so, i wanted to rant about how much my mother has angered me...and the fact that she hasn't been taking care of herself and has had a Crohns flare-up since March and hasn't wanted to take anything for it. but instead, I get to post this and get it off of my chest.(this is a cross-post)
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Yesterday, my grandmother was supposed to take my mom to some dr appt but the dr cancelled cause he wanted some test...I was away for the afternoon and when I came back for my car, my grandmother informed me that my mother's one leg was swollen and that she can't talk on her own at all any more.
i nodded my head, took my car and went my own way cause we hadn't made a decision...
it wasn't until about 7pm last night when we made a decision to take her to the emergency room.
my mom curled up in a ball on the backseat of my car and i drove her to the hospital. while i was helping her get to and from the car i could feel her skin burning. she sat down and they did her vitals. her temperature was 102.4 and her heart rate was 173!!!!! they quickly rushed her off to the e.r. and started test after test...cat scan, xrays, u/s of the leg. i sat and watched them put the central line in and i only left the room when they asked me to. i watched like a hawk since i'm the only one in my family with medical knowledge...
one of the first things we found, since my mom is miss independent is that she has a HUGE, deep tear in between her rectum and labia...the tear starts kind of at her rectum. now this is a problem because she has no control over her bowels and CONSTANT diarrhea...no one knows how long she has had this but i did notice when i was taking care of her about a month ago that when she would mess on the bed, it would create 2 rings, making me wonder if she was bleeding...i dont know if it's from the wound or from the inside. she also was having horrible rash and skin break down from just having constant diarrhea.
they took blood and my mom has tiny veins...luckily they got a line in each arm and they were fighting to get every drop out of her...her blood was more like the color of chocolate, she was so severely dehydrated.
-normal blood count is about 12. she is at 6.5 which is dangerously low.
-they did an ultrasound on her swollen leg and found a HUGE blood clot, the reason why her leg is swelling--which started yesterday.
they started her on blood. and blood thinners. they started her on antibiotics because they need to try and stay ahead of this sepsis otherwise it's too late. they're waiting to find out what kind of bacteria it is so they can properly treat it(hopefully they know now)
the e.r. nurse kept coming in the room and was trying to get my mom to realize how bad this is
and it hurt to keep hearing her repeat, "you're very very sick" "it's really good that they brought you in it this could have been too late"
i know people beat sepsis all the time
it's just like...holy shit
you're septic. you have half the normal blood count. you have a large clot in your leg. you have a HUGE tear in your rectum. you're possibly bleeding internally. and you have crohn's disease that has been flaring up since MARCH...she's basically been confined to home since march and doesnt do much more than walk to and from bed....she went to the drs last week and my uncle had to carry her in cause she's so weak.
also
if you didnt catch the whole, she's on blood AND blood thinners.
the last thing we learned as we left was that they stopped the blood thinners for the blood clots and are keeping up the blood...cause they contraindicate one another...they can only treat one of these at a time...hopefully they choose the right one.
i will be there in about an hour to find out what is going on.
in the ICU in disney owned Celebration, FL
with it's color changing water fountains and new expansions, wondering wtf is happening to my mom and if we finally told her that enough was enough and that she was going to the hospital soon enough...
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Yesterday, my grandmother was supposed to take my mom to some dr appt but the dr cancelled cause he wanted some test...I was away for the afternoon and when I came back for my car, my grandmother informed me that my mother's one leg was swollen and that she can't talk on her own at all any more.
i nodded my head, took my car and went my own way cause we hadn't made a decision...
it wasn't until about 7pm last night when we made a decision to take her to the emergency room.
my mom curled up in a ball on the backseat of my car and i drove her to the hospital. while i was helping her get to and from the car i could feel her skin burning. she sat down and they did her vitals. her temperature was 102.4 and her heart rate was 173!!!!! they quickly rushed her off to the e.r. and started test after test...cat scan, xrays, u/s of the leg. i sat and watched them put the central line in and i only left the room when they asked me to. i watched like a hawk since i'm the only one in my family with medical knowledge...
one of the first things we found, since my mom is miss independent is that she has a HUGE, deep tear in between her rectum and labia...the tear starts kind of at her rectum. now this is a problem because she has no control over her bowels and CONSTANT diarrhea...no one knows how long she has had this but i did notice when i was taking care of her about a month ago that when she would mess on the bed, it would create 2 rings, making me wonder if she was bleeding...i dont know if it's from the wound or from the inside. she also was having horrible rash and skin break down from just having constant diarrhea.
they took blood and my mom has tiny veins...luckily they got a line in each arm and they were fighting to get every drop out of her...her blood was more like the color of chocolate, she was so severely dehydrated.
-normal blood count is about 12. she is at 6.5 which is dangerously low.
-they did an ultrasound on her swollen leg and found a HUGE blood clot, the reason why her leg is swelling--which started yesterday.
they started her on blood. and blood thinners. they started her on antibiotics because they need to try and stay ahead of this sepsis otherwise it's too late. they're waiting to find out what kind of bacteria it is so they can properly treat it(hopefully they know now)
the e.r. nurse kept coming in the room and was trying to get my mom to realize how bad this is
and it hurt to keep hearing her repeat, "you're very very sick" "it's really good that they brought you in it this could have been too late"
i know people beat sepsis all the time
it's just like...holy shit
you're septic. you have half the normal blood count. you have a large clot in your leg. you have a HUGE tear in your rectum. you're possibly bleeding internally. and you have crohn's disease that has been flaring up since MARCH...she's basically been confined to home since march and doesnt do much more than walk to and from bed....she went to the drs last week and my uncle had to carry her in cause she's so weak.
also
if you didnt catch the whole, she's on blood AND blood thinners.
the last thing we learned as we left was that they stopped the blood thinners for the blood clots and are keeping up the blood...cause they contraindicate one another...they can only treat one of these at a time...hopefully they choose the right one.
i will be there in about an hour to find out what is going on.
in the ICU in disney owned Celebration, FL
with it's color changing water fountains and new expansions, wondering wtf is happening to my mom and if we finally told her that enough was enough and that she was going to the hospital soon enough...
Now, to turn your journal on to me, before I'd met Angie, had I read this journal I'd be nearly flipping out. Now, reading it I feel about the same as if someone tells me that their car broke down. It's like hearing them describe how it was overheating and think "ok, sounds like a stuck thermostat, on that car it should take like an hour's work to replace and $8 in parts." Before going through it I'd have thought there'd be no way in hell that anyone could even live through the experience of hearing that's happened to someone. Going through something similar I can actually appreciate how you can talk about it without wanting to die yourself. I'd have never thought it would be possible.
Haha "color changing fountains". Something every hospital needs. Right out front of the roller coaster entrance, across the motorized walkway from the Cardiovascular ride.