Friday, April 27, 2012
Four of the five days this week have been spent at appts. We have visited with Dr. Price twice, once before the CT, and today. The CT showed a fistulous tract, no big surprise, with fluid build up just under the abdominal wall. Dr. Price removed the drain on Tuesday, because it wasn't draining anything and just causing horrendous amounts of pain. A new 'hole' appeared next to the drain site, which could possibly be the fistula trying to drain. Not quite sure what it is. Weird. The body is such a strange piece of work.
So, to sum up the visits: we are pretty much just status quo. No new drain. staying on the IV antibiotics for at least another 2 weeks. They are kind of a pain because they are at 6a.m., noon, 6p.m., and midnight. Doesn't leave much time for Brent to sleep. He is definitely sleep deprived. The good news is that since the drain came out on Tuesday, he has been relatively pain free. We are still not sure why that drain was so much more painful than any other. Dr. Price says that Brent is a ticking time-bomb. That's sure not very comforting. Rather disturbing actually. Oh well, can't dwell on that.
Today is Michelle's 23rd birthday! Woo-hoo! A week from now we will be watching her graduate with a B.S. in Nursing. Woo-hoo! Yay Michelle! It will be fun to be with family and her friends. :)
That's all for now. It's supposed to be a good, warm weekend. Maybe I will plant the rest of my garden. :) I truly love my yard and garden. Have a good weekend.
Lisa
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Well, we have spent the past 2 days taking trips to Dr.'s in Salt Lake. On Monday we visited with Dr. Jones (G.I.). Not much decided there, except that Brent will most likely go back on Humira after signs of infections are gone. He wouldn't take the drain out, and said we had to go to Dr. Price for that. Grrrr. Even I have pulled a drain out.
Brent's drain has been extremely painful this time. We aren't sure why. It was no longer draining anything at all. We made an appt. today to see Dr. Price (surgeon), and he did take the drain out, which was very painful. There is a concern about a large red spot, and a sore next to where the drain was, so tomorrow Brent gets to have another CT scan to see what's going on, if anything. He is still on IV antibiotics every 6 hrs. He doesn't get hardly any sleep. Hopefully with the drain out, he can sleep tonight.
No other news I guess. Just hoping the CT doesn't show another abscess or fistula.
Michelle graduates next Friday! Yay! She will be an R.N. with a Bachelor of Science degree. Woo-hoo! We are proud of her. Now we pray she can find a job. :)
More news as we get it.
Lisa
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Just a clarification
Just to clarify Lisa's post I am NOT in the hospital. We were at LDS hospital having a drain inserted. It takes the better part of the day to be prepped, sedated, worked on, and then observed to make sure you are ok to go home.
Friday, April 13, 2012
So, here we sit at LDS Hospital. This will most likely turn into a rant so if you are not in the mood for negativity today, you may just want to click on the little 'x' and go read someone else's blog.
On sunday night Brent began running a fever and had some pain in his side. The fever went away and then came back again on Monday night. First thing Tuesday morning we called Dr. jones' office (the new GI) and informed them of it and requested him to order a CT. We didn't hear back from him until after five o'clock , too late to order anything of course. He said to call his office in the morning and tell his MA to order a CT. So, now we are to Wednesday, and still nothing. Called the office, was assured by the obnoxious valley girl who answered the phone that she would get the message. I called again at one o'clock inquiring as to the status of the ordering of the CT. Oh, well, they had been seeing patients all morning so she hasn't had time to see her messages. Knowing I was not well pleased, we were once again told that the message would be delivered. Nothing. Nobody called. At about 4:30 we gave up and called Dr. Price's office instead. His nurse paged him in O.R. And finally got a CT ordered for first thing Thursday morning. CT showed possible abscess and fistula. Again. Yippee. Dr. Price looked at the CT and wasn't sure it was an abscess, so he had his radiologist look at it. He agreed it was an abscess. So, here I sit, waiting once again, while Brent has a drain inserted into his side.
We can't help but wonder if this could have been avoided if we would have caught it right away with antibiotics on Tuesday, rather than wait until Friday. We are so angry and frustrated with the dr. Office for their uncaring attitude even after I told them it was rather urgent. Grrrrr. Brent can go from being fine to being septic in a matter of hours. They know this. It's just so frustrating. As Brent said in his Facebook post. "even if you are the best Dr. In the world, if your office staff are a bunch of idiots, it just doesn't matter." we are now searching for a newer new GI. Preferably one that has a competent office staff that actually listens. If I had ended up taking Brent to the ER there would have been hell to pay. Don't cross me when it comes to my husbands health care. I am very capable of going all 'momma bear' with no problem.
When the fever hit on Sunday, you could probably hear our hearts sink. Brent has been doing SO well and was getting ready to go back to work full-time again. Every set back gets harder and harder to take. Every time we make plans to do anything, they end up being cancelled. Supposed to be in St. George right now with family and friends. Grrrr. So frustrating, especially since we could have probably gone if this had been handled in a timely manner.
Well, if you didn't click on the 'x' and muddled your way through this whining and complaining, good job! Sometimes you just gotta vent. And since this is my blog, I guess I get to vent whenever I want. Thanks for sticking with us. It's been a long six years.
Lisa
On sunday night Brent began running a fever and had some pain in his side. The fever went away and then came back again on Monday night. First thing Tuesday morning we called Dr. jones' office (the new GI) and informed them of it and requested him to order a CT. We didn't hear back from him until after five o'clock , too late to order anything of course. He said to call his office in the morning and tell his MA to order a CT. So, now we are to Wednesday, and still nothing. Called the office, was assured by the obnoxious valley girl who answered the phone that she would get the message. I called again at one o'clock inquiring as to the status of the ordering of the CT. Oh, well, they had been seeing patients all morning so she hasn't had time to see her messages. Knowing I was not well pleased, we were once again told that the message would be delivered. Nothing. Nobody called. At about 4:30 we gave up and called Dr. Price's office instead. His nurse paged him in O.R. And finally got a CT ordered for first thing Thursday morning. CT showed possible abscess and fistula. Again. Yippee. Dr. Price looked at the CT and wasn't sure it was an abscess, so he had his radiologist look at it. He agreed it was an abscess. So, here I sit, waiting once again, while Brent has a drain inserted into his side.
We can't help but wonder if this could have been avoided if we would have caught it right away with antibiotics on Tuesday, rather than wait until Friday. We are so angry and frustrated with the dr. Office for their uncaring attitude even after I told them it was rather urgent. Grrrrr. Brent can go from being fine to being septic in a matter of hours. They know this. It's just so frustrating. As Brent said in his Facebook post. "even if you are the best Dr. In the world, if your office staff are a bunch of idiots, it just doesn't matter." we are now searching for a newer new GI. Preferably one that has a competent office staff that actually listens. If I had ended up taking Brent to the ER there would have been hell to pay. Don't cross me when it comes to my husbands health care. I am very capable of going all 'momma bear' with no problem.
When the fever hit on Sunday, you could probably hear our hearts sink. Brent has been doing SO well and was getting ready to go back to work full-time again. Every set back gets harder and harder to take. Every time we make plans to do anything, they end up being cancelled. Supposed to be in St. George right now with family and friends. Grrrr. So frustrating, especially since we could have probably gone if this had been handled in a timely manner.
Well, if you didn't click on the 'x' and muddled your way through this whining and complaining, good job! Sometimes you just gotta vent. And since this is my blog, I guess I get to vent whenever I want. Thanks for sticking with us. It's been a long six years.
Lisa
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Quick update:
Everything is still going well with Brent. So far so good. He has been working almost full-time the past couple of weeks. On the 17th, he is having eye surgery to replace a lens that is clouded over from all of the prednisone he has taken over the past 28 yrs. If all goes well with the surgery, he will be able to see again! Woo hoo! He can see out of it now, but not very well, especially if it is bright outside. So, that's about all there is to tell.
We wish you a very Happy Easter Sunday. We are extremely thankful for our Savior, and his atoning sacrifice for us. We know that He lives, and hope and pray that we can learn and grow to become more like Him. Thank you for being such good examples of Christlike love in our lives.
Much love,
Brent & Lisa
Everything is still going well with Brent. So far so good. He has been working almost full-time the past couple of weeks. On the 17th, he is having eye surgery to replace a lens that is clouded over from all of the prednisone he has taken over the past 28 yrs. If all goes well with the surgery, he will be able to see again! Woo hoo! He can see out of it now, but not very well, especially if it is bright outside. So, that's about all there is to tell.
We wish you a very Happy Easter Sunday. We are extremely thankful for our Savior, and his atoning sacrifice for us. We know that He lives, and hope and pray that we can learn and grow to become more like Him. Thank you for being such good examples of Christlike love in our lives.
Much love,
Brent & Lisa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
