The General Chat Thread (2016-2022)

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medtran49 said:
He is not really in present now. He thinks our dogs are the ones we had before the ones we have now.

I am so angry. He apparently had a bad night Saturday and they called in a different psychiatrist in the middle of the night, who put him back on Ativan/benzodiazepines which I and his other docs, including regular psych, don't want him on anymore due to the way they effect him, as well as way upped another med. Gen doc came in and told me about it yesterday a.m. He stopped the Ativan immediately and said he was going to note again in chart. However, that requires someone actually reading the chart. I'm thinking about putting a sign up in his room. I've got to get the other med issue taken care of today because I didn't notice it until I was looking at his med list last night.
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I'm so sorry to hear that Karen. Are you sure this is meds related? I had an episode of very similar symptoms a few years ago. It was brought on by shock combined with extreme physical exertion. I lost all memory of the previous year and was totally disorientated, but the symptoms receded over a couple of weeks. Might be worth looking into - transient ischemic amnesia.

Stay strong Karen, I hope Craig turns a corner soon.
 
It's partly stroke, partly postoperative cognitive dysfunction. The med has side effects of sedation and we don't want him sedated during day.

So far this morning, been here almost an hour, he's more alert, with it in some ways, not so much other memory wise.
 
medtran49 said:
It's partly stroke, partly postoperative cognitive dysfunction. The med has side effects of sedation and we don't want him sedated during day.

So far this morning, been here almost an hour, he's more alert, with it in some ways, not so much other memory wise.
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That's good. Compared to how he was a few weeks back its some kind of progress I suppose. Is he able to eat solids? If so, I was wondering if it would be possible for you to bring something familiar that he loves to eat. After all, he is a food lover and it might trigger his memory. Not sure what the rules are though.
 
He's on a pureed soft/thickened liquids diet now because he had problems with swallowing previously and he's still not back enough to retest him so he can go on a regular diet. He's not even back enough to bee-otch about the food being bad, and that's saying something for him. I have been thinking about making some red beans and rice because I can puree that and it will still taste the same pretty much, but taking the time to make it is another thing. All I want to do when I get home is work, then eat dinner and collapse in front of TV or when I'm there all day, eat dinner and then collapse in front of TV. We'll see how next couple of days go.

He did pretty well today. I was there until almost 1 than had to come home to work. He was making conversation, though it didn't always make sense, with staff that were in and out of room. He got testy with me a couple of times because he was being insistent about calling somebody he had an appointment with today and I kept telling him he didn't have an appointment with anybody, that he's been in hospital for 3 weeks. Had to tell him to calm down several times, but he was able to. Hopefully, he did well rest of afternoon and into this evening. The very , very nice nurse's aide is there until 7:30 p.m. our time today, and she can get him to calm down because he likes her. All the staff kept remaking on how much better he was today.
 
medtran49 said:
He's on a pureed soft/thickened liquids diet now because he had problems with swallowing previously and he's still not back enough to retest him so he can go on a regular diet. He's not even back enough to bee-otch about the food being bad, and that's saying something for him. I have been thinking about making some red beans and rice because I can puree that and it will still taste the same pretty much, but taking the time to make it is another thing. All I want to do when I get home is work, then eat dinner and collapse in front of TV or when I'm there all day, eat dinner and then collapse in front of TV. We'll see how next couple of days go.

He did pretty well today. I was there until almost 1 than had to come home to work. He was making conversation, though it didn't always make sense, with staff that were in and out of room. He got testy with me a couple of times because he was being insistent about calling somebody he had an appointment with today and I kept telling him he didn't have an appointment with anybody, that he's been in hospital for 3 weeks. Had to tell him to calm down several times, but he was able to. Hopefully, he did well rest of afternoon and into this evening. The very , very nice nurse's aide is there until 7:30 p.m. our time today, and she can get him to calm down because he likes her. All the staff kept remaking on how much better he was today.
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Be Aware people's minds change during stress, when I was coming out of a coma once I was swearing at my own family, I of course didn't know this until later. And aggressive, just don't get too uptight and take things to heart. It's just the process Craig's going through.
Thoughts and prayers to you both.

Russ
 
medtran49 said:
He's on a pureed soft/thickened liquids diet now because he had problems with swallowing previously and he's still not back enough to retest him so he can go on a regular diet. He's not even back enough to bee-otch about the food being bad, and that's saying something for him. I have been thinking about making some red beans and rice because I can puree that and it will still taste the same pretty much, but taking the time to make it is another thing. All I want to do when I get home is work, then eat dinner and collapse in front of TV or when I'm there all day, eat dinner and then collapse in front of TV. We'll see how next couple of days go.

He did pretty well today. I was there until almost 1 than had to come home to work. He was making conversation, though it didn't always make sense, with staff that were in and out of room. He got testy with me a couple of times because he was being insistent about calling somebody he had an appointment with today and I kept telling him he didn't have an appointment with anybody, that he's been in hospital for 3 weeks. Had to tell him to calm down several times, but he was able to. Hopefully, he did well rest of afternoon and into this evening. The very , very nice nurse's aide is there until 7:30 p.m. our time today, and she can get him to calm down because he likes her. All the staff kept remaking on how much better he was today.
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When I was an inpatient in rehab for 4 months, 2 years ago, there was a guy by the name of George who had had a stroke. When he first came in he was basically a the equivalent of a newborn child. He couldn't do anything. He had to be taught to swallow, he was doubly incontinent and so on. No family were allowed to see him at this stage. Only the staff and obviously the patients who were inpatients on the same ward. At the time, i remember thinking how bad he was and that he'd would have been better off not surviving the stroke.

Progress couldn't be measured on a daily basis at first, just weekly. And at first, it was very slow. Staff had to be with him 24hrs a day. He was in a special wheelchair similar to a infant's car seat. They wheeled him out and kept him with them all the time. They put so much care and attention into his care. Just feeding him was a nightmare but as the weeks progressed he learnt to eat semi solids and then soft foods. He learnt to communicate. At first by just pointing to what he wanted or was asked to identify. Images at first, then images with words and finally words by the time I left. He also was talking single words and feeding himself, starting to walk again, basic maths and could play games with the staff or any patients who had the time. He could recognise people and call us by names and with some hold basic conversations if we have pointers. His family were not allowed to see him from about 2 months after his stroke. He didn't know them at first but it was clear they meant something to him by the time I left.

The point I'm trying to make is that the advances in medical care now is stunning and what was preserved as not recoverable from had greatly changed. Plus the human body (despite what mine is trying to tell me) is capable if the most remarkable healing. By the time I left, he was walking with a frame, eating soft foods by himself (but closely supervised) and talking (shirt sentences). He knew very basic maths and staff were optimistic of good recovery. He wasn't going to make a full recovery, nobody expected that, but he wasn't that vegetable brought in by emergency ambulance on a long transfer late one night.

Please take care of yourself. We're here if you need us, but we're not going anywhere. Take the time out for yourself and for Craig and stay safe. Best wishes to both of you. I know I say it for everyone that you are in our thoughts and that we are all wishing Craig a good and full recovery and sending you our best wishes.
 
medtran49 said:
He is not really in present now. He thinks our dogs are the ones we had before the ones we have now.

I am so angry. He apparently had a bad night Saturday and they called in a different psychiatrist in the middle of the night, who put him back on Ativan/benzodiazepines which I and his other docs, including regular psych, don't want him on anymore due to the way they effect him, as well as way upped another med. Gen doc came in and told me about it yesterday a.m. He stopped the Ativan immediately and said he was going to note again in chart. However, that requires someone actually reading the chart. I'm thinking about putting a sign up in his room. I've got to get the other med issue taken care of today because I didn't notice it until I was looking at his med list last night.
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My body doesn't respond to some medications the same way it does for others. I got tired of explaining that to doctors so I just tell them that I'm allergic to X medication. That was the ONLY thing that prevented them from ignoring my requests to not receive certain meds. Maybe something like that would work for you when talking to his doctors about benzos.
 
Well the good news from the x-ray report (as opposed to my doctor) is that nothing except bone shows up on the x-ray. Gaps are excellent, bones are perfect, in fact it's an exceptionally healthy knee. 👍

The bad news is that we're no closer to explaining why it's currently non-weightbearing and hurts like hell. Grrr.

I don't know if gout shows up on xrays at all. I can't have the meds to test if it is gout because they contain a tablet filler made from dairy sugar (lactose) and whilst I'm fine with lactose, I'm allergic (and seriously so) you a dairy protein that frequently contaminates the lactose monohydrate tablet filler. Now if the drug is a branded well known brand such of the likes of boehringer ingelheim, then I'd happily try tracking the drug and risk anaphylactic shock (as a rule I've been fine with their drugs) but neither of the 2 in Australia are a manufacturer I recognise. So we're back to not knowing what's wrong and guessing... it could just as easily be a an MCL injury (inside leg joining femur to tibia ligament) in which case if it is a grade 1 injury I'm looking at a recovery time of 2-10 weeks. We're already at the end of the first week.

So frustrating. But at least we've ruled out OA which I have in both hips.

One very health joint that just hurts like hell
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SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Well the good news from the x-ray report (as opposed to my doctor) is that nothing except bone shows up on the x-ray. Gaps are excellent, bones are perfect, in fact it's an exceptionally healthy knee. 👍

The bad news is that we're no closer to explaining why it's currently non-weightbearing and hurts like hell. Grrr.

I don't know if gout shows up on xrays at all. I can't have the meds to test if it is gout because they contain a tablet filler made from dairy sugar (lactose) and whilst I'm fine with lactose, I'm allergic (and seriously so) you a dairy protein that frequently contaminates the lactose monohydrate tablet filler. Now if the drug is a branded well known brand such of the likes of boehringer ingelheim, then I'd happily try tracking the drug and risk anaphylactic shock (as a rule I've been fine with their drugs) but neither of the 2 in Australia are a manufacturer I recognise. So we're back to not knowing what's wrong and guessing... it could just as easily be a an MCL injury (inside leg joining femur to tibia ligament) in which case if it is a grade 1 injury I'm looking at a recovery time of 2-10 weeks. We're already at the end of the first week.

So frustrating. But at least we've ruled out OA which I have in both hips.

One very health joint that just hurts like hell
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Glad that your knee images are good. Sorry you are no closer to an answer. That can be so frustrating.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Well the good news from the x-ray report (as opposed to my doctor) is that nothing except bone shows up on the x-ray. Gaps are excellent, bones are perfect, in fact it's an exceptionally healthy knee. 👍

The bad news is that we're no closer to explaining why it's currently non-weightbearing and hurts like hell. Grrr.

I don't know if gout shows up on xrays at all. I can't have the meds to test if it is gout because they contain a tablet filler made from dairy sugar (lactose) and whilst I'm fine with lactose, I'm allergic (and seriously so) you a dairy protein that frequently contaminates the lactose monohydrate tablet filler. Now if the drug is a branded well known brand such of the likes of boehringer ingelheim, then I'd happily try tracking the drug and risk anaphylactic shock (as a rule I've been fine with their drugs) but neither of the 2 in Australia are a manufacturer I recognise. So we're back to not knowing what's wrong and guessing... it could just as easily be a an MCL injury (inside leg joining femur to tibia ligament) in which case if it is a grade 1 injury I'm looking at a recovery time of 2-10 weeks. We're already at the end of the first week.

So frustrating. But at least we've ruled out OA which I have in both hips.

One very health joint that just hurts like hell
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Has anyone mentioned torn meniscus? I had similar symptoms about a month ago. Woke up in middle of night crying because of pain. Could not walk on it the next morning. Off to ortho dr. And X-ray showed nothing. Dr. thought it was probably was a torn meniscus however, that would need an MRI to prove out. My insurance won't automatically approve MRI until other options are exhausted.
 
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