Part 6: Summary of the Story

Before diving into how Mustang Creek's employees and representatives responded when Mom passed away, let's sum up the key points about how they failed to provide the care they promised and how that failure led to Mom's passing.

1. When Mom arrived at MCE Frisco on Friday, December 27, 2019, she was able to speak coherently, was alert, could answer any and all questions posed to her, and appeared to be in good health overall, as evidenced by the discharge report from Legacy at Willow Bend. Rachel S had already interviewed her several days before, and Mustang Creek was - or should have been - fully cognizant of her baseline condition. Rachel had told the family that Mom would be given an alert pendant so she could summon help when needed. Upon arrival at Mustang Creek, Mom was not in fact immediately given a pendant, and Rachel said she would be "ok" without one. Ben had to insist that they give her the pendant.
2. On Friday evening, staff worker/caregiver Mikayla - who the family assumed had experience using hoyer lifts since Samantha and Rachel had promised the family that Mustang Creek could work with a hoyer lift, unlike other facilities who told us they were not experienced to do so - dropped Mom from the hoyer lift to her bed, demonstrating clearly that she did not really know how to use the lift. Mom dropped almost two feet, freefall. Two family members witnessed this. When Rachel was informed, she apologized and said that from that point on, two people would assist with the hoyer lift. We do not know if they followed through on this promise.
3. Earlier that same evening, when Eric and his daughter arrived to visit Mom, she was sitting in her wheelchair and visibly unhappy. "All I can tell you about this place is that it sucks," she said bluntly.
4. On Saturday, December 28, Mom called Eric and left a voicemail, saying in distress that she was afraid of the people at Mustang Creek and that they had hurt her.
5. On the evening of Saturday, December 28, Eric visited Mom briefly to set up her TV on the wall, and she was in the dining room at the time, eating a hot dog - on her own, without any help. She was coherent and able to speak plainly, but she was not happy to be there.
6. On Sunday, December 29, Mom stopped responding to texts from Eric, which was highly unusual. He assumed that she was okay since no one had called to suggest otherwise. Samantha and Rachel S had promised that if any issues arose, the staff would notify family, call the nurse, or call 911.
7. On Monday, December 30, Jenna stopped by Mustang Creek to drop off some paperwork, and Rachel S told her she wished to discuss something. She told Jenna that she didn't think the family was fully aware of Mom's condition and that she thought Mom should be evaluated for hospice care. This came as a complete shock, as on Saturday - as explained above - Mom had appeared to be fine. What had happened in between Saturday and Monday? And why had no one contacted any of the family? Jenna didn't know what Rachel was talking about. Jenna went by to see Mom, and was shocked to see her almost unconscious, apparently sleeping. This was unprecedented - Mom NEVER slept soundly and was never "out of it" like this. Mom had her phone near her, and when a call came in, Mom fumbled around for the phone a moment and then went back to sleep. She did not respond to Jenna's voice. Jenna demanded to know why Mom was like this, and the staff member said they gave her pain medication. But Jenna knew this didn't make sense because NONE of Mom's pain medications made her sleep. That is, none of the medications she was authorized to take or be given. Jenna communicated with Eric and Ben that she was suspicious that the staff were doping Mom up to keep her sedated so they wouldn't have to deal with her. We were already very concerned that the staff did not seem to be doing what Rachel had promised, and we had no idea why Rachel had claimed Mom was in worse condition than we thought and should be evaluated for hospice. The fact was, she HAD BEEN EVALUATED REPEATEDLY PRIOR TO COMING TO MUSTANG CREEK, and hospice was not even an option considered because she was recovering and rehabiliating!
8. On Tuesday, December 31, the family was scrambling to move Dad's belongings from Vitality Court and get him moved in to MCE, so we did not have a chance to visit Mom. We were growing concerned, though, because of what Jenna had experienced the day before. That night, when moving a dresser into Mom's room, Eric was shocked to see that Mom was again (or still) sleeping and appeared to be drugged. He tried speaking to her but she barely responded. He told her that the family was getting Dad moved in close by and she could see him tomorrow. But she didn't really seem to hear. He was really upset, thinking that the staff had given her something they were not authorize to give her in order to make her sleep so they wouldn't have to tend to her.
9. Early the next morning, Eric called Rachel and demanded to know what was going on. Why was Mom in this condition and what were the staff giving her? Rachel was not in town and said that absolutely the staff were not giving her anything not on her medication list. She said they would get in trouble with the state if they did so. Eric angrily insisted that they had to be giving her something, because she was NEVER in the condition she'd been in the last couple days. Again - he was presuming that the staff were watching her 24/7 as was promised and would know if something was wrong with her.
10. Just a reminder at this point - we had interviewed multiple assisted living facilities knowing what kind of care Mom required, and we only chose Mustang Creek Estates Frisco because they PROMISED US THEY WOULD TAKE CARE OF MOM as was prescribed by the staff/doctor at Legacy Willow Bend!
11. When Eric went to see Mom a little later, he was horrified to see that her lips were blackened and crusty and she was still completely out of it. At this point, she wasn't responding at all! He was concerned about whether she had eaten or had anything to drink, and found the staff member who was supposed to be in charge. He asked her what was going on, and the woman told him she didn't know why Mom was in this condition, because the last time she saw her, on Saturday, she seemed to be fine. But she didn't act concerned about it. She said they were giving her Tramadol - which was on her medication list - but Tramadol barely even helped Mom. It absolutely didn't make her sleep. Eric asked if she'd eaten, or had anything to drink and the woman was evasive but said "Yes." He then reminded her that Mom was supposed to see her doctor in a couple days, and the woman acted surprised.
12. When Ben came about half an hour later, he demanded to talk to the staff member who was on duty. But that staff member, James, did not have his pager on his person! Ben called 911, and Mikayla asked him why he was calling 911. When the paramedics arrived, they noted that Mom was burning up and that her diaper was soiled. They immediately guessed that she had a UTI. They also said that her lips being dried with blood indicated severe dehydration.
13. The doctors/nurses at the ER said Mom was severely dehydrated and had not received adequate liquids in a couple days, otherwise the lips would not be in the condition they were.
14. The RN at the ER explained late that night that Mom had developed Toxic Metabolic Encephalopathy (TME). This had led to her lack of awareness and inability to communicate - which we know she was experiencing Monday, but probably Sunday as well since (1) she had not responded to texts and (2) Rachel knew something was wrong, based on her conversation with Jenna on Monday.
15. If Rachel had realized something was wrong on Sunday, as she should have - because she had interviewed Mom days before and knew the condition she was in when she arrived on Friday - why did she not call the nurse?? Why did she not call 911?? Somehow Rachel was knowledgeable enough to suggest Mom needed to be on hospice but did not have the awareness to realize that she, in reality, needed prompt medical care?? This is clear evidence that at the very least, Rachel knew something was wrong on Sunday and Mom should have received medical attention THEN, not three days later.
16. Mom had NOT been given liquids, contrary to what the staff claimed, and very likely had not eaten, either. Also, her diaper had not been changed. If anyone had touched her, they surely would have known she had a fever, given that she was very hot to the touch!

The facts are clear. From the very first day she arrived at Mustang Creek, Mom did not receive the care that we were promised she would be given.

Continue with Part 7 to read about how Mustang Creek responded to Mom's untimely passing.