Just Another Herd Creature

I've notice dbubley has been more out of breath the last 4 or 5 days. The rehab center works like this: you call a main number and leave a message with a nurse, who then relays it to the doctor in charge of her care. I did this on Tuesday. Wednesday dbubley was out of the facility from approx 12:30 to 4 pm for an appointment with her surgeon. Thursday morning a physician’s assistant, who works with the doctor, stops in to see Betty and asks her a few questions. The PA told dbubley it’s probably caused by her weight and lying down in bed for a few weeks. 

Dbubley tells me this and I start to see red. She was in bed for 4 months after her kidney surgery and she was never out of breath like this. I left the paperwork with the number to call in the van. I was just getting ready to go get it when my cell phone rang, it was the PA. I didn’t even let her start in on dbubley's fat causing the problem, I told her this has not been an issue in the past and we need to figure out what has changed. They have her on warfarin to protect against blood clots while she is so immobile. I’ve been watching the blood work (I do love the fact that Kaiser gives you access to your test results on-line) and her PT INR (International Normalized Ratio – Prothrombin Time) number is more than twice the highest normal range. I asked the PA what the therapeutic number they were aiming for and could this med be the cause of her breathing issue. She assured me it wasn’t and in her 25 years had never seen this problem and her number was right where they wanted it to be. I then told her one of the side effects listed for this med (and quite high on the list) was breathing problems. And my Google search lead to several sites with reports from patients and doctors of this effect. She said she’d have to look into this. I also asked how dbubley's last chest x-ray looked and she admitted there seemed to be some fluid build-up. She ordered another x-ray and would give her a dose of lasix to reduce it. 

She then tried to push some of the blame on dbubley when she said “Well, she didn’t tell me everything.” With the type of meds she is on, unless she is in a 5 or 6 level of pain, when you ask her how she’s doing she’ll say “okay”. The only reason dbubley even mentioned the shortness of breath is because I kept saying something to her every time we talked on the phone. Well tonight I got a call from the facility letting me know they were starting dbubley on an antibiotic because the chest x-ray showed she has a “touch of pneumonia”. 

Don’t tell me this isn’t a case of medical fat bias! How bad would she have had to get before someone noticed and looked more closely at her. 

I was trying to get to sleep.  I heard a phone ring and I thought it was on tv, but it wasn't.  Nothing like a call at 3 am to get the adrenaline going.  The man said he was from Kaiser and wanted to talk to dbubley.  In my half asleep state,  my first thought was some kind of stupid Kaiser customer survey.  I told him she was still at KPPACC and why are you called at 3 am!  He said he was from the Kaiser Lab and was checking on her because she had a high potassium count (6.1.)  Okay at this point my mind cleared, as I whipped off my cpap mask and jumped out of bed.  I don't know why his information didn't include her current location, but I'm glad he got through to me.  I assume he called dbubley's number first and I'll probably find a message on her machine tomorrow.  It's good to know they have my name and number correctly in their system.  He's going to call KPPACC.  I thought about calling her, but I don't want to wake her up.  I'm sure the staff will do that soon enough.  I just sent her a text message, so if she is awake, I should get a call back. 

I know I need to get some sleep - I have to get up in 3 hours for work.  Puppy class is tonight too.  It's going to be a rough day.

I'm so tired of all this scary medical shit.  And then there's the swine flu. 
*pulling the covers over my head and setting the alarm for a year from now*


 Edit/Update:  She just called and they are taking her to the hospital.  She says she feels fine, but obviously the rehab center doesn't feel they can deal with the high potassium level and possible complications.  I'll try to get a few hours sleep and then see what I need to do.  Work or hospital or some portion of each. 

Yesterday it was one month since she went to the hospital with what we thought was a UTI.  And yesterday she finally left the hospital for the rehab center.  They removed her pik line, so she is now IV free.  The very hard work of getting her strength back now starts.  The day before they had her sit on the edge of the bed for the first time since the surgery and she was drenched in sweat from the pain and exhaustion.

Yesterday was hospital day,  serenejournal had her surgery. dbubley left room 823 at 2:30 pm for the rehab center and serenejournal came down from the recovery room at 3:30 pm and was put in room 829.  They missed being neighbors by an hour.  And because this is not enough medical crap in one day - I had a doctor's appointment at 11 am.  It was made before all this stuff started and was only suppose to be a basic check in to go over all my numbers, which were fine.  But (and there's always a but) I've had a shiny red swollen area on my shin for a few weeks, which I'd been ignoring for obvious reasons.  It hadn't gotten worst or better.  The doctor thinks it's cellulitis that my body's immune system has been able to keep in check, but it could "bloom" at any time and make me very sick.  I've been through this with stonebender , dbubley , and clever_doberman, so I know what I'm dealing with.  I have 10 days of Keflex and because I'm having alot of edema from my knees down, I have lasix.  And I have a damn cold - wheezing, coughing, stuff nose and ears - your basic miserable making cold.  I left a message for my boss at 3 am that I would not be in.  

And did I mention the toothache I have . . . I just had a crown put on a few weeks ago and almost immediately after two more teeth started to hurt.  I'm fairly sure I'll need crowns on those too.  But that will have to wait - I still have to pay for the one I just got.  I've stocked up on Orajel maximum strength.  

Mantra for the day (or maybe for my whole life) "This too shall pass don'tcha know."