Katkeeper update
 

Mom is on a cocktail of blood pressure meds and is just waiting around for the people at her hospital to get together with the people at Penn. I am at her place helping out since she can't drive or lift more than 10 pounds, plus it is calming to have me around for some reason.

We will just wait all week for the call it seems

Thanks for the update. I've been wondering.

I hope you get the call soon.

so do I, only because this house has 64kbps DSL and it is horrible

best wishes flying your way.

I'm sure you're a comfort to your Mum UT. You're a good guy. How could you not be?

I'll be thinking of you both while you wait. xx

There are bits that are just kind of alarming, such as notarizing the power of attorney that I now get in case something goes wrong.

This is the sort of condition where there's a 4% chance of death in surgery but 10% each year you don't get it taken care of.

It's all so very shocking to us. But this is what life is, really, and before the CT scan and modern medicine it wouldn't even have been detected until the end.

Nice to see you still have your sense of humor! Would that power of attorney let you get away with upgrading to something faster?

Srsly, we're thinking of you both.

I hope all goes well for your Mom, UT. And remember, it could be worse. You could be stuck with dial-up!

Glad the slow Netz is all you have to Gripe about

Laughter is the best medicine after all.

Glad to hear from you UT. I'm confident all will be well, we are all pulling for her and you.

Wishing you and your family the best.

Hope all goes well and everyone is back to normal soon.

Good to hear from you. Best wishes to Katkeeper, and yourself. Slow innernet is teh suxxor! (I live with it!)

Well wishes from me and a nibbly kiss from Carrot.

I'm glad you can be there for her. best wishes g

Hang in there both of you. Being there for her is the best thing.
A true act of love.

Here's hoping for a smooth path.

I'm thinking of you, and I agree that being there for her is a really good thing.

Hang in there.

Hope all continues to go well and you get back to broadband asap!

Much love to you and the Kat.

And the update is...

NO UPDATE

which means they still haven't called her with more information. She's going to call them tomorrow, to try to move the process along.

She can't drive, can't lift 10 pounds, has a time bomb in her chest and is taking six different pre-surgical meds which is making her shaky and tired. Come on people, let's get going here.

But we did enjoy some of the area's best Japanese food tonight, so there's that.

Hang in there.

My friend is the wrong kind of surgeon (she does breast cancer), but I might be able to get you some names if you need them.

She finally called them. And they had forgotten her. They say the surgeon's office at Penn will be calling today.

unless they forget.

cocks.

The problem is 3rd party billing. If they treated us like CUSTOMERS instead of patients, we'd get better service. Stay on them. call every hour.

Sorry about your mom's health woes, bro.

:rar:

fuggers. What Jim said. "Stay on them. call every hour."

The surgeon's office didn't call today. We will be calling them tomorrow.

Are you freaking kidding me? Document every call, every non-returned call, and the fact that they 'forgot about her.' Keep a written record, because their complacency is unacceptable.

get this

She was prescribed a certain blood test. So Wednesday she went to the cardiologist's office to get that done. She spoke to the receptionist, who explained that the blood test isn't done at the office, it's done at the hospital.

Thursday upon calling the cardiologist's office to ask WTF why haven't we gotten an appointment with Penn yet, they answer....

"Oh. Well we saw you yesterday!"

yes i guess technically that is true

Oh ffs. Just when you really need people to be fucking competant.

Finally having enough she called the Penn doc directly and they were pros. She gets her first visit on Tuesday.

My own personal theory is that the incompetence reflects how shitty the Harrisburg area is.

I had given momwolf a book called "Don't Let Your HMO Kill You." I'm not sure if I still have it, or where it is, but it was a pretty good guide to negotiating the insurance minefield and becoming a director of your own care.

Maybe they forgot because they didn't see her case as more than routine, not at crisis stage yet? No? I tried.
Tell her she's got a big peanut gallery rooting for her. :thumb:

I'm allergic to peanuts, can I sit in the cashewnut gallery?

There's a big gang of us in the almond gallery, you're always welcome here!

you can sit in the carrot-chewed-up gallery too.

Sorry to hear about your Mom UT!

Keep on them to help your Mom you will have to.. I have had issues with the health care system involving my Mom and I was thankful my sister is a nurse. She rode their butt. Good luck...

Arf arf!

Tomorrow at 10am is the first meeting with the surgeon, or at least his office. We don't know what to expect. Will she be admitted directly? Or will they give her a week of reprieve or something?

Mom is moved into my house temporarily, as the new doc is a half-hour from here... more like 2.5 hours from where she lives.

Both our lives have been on hold for a week and a half. They will continue to be for many more weeks to come.

My Dad was in the hospital already when I received news of his aneurysm, so I don't have any first hand experience for your first question. When I did hear of his condition, I was very alarmed, but he wasn't. I attribute this to the reassurances he'd been given by the doctors. It seems to me that their attitude was more casual than mine based on better knowledge about the risk. It doesn't seem like a stretch to apply the same assumption to your situation, but I'm not a doctor, yadda yadda. Not minimizing, just... thinking.

Katkeeper goes in for surgery May 7. It's like... there's about a 10% chance she dies or has a stroke during surgery... but about a 10% chance she dies of the aneurysm, every year it isn't fixed.

We all live and die with similar odds every day, but they are rarely shown to us, and we rarely have the ability to play the odds. For example, John Ritter RIP never knew he was playing odds until he died, because he was never diagnosed with what killed him.

Wishing and praying for your mom. That would be good news and great odds.
I'd make that bet any day.

Best good vibes to both of you.

Really interesting perspective and good odds.

Walk in the park , best wishes from the front porch

Yesterday I drove her back to her house, and she stayed there overnight by herself and was not shaky in the morning. She feels that she's adapted to the blood pressure meds, and doesn't need 24x7 help. She was also given clearance to drive, so she doesn't need chauffeuring.

Since she's able to achieve this level of independence, this lets me resume my life for a little while, although I will still be regularly hauling back and forth on the turnpike.

To better deal with all the hauling back and forth, I didn't rely on the Cellar Car. As great as the Cellar Car is, it should not face this amount of mileage and/or be the only available vehicle in an emergency. So I have had two rentals which have really helped get the job done. Even if they are big American boats, they are quiet and new, and manage to make the trip down the pike a little easier.

Glad to hear things are a little calmer for now. Make sure you keep on looking after yourself, too, UT, so that you can continue to be the support for KatKeeper when she needs it.

More good news. I like that. :thumb:

Thannks for the upbeat update UT. :thumbsup:

Glad to hear Momz is doing better

Yes -- I realize, I have to pace myself for the recovery period.

Fabulous! :)

Hugs to both of you.

Good son! :)

She had some intestinal pain last night and so I will be staying there tonight and tomorrow night.

I don't know why I put this level of detail in here, except that it makes it somehow easier to share it with somebody.

J is the third-most affected in this situation as she is left alone in the house and it bothers her. Sometimes her own daughter is here for convenience sake (she works closer to here than where she lives).

You answered your own question UT.
It is easier to share. And because we love you and we know her (longer standing members probably know her better than I do).

We're interested. We worry too. Share away.

Sharing helps you, and it may help someone who goes through it in the future. Sharing is good.

Sharing helps. We're here for you and katkeeper.

Is she still going for surgery today? Good luck! We'll be thinking about you.

Thank you sir, and all
Right now she is undergoing the first step, a catheterization where they go in through a major artery in the groinal area and inject dye into the heart and aorta to do more imaging. I am in the hospital room waiting for the info from this procedure.