Joseph Graziano

My father died on March 6th, 2022, at a major New York City hospital from septic shock. (Sepsis and Septic Shock) He was 75 years old. He underwent a cardiac procedure when a complication occurred. (Sepsis and Surgery) The complication was not detected and therefore not treated. He was discharged after 24 hours and given two follow-up appointments dates.

The first follow-up appointment was two weeks post-op and the second appointment was a week after that. He was not ordered to undergo any post-op testing. While at home recovering, he experienced numerous symptoms. We all thought is was covid or the flu. However, his symptoms became extremely severe by the fourth week. He was not eating or drinking anything and he stopped going to the bathroom. His stomach felt bloated, he had pain in his lower back, he was shaking profusely, he was feverish, he had dry heaves, and he lost mobility in his arm and leg.

His wife called 911 and he was taken to a local city hospital. Due to covid restrictions, his wife had to wait in a lobby area, unable see him or be near him in the ER. Several hours later he was discharged with flu-like symptoms. He was tested for covid and the flu. Both tests results were negative. Once at home, he remained in bed sleeping, not eating or drinking anything at all and not having the need to use the bathroom. Two days after being discharged from the ER, his wife received a phone call from doctors at the local hospital. She was informed that his blood work tested positive for bacterial infections and the he needed to come back to the ER as soon as possible.

My father was not provided with any medical transportation. My mother had no way to get him to the ER for treatment, nor was she able to physically get him out of bed herself. My father told her to call his cardiologist and make arrangements to go back to the hospital where his procedure was performed. A car service was provided. My mother, along with my father’s oldest sister, had to assist him from his bedroom in the back of the house to the front of the house, down brick stairs, and then into the back seat of a sedan. This car ride that took almost an hour to get to the hospital. He survived the car ride there.

He was diagnosed with having several bacterial infections, he had bleeding on the brain, and he was having multiple strokes and seizures. (Sepsis and Bacterial Infections) Due to his extreme condition, the doctors withheld oxygen to reduce the air traveling up into his brain because that was causing him to have repeated strokes. He was unconscious and in septic shock. All my mother and I could do was hold his hand and cry. The causes of my father’s death were direct results of a definitive untreated complication from the surgical procedure he had just 34 days prior. Everyday I wish for someone to tell me “You can see your father now.” Although I will never get to hear those words, my father would want me to make sure that his grandchildren would.

I will fight everyday to get this major NY hospital, New York State and the Federal government to hold everyone accountable for my father’s death. I want to make sure that doctors and nurses are able to tell my son and daughter the words that I was supposed to hear.

Source: Jennifer Caroleo, Daughter