actually help to soothe you. A patient’s morale can be lifted an incredible amount just by having a loved one there to help you take on whatever it may be that you have to get through. Someone keeping your mind off the pain really helps more than I could possibly describe.”

Visitation benefits

Under normal circumstances, hospital stays are often traumatic for patients and their loved ones. But these times are anything but normal.

Prior to COVID-19, isolation was strictly for the infected. Now it is for any person receiving care in a hospital setting, inpatient or outpatient. This includes major surgeries, childbirth, with exception of co-parent in most cases, and emergencies.

Behavioral health consultant Kelly Carbello said when weighing risk of spreading the infection with risk of poorer health outcomes for individuals in care, it appears the risk of spreading the infection is priority in the current pandemic, and rightly so, as pandemics are not determined by the death rate, by the rate of contagion.

“The priority in a pandemic is to slow and as quickly as possible, stop contagion. This is not to say that health outcomes are dismissed. The efforts would be to mitigate the effects of isolation,” Ms. Carbello said.

That said, studies have shown that visitation at hospitals can reduce complications and the less time a patient spends alone, the better their health outcomes.

Ms. Carbello, a Peoria resident, said simply having another person in the room eases fears and reduces feelings of helplessness for both the patient and their support people.

She said patients who have frequent visitors had shorter than anticipated hospital stays, less complications after discharge and were more compliant with follow up or post inpatient care. They were also less likely to be admitted again for the same problem.

Conversely, patients with fewer visitors were more likely to feel depressed, anxious, angry and/or agitated.

Ms. Carbello said they were more likely to slip and fall and often received less care from hospital staff.

They also saw longer stays, were less likely to comply with aftercare and were at increased risk for being hospitalized again for the same problem, she said.

“This presents a dilemma when patients who must get inpatient care also require isolation. The isolation is often to stop the spread of a disease as well as prevent secondary infections and reduce risk of additional health complications, further complicating the situation,” she said. “But the lack of human contact and the reduced care can interfere with the recovery process.”

Better communication needed

Alicia O’Loughlin’s 86-year-old father was admitted to the emergency room May 4 when his doctor discovered his potassium levels were dangerously high after routine blood work.

She said her father has difficulties in explaining his health history and does not do well with technology like cell phones.

“They would not allow visitors, no exceptions, so my mom requested that she be called any time that there was a nurse or doctor present with him so she could provide the medical history info she knew they would need, but also to be an advocate for the care he would be getting. This definitely did not happen,” she said.

Throughout his three-day stay in the hospital, Ms. O’Loughlin said communication was sporadic and contacting her father was a challenge, which caused his anxiety to escalate, so much so that when he was told he must stay an extra unexpected night, the Chaplin was called in to calm him down. Additionally frustration arose when she learned along the way that her father was refusing some tests, including the test for COVID-19, which, had a family member been there, would not have happened, she said.

The experience highlights a system that won’t allow for proper communication between a patient and their family members, resulting in the patient feeling alone, frustrated and not heard, she said.

“Had any of his family members been able to be there with him, we could have diffused the situation and, while he would have still been unhappy, he would not have been so resistant to staying another night. It would have been better if there was even an option for my mom to have quarantined in his hospital room with him, staying the entire time until he was released,” Ms. O’Loughlin said. “I am so very grateful that he was not in the hospital for anything more serious. My heart goes out to anyone who has a loved one in the hospital with any type of grave illness, as I cannot imagine how it must feel to not be with your loved one when they pass.”

Things that can help

Medical experts at Banner Behavioral Health Hospital say it is important that each patient take advantage of opportunities to stay in touch with loved ones, whether that is done by telephone, smart phone or tablet to connect via a social media option, such as Facetime or Zoom.

For a loved one, self-affirmation and gratitude exercises can be helpful in easing the hopelessness or frustration. For example, write down three things that happened today that went well or made you feel good or gave you a sense of achievement.

Banner Behavioral Health experts say using mindfulness thinking about the things you enjoy doing with that person can also help. Develop a schedule of activities during the day in order not to get stuck in the moment and ruminate on hopeless thoughts. Go for a walk, play with the dog, call a friend or another family member to engage.

Focus on what you can change, control what you cannot and remind yourself physical separation is not the same as emotional separation, there are alternate ways to connect.  Use humor when possible and use realistic hope.

Banner Health offers weekly drop-in grief support meetings, 480-657-1167. Additionally, Banner has a 24-hour senior citizen help line available, 602-264-4357 (HELP).

4 months versus 2 weeks

Mr. Jordan has one procedure left as part of his aftercare from being in the hospital in May due to pancreatitis.

After reflecting on his hospital stints pre-pandemic and during the time of coronavirus, he said his most recent hospital visit did seem much longer due to lack of visitors.

While four months is a long time, he said, having loved ones there took much of the worry away. However, two weeks in isolation left him hopeless.

Finally being able to see his family after leaving the hospital earlier this month was such a relief, he said.

“It’s like I could finally be happy again even though I was still in so much pain. Getting through things when you are scared that its over, having family there provides a ridiculous amount of help. I got to the point that I was ready to go both times, but my family being there physically telling me that that wasn’t an option meant much more in person than it seemed to over the phone,” he said. “Before, it really was nice having someone being able to visit 12 hours a day and me being able to still stay in touch, in person, with friends and family. There were parts of being in the hospital in 2018 that did seem to last forever and that goes especially for being on a ventilator and having a trach and not being able to talk. That was incredibly frustrating, so a whiteboard became my best friend for sure. Not being able to communicate at all, it is indescribable how difficult it makes things. It definitely gave me a new perspective on what some people experience.”

Philip Haldiman can be reached at 623-876-3697, phaldiman@newszap.com, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman.

Philip Haldiman
Senior News Editor | Peoria
@PhilipHaldiman

phaldiman@iniusa.org

Meet Philip
Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.

Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.

Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater. 

Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.

Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.