how about drinking?
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Wow nativemainer. That's ALOT! It's a full time job trying to keep up with our medical professionals. After reading your ordeal I really wanted to add some rum to my protein shake.
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@nativemainer, OMG - what a day - and I thought the Australian health system was a mess - it is nothing compared to your day. I hope your mum is feeling better on clear liquids and that you have had time to take a breath with the puppies. In your pocket with a triple shot of virtual single malt whisky (the whole bottle if you need it)
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NM, geez, I’m exhausted just reading what you’ve been through. Hopefully, hospital staff with take extra care to keep you informed from now on.
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Oh my Kim!! What an ordeal for both your mother and you. Can you request that the doctors call you before anything is don? Do you have medical POA?
Sending you hugs.
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Oh my NM that is a crazy weekend! Glad your mom is stable all things considered. Prayers that things start coming together more clearly. I think you definitely need a drink and the pups a treat!!
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Good Morning, Loungettes! an update and another unload, but at least progress has finally been made. Let's see if I can even keep it all straight.
Mom had the HIDA scan Monday, was supposed to be able to eat when she got back to the room since if she did need any other procedures they wouldn't happen on Monday anyway, but the GI people didn't change her diet order until almost supper time. While she's getting the scan a lab tech come by twice to draw blood for a transfusion, which freaked me out, no one had sad anything about needing a transfusion or what was causing that. I caught up with the nurse, who also didn't know anything about a transfusion and could not find any orders or mention of a transfusion in Mom's chart. Not sure where the lab tech got that idea, but no transfusion. She finally gets a clear liquid diet at supper time. Yesterday (Tuesday) ayem, when I get there Mom is NPO again in case she needs yet another procedure (ERCP), not even sure exactly what that was going to be based on. The PA says we'll know if she doesn't need the procedure if they do not bring her a lunch tray. Her nurse says we should know before then, and any procedure needed probably can't be done on Tuesday as the GI schedule is fully booked up, and calls GI at least 3 times to get the order changed. It finally gets changed and they bring her a regular meal tray as a late lunch. But we're still waiting to hear from GI what's going on. I lost my cool, and when the hospitalist came in, I had her send a message to GI that I needed to see the Gastroenterologist for an explanation of what is going on by 2 pm or I'm filing a formal complaint. 2 pm comes and goes, no word from GI. I talk with the unit manager, who is finally able to get through to someone in the GI department. The gastro doc has been in back to back procedures/surgeries since 7 am, not expected to be done until 5 pm or so. So I flip out again, why couldn't that info be given to me this morning, and then I could have directly argued with the GI PA that keeping Mom NPO for a procedure that cannot even happen today is crazy, and if the department had the courtesy to let me know the doc was tied up from 7 to 5 and not tell me that we'd find out about a possible procedure based on if a lunch tray was delivered there would have been no problem. The manager also found out that surgery had signed off, so there would be no surgery this admission (unless something changed drastically). She also gave me the phone number for the patient representative, who I will call later today to start the formal complaint process. While I"m driving home the GI Doc calls—this is around 5:30. The scan from Monday shows no need for another procedure. No stones blocking the bile duct. The rest of the biliary tree (drainage passages from the pancreas, gall bladder and liver into the intestine) are clear. No infection in the gall bladder. Mom will get follow up with gastroenterology after she is discharged. She can go ahead and eat, and see if a low fat diet keeps things under control. He thinks a stone blocked the bile duct but has moved out on it's own. When the hospitalist came in around lunch time, she told me Mom's liver enzymes were slowly getting better and the scan from yesterday shows some fluid congestion that is caused by the gall bladder issue and clearing up very slowly because of the mitral valve leakage Mom has. The hospitalist wants to watch Mom's liver enzymes and for signs of the mitral valve causing any other problems, and be sure she can eat a regular diet for a few days to be sure everything is going in the right direction and doesn't flare up again as soon as she is eating regularly again. So now it appears that GI is signing off, and it's all going to be in the hands of the hospitalist going forward, with a goal of discharge toward the end of the week. And since the dietary people came in and took her menu order for dinner last night and breakfast this morning, and the whole organization knows I am VERY frustrated and upset, I'm hoping things are going to go more smoothly for the next few days. Now I'm going to run past her place, pick up her mail and a few things she wants from her apartment, and go visit her.
Thanks for listening!
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All I can say, NM, is WOW. I don't know if I could handle what you're dealing with. At this point, I'm glad I don't have to use that hospital for medical care. Poor elderly patients with no family to fend for them.
I'm having laser treatments on my back. They're affordable and I figured I would give the treatments a try. I'll go three times a week for four weeks.
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NM - Go get um!!!! Glad Mom seems cleared with no more tests or procedures or surgery.
Carole: I'd be interested in hearing the specific name of the treatments you're getting. My derm doc sort of said "poo poo" when I asked about something like this to destroy the pre-cancerous growths and the AKs and SKs
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Wow! You gals have been busy lately!
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Saturday! Another major unload coming, feel free to skip.
Monday Mom had the HIDA scan done late morning. No reports, according to the GI nurse practitioner may not get a report until tomorrow. It took hours after mom got back to get her NPO order stopped, she didn't get to eat or drink until almost supper time.
Tuesday when I get to the hospital we are still waiting for the HIDA scan results, Mom is NPO again until we find out the results and if she needs another procedure. This goes on until midday, I pitched a fit, and demanded to see, face-to-face an actual gastroenterologist, not the dingbat Nurse Practitioner that can't tell us anything, As in threatening to file a complaint if he doesn't show up by 2 pm. Finally got put in touch with a manager that found out the gastro doc was in procedures all day until 5, but someone else from the department should have been managing that piece. The gastro doc finally calls me around 4:30 pm, and tells me the scan was read right after it was done and it showed no problems so gastro was signing off, nothing for them to do for her. Later we find out from the hospitalist that the plan is for Mom to start eating regular food again, and watch over the next few days to make sure her liver function tests keep getting better and no more nausea or vomiting, aiming for discharge on Thursday or Friday.
Wednesday when I got there Mom said a case manager had been in and told her she was going home today. When the hospitalist, a new one from the one we've been seeing comes in, he says that since GI has signed off and she could eat breakfast ok and her labs were a little better she was being discharged. I'm not really happy with this, I'm not convinced that eating one or two meals without nausea and vomiting is really enough, but he's sending her home anyway. So, Mom gets discharged around 2 pm, finally brought down to the me to take home around 4 pm. Her stomach is bothering her by the time she gets in the car, and I'm thinking she's upset about waiting to be brought down for 2 hours and things will settle when she gets home. Got her home, and the nausea gets progressively worse, the vomiting starts again and she is having belly pain that is getting rapidly worse. I take her back to the ER at 7:30 pm. The ER waiting area is packed but she gets taken back to a room in about an hour. Blood work done, her liver function tests have shot way up, even higher than before, and also shows she now has pancreatitis. The order is written to re-admit her to the hospital, but there are no open beds, so she will be staying in the ER overnight. The ER doc has been keeping her reasonably comfortable with IV morphine every 2-3 hours, The night hospitalist comes in to do the admission, talks about wanting to get another CT scan with contrast but that might interfere with Mom's kidney function due to her age. She won't even talk to me about pain management, again because of her age and the risks and goes back to talking about not starting antibiotics because there's no sign of actual infection. Half an hour after she leaves, the nurse is giving Mom antibiotics and telling us the CT scan been ordered. It takes an hour and a half to get the hospitalist to order pain medication, all that time mom is writhing in the bed and begging me to kill her. The hospitalist orders 1 dose of a different medication in a much too small dose. I hit the roof. The ER doc can't write orders anymore because she is technically not an ER patient any more, but an inpatient.
It's well into Thursday morning by now, so I go on the war path, demanding to see the hospitalist in person and for a Palliative Care consult. The daytime hospitalist comes in, give me the same 'can't give much pain med to an 88 year old, it might depress her breathing' line. After I tear him a new one he does agree to let Palliative Care 'make recommendations.' I didn't tell him that the ER nurse had put in the Palliative Care consult already, and the hospitalist didn't have a choice in that matter since he did give a one time order for a bit more of dilaudid and Mom was calming down. A Palliative care doctor came in, agreed that Mom could and should have adequate pain and nausea control, and wrote orders for scheduled pain and nausea medication, in addition to as needed pain meds. Within an hour of starting this regimen, Mom was able to be awake without writhing in pain, crying, and begging me to kill her. The Nurse Practitioner from GI that Mom had been seeing came in, would talk about anything but pain management, talked about getting another gall bladder MRI to compare to the one already done, and listed off a whole bunch of things that might need to be done. When the actual gastroenterologist comes in later (with a whole different story about what needs to be done) I tell him I do not want this NP involved in Mom's care at all going forward. Around 5 pm Thursday Mom is finally moved up to a room. I stay until she gets settled, and head for home about 6 pm. When I left Mom was comfortable, coherent, but tired and going to nap.
5:30 am Friday Mom calls, she's confused and upset, people are taking contacts off her phone, and won't tell her anything and she's upset because she hasn't had surgery, she was supposed to have had surgery, then says I'm not me, but a good imitation and hangs up on me. Mom can be a little confused when she first wakes up in the morning, but this is more than usual, although with everything she's been through and the pain medications I'm not surprised that it's a bit worse than usual. So I go in, get there around 6, she's already more awake and coherent and doesn't even remember calling me. In the meantime she did throw something at one of the staff who "was trying to make me do something and wouldn't let me do it." After a while a surgeon comes in, says the gall bladder needs to come out, Monday would be the soonest that could happen. The GI doc Thursday talked about doing an endoscopic procedure to clear out the bile duct if the gall bladder MRI showed one or if Mom's blood work was continuing to get worse and the MRI couldn't be done quickly. Her nurse came in around 9 am, told us Mom's blood work was not better and the procedure was scheduled for this morning and they would be coming to get Mom around 11-11:30. Shortly after that the NP from the GI group came in and starting talking about waiting for the MRI, but they were really booked and, since that test isn't done on the weekends, probably wouldn't be until next week. She didn't know the other procedure was already scheduled. When I told her, she started going on and on about risks and dangers and side effects and was scaring Mom half to death. Then the Palliative Care doctor came in to check on pain control, no changes made since that plan is working well, and Palliative Care will be available over the weekend if needed. They come to take Mom down for the procedure at 12:30. Took her back for the procedure about 2 pm. Finished at 4. The doc found a stone stuck in the bile duct, took it out, cleaned a lot of sludge out the ducts, found a lot of stones in the gall bladder. The gall bladder needs to come out, so now Mom is being turned over to surgery. NPO until 8 pm, then clear liquids tonight, progress to soft diet Saturday, regular diet on Sunday.
So here we are at today, Saturday. I spoke with Mom on the phone a while ago, she was a little confused but waking up nicely. She called me a short time ago, wants me to bring her a cup of "real" coffee "from anywhere that isn't the hospital." So I am going off to pick up her glasses and puzzle book, get her a cup of coffee, and see how the day goes. I hope we find out she will be having her gall bladder out on Monday and not and not going home to wait a couple of weeks to have it done.
Again, thanks for listening. I got some good hard sleep last night and am feeling much less like I'm coming apart at the seams.
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So the gall bladder was the problem all along? I've always heard that gall bladder problems can make a person really ill. I hope your mom can get relief, NM, and resume some quality of life. Keep us updated.
I plan to visit the WW site today so I may be cutting down on daily consumption to save some calories for food.
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MinusTwo -doing okay sister. It's a heavy deadline time for my project and working too much.
We had a big early snow storm this week. Four inches where I live and three or more feet up north. Temps went from highs in the 80s last week to highs in the 30s this week. Not much of a real Autumn this year.
The chili ristra photo got featured on a local news station this week 😊
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SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO envious of the snow!!! Enjoy your gorgeous weather!
NM, my heart goes out to you and your mom. Good luck to you both.
My DH's PSA numbers are starting to go up again so I will be joining the medical hamster-wheel. Also, we returned DH's hearing aids (costco) not even 6 months and they had to be repaired. They replaced them. We picked them up on Thursday. One is not working this morning. I'm out of sorts post election/sister issues and anything else seems too much. Deep breath.
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Gall bladders can be sneaky things. A few years ago, I had GI issues in both directions that would not stop. Finally went to an urgent care, and they checked me over: CT scan to rule out intestinal blockage or torsion, ultrasounds on the other organs, blood work, all the usual suspects. Nothing of note - probably a bad stomach bug. They gave me some anti-nausea and anti-diarrhetics and sent me home. Later that night, things were still just as bad, so we went back. This time, a doctor did my ultrasounds and found two 22mm+ gall stones that somehow had gone undetected earlier. He wrote orders for immediate surgery to remove my gall bladder. (I got to claim my stones after the surgery. Those things were enormous! Like the size of large dice. And so weird that they form cube shapes.) The post-surgery discomfort was way more bearable than the gall stone pain.
Denver is getting its first real stretch of sun since Tuesday. We've been under snow clouds since then, fluctuating between flurries and near-blizzard levels. This weather pattern is unusual for us. Typically we'll get a solid dump of snow for about a day, then the skies clear out and it all melts before the week is out. This much snow while so many trees still have leaves will keep the electrical line guys busy for a while. We lost three decent sized branches off our big cottonwood. Fortunately, no damage to the roof so far.
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A woman in the resort where we spend the summer had gall bladder issues and went through an ordeal before she was correctly diagnosed and had surgery. After surgery, she cannot eat beef or pork. She can eat chicken and vegetables. She lost 40 lbs and looks great. I think she regards the weight loss as a good trade off for the dietary restrictions. I have no clue why her digestive system can't handle beef and pork.
The snow is beautiful. We spent a winter in Vermont the first year of our marriage and worked at a ski lodge. It was quite an experience for a southerner.
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Gallbladder removal affects bile and many patients find that taking a supplement like tudca or digestive enzymes (trial and error) help with their digestion post surgery.
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Kim - how is your mother doing?
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The gall bladder stores bile, a fluid secreted by the liver that helps break down fats and oils from our food. If the gall bladder is removed, the liver still produces bile, but it is no longer stored until we eat a fatty meal - the bile is constantly present at lower levels in the intestines. For some people, this lower level is still sufficient. But for others, fatty meals can cause intestinal discomfort; so they avoid fried foods and fatty meats.
My dad had his gall bladder removed, and had to reduce his dietary fat like Carol's friend. I've been able to continue my normal diet after my -ectomy without issues.
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Thanks for the explanations. It sounds like fat in the beef and pork is perhaps the issue. This woman's husband and son are big hunters and venison is a part of their diet. It is very lean. I don't know if she eats it. People mix fatty pork with venison in the sausage making. And they make lots of jerky, which isn't something I'm used to eating.
I joined WW online and have cut back on daily alcohol. I'm limiting myself to a glass of Chardonnay before dinner and skipping my vodka martini with a multitude of olives. DH is recovering from knee replacement surgery and taking pain meds. So he hasn't been drinking any alcohol. That helps. Normally we both enjoy martinis at 5 pm, mine vodka, his gin.
Hope your mother is doing better, NM. Which would mean you're doing better, too.
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NM - I too hope your Mother is in better shape and things are more settled.
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I recently joined a poetry group run by a dear friend on Facebook. They publish an annual anthology of poems and so I wrote half a dozen for the book. When I know the title of the book and when it is coming out, I will let you know. I will also let you know the titles of my poems! This is my first time ever doing this and I am excited!
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Congratulations! That is so cool!
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Thank you!
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Thirsty Thursday! Mom is now back home minus her gall bladder. She is doing very well, some soreness after the surgery but no real pain. I spent the night with her last night just in case, but she was getting up and down and about the apartment just fine, made her own coffee and breakfast this morning. I ran to the store and picked up some milk and ice cream and couple other little things she wanted. I'm taking her to her follow up doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon. I am now back home with the puppers, who have been NOT HAPPY with me being gone so much this past week. I'm going to veg out with the puppers today and hopefully catch up on some sleep. So glad this mess is over with!
I play ketchup tomorrow or over the weekend.
Thanks for listening to me whine and moan about things at the hospital. 0326
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NM, good news on your mom. Hope she recovers with no glitches and you can get back to normal life. It will be interesting to see if she has any dietary issues.
I'm following the WW plan and limiting my drinking to a generous glass of wine at night before dinner. So far I'm not feeling overly deprived. I'm also going to senior exercise classes at the gym.
Mommyof3, congrats on writing poetry. And you'll be published. Impressive.
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Great news on your mother Kim
One done, one to go. Cataract surgery on Right eye this afternoon. Next Thursday the Left eye will be done. Surgery was 15-20 minutes but lots of waiting before. I had to check in at 12 noon. Wasn't taken back to the "pre-op" area till close to one and it was about 2:15 before I was taken back. Tomorrow I have follow up with optometrist. Not sure when follow up with opthhamologist will be - I think in a month. I can't get new glasses till 3 weeks so a month from now. I will still need reading glasses but that doesn't bother me. I've been wearing reading glasses and lineless bifocals for 27 years!
I need to keep the eye "patch" on for 4 hours and put the first drops in. Then I only need to patch to sleep for the next several days.
Goiong to go shut my eyes. I'm tired,
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Thank you Carole
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Cataract surgery was miraculous for me. Hope it's the same for you, Karen.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Saturday! Mom is now safely home, minus one gall bladder. She's tired and feeling a bit weak, but able to get around and take care of herself. She let me spend one night then sent me home. She had a follow up appointment with her PCP yesterday, has another next week. She will be getting some PT at home but is already up doing dishes and cooking for herself. So today I have all day here at home with the puppers and a chance to clean up the mess they've made being left home alone so much this last week. And ot start writing the formal complaint letter I'm going to send in to the hospitial. I saw the hospital's satisfaction survey on mom's phone and filled that out, and blasted the GI people and hospitalists but good (it helps knowing which questions need to be answered a certain way for a hospital to get a good rating). Again, thank you all for letting me have a space to download and let out all the frustration and anger and fear I was feeling. Woithout your support I think I would have gone off the deep end.
The rest of Mom's story is that she was turned over to Surgery over the weekend, they kept her on a clear liquid diet, scheduled for a gall bladder removal on Monday. The gall bladder removal surgery went off laproscopically, without difficulty, Monday afternoon. She goes back to a different room on a different floor, ironically, the same floor she was on the first time around, but on the surgical side this time. Hospitalist #3 comes around, plan is to let her start eating real food Tuesday, and if she tolerates that and her lab work continues to improve, and she can walk around safely, she will go home Wed or Thursday. Tuesday PT came in and did their eval, recommended some home PT but did not indicate a need for rehab or not safe to go home, lab work is better, Mom is able to eat without nausea or vomiting, belly is sore but not really painful, Hospitalist #3 calls me, plan is to discharge Wed unless something bad happens. Wed am, hospitalist #3 calls, Mom is doing great, and is discharged. I have her home by lunch time! She is up and about with her walker, taking herself to the bathroom, changing clothes without help, made herself a cup of tea, took lots of naps. Thursday morning she is up before I am, fixes her own coffee, washes up and get dressed by herself, and kicks me out to go home and take care of my puppers.
Now to ketchup with everyone!
Carole—can I ask what the laser treatments on your back are for? I hope the treatment will be successful and have the results you want. Yes, the gall stone was the problem all along. When the GI people finally did the ERCP they found a stone blocking the bile duct and took it out. The story is that she had one that cause the trouble initially but passed before the first set of tests was taken, and then a second one got stuck after the test were done and created more trouble. I think either the scans didn't show the stone (scan frequently don't) or were mis-read and the stone was there all along, and the ERCP should have been done sooner, as that the definitive test for a blocked bile duct. Anyway, she is now home, able to everything she wants to do but a bit more slowly as she is tired from being in bed for a week, but she is already doing much better than many people her age after something like this.
Jazzy—wow, look at all that snow! I am so not ready for snow yet. That is a great pic! So glad it was featured!
Wally—I am sorry to hear about DH's PSA numbers. And having to return the hearing aids. Why do hearing aids have to be so problematic all the time? I'm not sure how I feel about the election results, It's certainly not the result I wanted and was hoping for. But I haven't had a whole lot of time to think about it, either. Lots of deep breaths going on!
Miriandra—Did you have your gallbladder taken out laparoscopically? Mom had really bad gas pains for a couple of hours after the surgery, and since then she has felt MUCH better. Did you have the same experience? The Recovery Room Nurse said everyone who had laparascopic surgery goes through a few hours of horrible gas pains right after. I did not realize the stone were cube shaped. DThat seems kind of odd, but given they start out as crystals, maybe not so much. My biggest beef is with Hospitalist #2, who did not keep to the plan of keeping Mom for a couple of days as her liver enzymes weren't coming donw as fast as they wanted and to be sure she would be able to eat, and not checking on her ability to get around at all before discharge. When he showed up at her bedside again I so wanted to ask if he still thought there was no reason to keep her in the hospital (where she would have ended up with the gall bladder taken out 3 to days sooner than she did). Glad you haven't gotten any roof damage from the snow. Sorry to hear the cottonwood lost some branches.
Carole—The gall bladder is responsible for making, storing, and releasing enzymes that help digest food, particularly fats. It used to be standard to put someone on a low fat diet after gall bladder surgery to prevent problems with fat not getting digested and causing diarrhea, but nowadays they say you can eat whatever you want, and if something bothers, limit how much of that you eat. Fortunately, Mom didn't lose any weight (she doesn't need to), but I lost 6# from multiple days of being up for 24 hours and not eating for 24 hours! Now I could stand to lose the weight! I can imagine how much of an experience a Vermont ski lodge season would be for a southerner!
Wallycat—I forgot about people taking digestive enzymes after gallbladder surgery! That used to be standard, too. I'll have to look up tudca, that's a new one on me.
Karen—Mom is doing very well, now, thank you!
Miriandra—great explanation of the effect of removing a gall bladder!
Carole—glad to hear your DH is recovering from knee replacement well. Mom is doing better and so am I, thank you.
Minus—Mom is much, much better now, thank you!
MOmmy—How exciting that I know a published author! I can't wait to get the book and read your poems.
Carole—I am happy to have Mom home, too. So far, no dietary issues, but It's early days and her appetite isn't fully back yet. Good luck with the WW plan!
Karen—glad to hear the first cataract procedure went well. I imagine you do feel tired, lots of body energy is being diverted to healing, so rest up!
Carole—so glad cataract surgery was good for you!
The Existentially Exhausted
Ingredients:
- 2 oz bourbon
- 1 oz honey syrup (equal parts honey and water)
- 1 oz lemon juice
- A splash of lavender-infused simple syrup (to evoke the calming essence of a field of lavender)
- A few drops of chamomile bitters (for a touch of tranquility)
- A lemon wheel and sprig of lavender (for a dash of whimsy and elegance amidst the chaos)
Combine all ingredients, except the garnishes, in a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with the lemon wheel and sprig of lavender. Sip this comforting elixir while wrapped in a cozy blanket, as you take a momentary respite from the weight of existence.
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