My mother fell today and was admitted to the hospital - for pneumonia.

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Mom didn't feel too well this morning, so after breakfast, she went to lie down. Then her lunch came (Meals on Wheels), so she went out to eat. She did really well, eating almost every bit of it. I had lunch then, too, and when we were both done, she sent back into the bedroom and I went into mine. I heard something fall - it sounded like her walker with her oxygen tank in it. I could see it on the floor and was just getting up to go get it for her when she called out for me to come in to help her. I got in there and SHE was on the floor, too. She had reached for something and the walker went out from under her and she followed it down. Mom's 91, has had emphysema for almost 20 years, and is blind because of macular degeneration. So, a fall for her is a bit more than an inconvenience. I wanted to pick her up the way I was taught to pull people into our raft when we were white water rafting - under the arm pits and pull with your body. She wouldn't let me do anything to help get her up. She kept saying, just let me get settled....just let me get settled. So, I called next door, thinking someone would be home there, but there was no answer. Finally, I called the local police department to see if someone could come help get her up. The call went through to the 911 center even though I hadn't called 911. They sent an officer AND the ambulance. Well, the officer got her up and she was in the bed sitting when he asked if he should cancel the ambulance - just as he said that, the EMTs walked around the back of the house. I decided they should check her just to be safe. When they did, she began to panic, telling me she needed her nebulizer, to hurry she needed her nebulizer. The more she panicked, the more she couldn't breathe, and the more she couldn't breathe, the more she panicked. We got her into her wheelchair and out to the kitchen. I had her nebulizer ready when the second EMT came back in from getting their med packs. They checked her blood oxygen and found it was way low, in the 70s when it should be in the 90s. They said they thought she should go to the hospital just to be safe, but none of us expected her to have to stay. The paramedics met them at the firehouse and rode with them while I went ahead to meet them at the hospital. Well, they xrayed her lungs, heart, hips and legs and found pneumonia in her lungs even though she hadn't complained of shortness of breath before falling. She just didn't feel well. A doctor came in, one we hadn't seen before and kept repeating his name to her and she wasn't getting it, even though he was on her "good ear". Finally, he took off his name tag and stuck it in front of her face and said, "here, this is my name." I couldn't believe it! I looked at him and said, "um...she's blind." Mom didn't miss a beat, "Yes, I have macular degeneration and can't read anything at all any more." This man didn't even look ashamed or apologetic! I will be saying something to someone once I know more about where. I ended up leaving her in the ER after being there 6 hours. I had the worst headache and couldn't stand it any more. I knew she'd be OK and which floor she was going to (not the room yet, though) and came home to take some Advil. I've also let everyone know who needed to know that she's admitted and why. But, other than your prayers and good thoughts for my mother, I have this question. Or these questions. Have you ever gone to the ER for yourself or someone else and been admitted for something entirely different than you went in for? And, have you ever had someone behave like that doctor did to anyone, let alone someone so elderly and disabled? How did you handle it?