New and need help with mom’s condition
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With the nature of this monster I strongly suggest another doctor. We cannot be with a doctor who does not understand the urgency of what our loved ones
are going through. Just a suggestion but if you tell us where you live perhaps some members here can steer you to a good doctor.THANK YOU ALL for your kind words and advice. Well, mom’s doctor NEVER called today, after promise from his physician’s assistant that she would make sure my mom was called today. Mom actually had a better day today, believe it or not, and was able to keep a few things down and the reflux was not as bad. Mom is going to cancer center to get an IV to rehydrate. Still waiting on the doc for the results of the scan. I am encouraging her to call her surgeon to see about a scope to see what is going on, but the doc told her he wanted the results of the scan before having a scope. Praying for some assistance from her doctor to assist with mom and also looking into other doctors that might assist us.
If you can’t convince your Mom of the need to go to the ER, there is a simple “test” you can do at home to see if dehydration is the issue. Remember, headaches and dry, cottony mouth can be symptoms of dehydration. As for the no-lab test, pinch the skin on the back of your hand to form a “tent.” When you let go, does the tent hold in place or disappear. If the tent disappears immediately, dehydration might be happening, but it is not the major issue and can be addressed by simply trying to remember to take more frequent sips of any fluids, though broth and clear liquids are usually best if vomiting has been a problem. Also, eating ice chips can help if temperature is not an issue. If the “tent” of skin holds for several seconds, the dehydration is serious enough to merit an IV in the ER. I had a scare the first time I was seriously dehydrating because I didn’t know what was happening, but my own voice didn’t sound normal inside my head; almost seemed like the whole head was hollow. And if you’re getting fluids through an IV, they can also put an IV medication to alleviate the nauseousness at the same time. My serious dehydration occurred while I had stents with external drainage bags. When the drainage was allowed to flow, I could easily lose 1000 ccs of fluid in a day, which is impossible to replace with sips from a cup. I had several days in a row where I was given a couple of bags of saline solution via IV, but I bounced back when we capped off the drainage tubes. Hope this helps someone, and of course, anyone in ER should know the seriousness and solution for dehydration, even if your onc is not available for consultation.
I have to agree with Marion. I think it is time for a trip to the ER. She probably is dehydrating and that will only lead to other issues.
Good luck to you and I hope things start to improve soon.
DarlaThis is my opinion only. Projectile vomiting and no intake of food and fluid over these many days will cause your Mom do be dehydrated. I would take Mom to the Hospital. There they will have to deal with her symptoms.
Best wishes coming your way,
MarionThis is a reply to your query about what do blood tests mean:
Do you ask for copies of the lab reports on your mother’s blood tests? They will probably look like a foreign language to you and require some effort to make sense of.
However, Wickipedia has a very readable section on Lab tests that tells what numbers would be considered “normal” for a given person with distinctions for age, sex, pregnancy, etc. It also sometimes indicates what having higher or lower values than “normal” may mean.
You can find out what blood tests your mom is having from what is checked on the paper (I assume) your mother takes to the lab where blood is drawn. Your will probably see things like Hepatic Function Panel or Complete Metabolic Panel followed by numerous abbreviations for the things being measured. Some are abbreviations for rather long names and some are symbols for the chemical elements. The panel names are where I would start the search in Wickipedia. It may take some time but you can usually find what all the abbreviations mean.
I like your moms response! What a wonderful spirit. I hope they can get your moms symptons under control.
Kris
That is just terrible! Once in a while we get a doctor and no matter how good he may be its the office staff who play games with our lives! I guess being as tenacious as I am I would demand to talk to him TODAY! If he does not call back then I would have a new doctor in 30 minutes and have all records sent to the new doctor. The one time this has happened to us it was a blessing in disguise. Hope you can get to him now, its your right and I love your feisty mom!!!
Hi,
Rather disappointed, not to much of an update on my mom. She is still sick and we have called the doctor with no success. He was out of town last week. His nurse assistant promised that she would call mom tomorrow to discuss options. We waited all day yesterday hoping to hear something. She has a previously scheduled appointment this coming Monday, but we did not want to wait this long. Hard watching mom not being able to eat and reflux so bad it causes her to projectile vomit. I know the doctors are busy, it is just hard to deal with. She told the nurses assistant that she may not be important to the doctor, but her family sure thinks she is important! Discouraged…I’m sure others have been there too. Thanks for listening.Hi,
Have you tried different types of meds for your mums reflux? My dad had this this week for the first time and I spoke to a cancer nurse this morning regarding it. She told me that if these meds didn’t work for my dad then we would be able to try a different type to see if they worked.
My best wishes to you and your mum.
Gavin
I would contact the physician. Your Mom’s rapid weight loss combined with the consistant nausea needs to be addressed and the Nov. 2nd appointment is too far off. Is there someone else who can help you? Nursing a child with the flu is a demanding job in itself. And, by the way, don’t worry about your postings and where it lands. Although, all of us try our best to use the correct categories but; many times we miss.
Best wishes coming your way,
MarionMy mom’s reflux is all the time and then it seems when it gets too bad she vomits. This happens quite a bit. She keeps feeling like there is pressure in there and today she said she is bloated. She is not scheduled to go to doc until November 2nd.
Thank you for the link on scar tissue. Have not had a chance to review yet. Trying to nurse a sick child back to health. It seems that this flu is everywhere.
don’t know if this will be of much help but here’s a link to info about scar tissue. i found it to be very informative as i’m experiencing a lot of pain since my last surgery.
http://ce.nurse.com/ce573/CoursePage
hoping that your mom improves.
barb h
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