Too much time spent in Medical Facilities

Julie I am very sorry you two are facing so many troubles but I would tend to agree with what you said about the pain medications and depression and why Dick is not paying attention. I follow your posts and you both have been down a long and difficult road and I keep you two in my daily prayers. Joe

Pat, he doesn't exhibit any of the signs of stroke. I think it is the cumulation of pain meds, pain, depression, anemia, and being an only child. He seems very self focused now. It is like he is a very distractible 5 year old that I have to keep getting his attention and redirecting him. The nutritionist asked if it could be chemo brain. The Revlimid is chemo so I will ask if it can have that effect.
Plus I keep wanting him to be at least the way he was 2 months ago.

Clara, I agree I would much rather give the pills at home than spend any more time than we absolutely have to at the hospital or clinic. Julie

I will agree with you on that.

Our last incident was Sat. at the ER. Thought Bob had a blood clot or clots but after an ultrasound was done, decided it was cellulitis. Had a shot and is on Keflex 4 times a day. The report said it was in his R leg and shoulder..I have not figured out the shoulder deal yet but we will see our oncologist on Thurs. for a follow-up on this and other issues.

Yes, it is hard to sit there and wait. Seemed like 25 people came in to do something. Just glad we could come back home. I am glad to get up at 1am to give a pill instead of being in the hospital.

Clara

Julie thats really worrisome. Is it possible he had a TIA?
My husband had one that lasted about 3 minutes...he couldn't respond to any of my commands
You could use some simple tests to help determine if a person is having a stroke:

1. Have the person smile.

2. Have the person speak a simple sentence.

3. Have the person raise his/her arms.

4. Have the person stick out his/her tongue. If the tongue appears crooked (it goes to one side), it could be a sign of a stroke.

If the person has difficulty with any of these tasks, he or she may be having a stroke
I'm sure you know all these but thought i'd mention it.........Pat

We have had several days of being at a medical facility. Thursday we went early to the Cancer Center so they could draw blood and do the crossmatch and type. An hours after his scheduled time they came and told us it would be somewhat longer as they were having problems finding a match due to the antibodies in Dick's blood. Those antibodies that were introduced by previous transfusions. By mid afternoon they had one unit. So he got one unit and we were there until 6. I saw the lab report and his hemoglobin was 8.1 and platelets were really low at 30. Sitting in the chairs really does a number on my sciatic nerve

Friday he had a pre op meeting scheduled for the stent replacement today. Then it was the follow up with the Radiation Oncologist after that it was back to the Cancer Center for the second unit of blood. It was 6 p.m by the time we got out of there again. While I was at the Cancer Center I talked with a a Nutritionist about how to make sure Dick was getting adequate nutrition. He has been wasting away and the Radiation Oncologist told us it was due to the cancer and that we had to make sure he was getting good nutrition.
I am keeping a record of what he eats and the nutritionist will look at it tomorrow. I am now reminding him that he needs to eat something every 2 to 3 hours. Just one more thing for me to keep track off.

Today he had the stent replaced in his right ureter. The did a retrograde pyelogram on the left side as well as look at it and that side looks good. The stent will keep the urine flowing on the right side. The bladder looked fine. They used light sedation and Dick came around pretty fast so we were home by 3. Then he seemed to have a stupid attack. I asked him a question and he didn't respond and this happened 3 times until I yelled at him. He doesn't take in anything I say. I hate to see him like this. He seems to have lost about 50 IQ points as I have to talk him through every step.
I recommended he take his evening meds and insulin now and then go to bed and sleep through to morning. He went to the bathroom and the bedroom and forgot what I said. He is now calculating his insulin in the bedroom as I brought the test kit, insulin, pills and water to him. Julie