Try Not To Get Sick During What is Effectively a Holiday Weekend

wolf · 07-03-2006, 01:21 AM

My mom's in the hospital and as a consequence I'm not getting the usual amount of opportunities to get online as usual.

She's doing okay at this point, but still not out of the woods. She has a massive abdominal infection, and they're still trying to figure out the origin. There is a possibility that she will need surgery, but that's a bridge we'll cross when we come to it.

From time of arrival at ER to time of admission ... NINE hours. They had her in X-Ray and then CT Scan fairly quickly (X-Ray within a half hour or so, then two hours after that into the CT, but that was based on the amount of time that the contrast material had to be in her system).

Admittedly my hospital doesn't have to do as much stuff as a medical hospital, but come on ... nine hours?? We typically take two to three hours from front door to inpatient unit.

The one upside to the hospital we went to is that the other, bigger, shinier (better, IMHO) hospital I would have preferred to take her to receveived the victims from a head-on collission between two SEPTA trains. We were sitting in triage when my pager started going off over and over and over ... All my mom's specialists have privileges at the hospital she prefers to go to, so she may have better coordination of services.

I'm holding up, she's well enough to be cranky, although yesterday when she was convinced she was going to die I was getting all kinds of instructions ... location of the cemetary deed, and instructions to give her the cheapest send off possible, and NOT to put her in the family plot that she gave me the location of the deed for. She fights with her family enough currently, she doesn't want to hang with them in the afterlife, either. I was told where the deed was just so I could give it to her brother.

Sundae · 07-03-2006, 06:57 AM

Good luck & fingers crossed for your Mom - I hope they find the cause soon. It does sound like she's in a good place to be, once you get over the first hurdle.

In London I had 9 and 7.5 hour waits in A&E (ER) which I simply didn't understand. I was walking wounded so the waiting affected my mood more than my health, but I still considered it excessive.

Luckily waiting times in A&E have been targeted and the last time I went (in Leicester) I was seen within 30 minutes.

Any parent well enough to be morbid sounds like a parent on the mend

Griff · 07-03-2006, 07:03 AM

I'm sorry to hear about your Mom's troubles. 9 hours seems more than a little excessive. good luck G

Trilby · 07-03-2006, 08:22 AM

my best wishes to you and your mom, wolf. I've always wondered about the brutally long waits in the ED's. I think half the time they're hoping people will get fed up and just leave; you know, the old, "Oh, I'm not that sick!" routine.

An abdominal infection is nothing to sneeze at. I hope she's on the mend.

Elspode · 07-03-2006, 12:33 PM

Tell your mom that we're pulling for her recovery, Wolf.

xoxoxoBruce · 07-03-2006, 12:36 PM

Bummer, Wolf.
Hang in there.

skysidhe · 07-03-2006, 12:37 PM

aww, best wishes for the best outcome wolf

slang · 07-03-2006, 12:55 PM

I was all prepared to craft this wonderfully witty (in my head anyway) message that may not be fully appreciated but have decided not to post it and instead write this post to create the illusion that I'm in process of developing tact.

Besides, you might still have my GPS coords.

Hope your mother recovers fully despite this initial delay. Make sure you give her a big hug for me.

07-03-2006, 02:08 PM

*Sending loving and healing energy to your mom, you and your family*

bluecuracao · 07-03-2006, 04:13 PM

I hope your mom has improved since you posted, wolf...and that you've had a chance to get some rest, too.

wolf · 07-04-2006, 01:10 AM

Rest? What the Hell is that?? I'm not entirely sure what things like "regular nutritious meals" are either.

The quality in the hospital cafeteria has gone down significantly since the last time my mom was hospitalized. I can't stand soggy croutons in a salad, and dammit, if you are going to serve Chicken Cesar Salad you should have some damn Cesar Dressing for it!!

The surgeon told my mother today that it was unlikely that she would leave the hospital without surgery, and also let her know that she is a high risk patient. We still do not know exactly what the surgery would entail.

The radiologist placed a drain to get the infected matter out of her abdomen, this apparently happened late this afternoon after I had visited with her.

My mom is scared, but in fairly good spirits, and seems to have a good team of people looking out for her welfare. She has even come to accept her surgeon, whom she had seen before and had some problems with. The Hospitalist (an internal medicine physician whose practice is covering the hospital, rather than having an outpatient practice) came to see her while I was there. He had just the right combination of goofy humor and good medical skills, and said that members of his own family have been treated by this particular surgeon, and he wouldn't want anyone else.

I thank everyone for their prayers and energy, they are helping a great deal.

seakdivers · 07-04-2006, 06:36 PM

Oh my gosh Wolf - I just saw this post! I am really hoping that things have improved for your Mom..... that's some scary stuff. How are you holding up?

plthijinx · 07-04-2006, 07:46 PM

wolf, just saw the post as well. I send the best towards a speedy recovery for your mother!

Elspode · 07-04-2006, 11:49 PM

Keeping Mom in a good, positive humor and her spirits up are the first steps to ensuring her successful treatment and recovery. I can't imagine anyone doing a better job of that than you, Wolf.

BigV · 07-05-2006, 10:03 AM

wolf, I pray for healing for your mother, wisdom for her doctors and peace for you. Feel free to share amongst yourselves. I'll be rooting for you.

07-03-2006, 01:21 AM	#1
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Try Not To Get Sick During What is Effectively a Holiday Weekend My mom's in the hospital and as a consequence I'm not getting the usual amount of opportunities to get online as usual. She's doing okay at this point, but still not out of the woods. She has a massive abdominal infection, and they're still trying to figure out the origin. There is a possibility that she will need surgery, but that's a bridge we'll cross when we come to it. From time of arrival at ER to time of admission ... NINE hours. They had her in X-Ray and then CT Scan fairly quickly (X-Ray within a half hour or so, then two hours after that into the CT, but that was based on the amount of time that the contrast material had to be in her system). Admittedly my hospital doesn't have to do as much stuff as a medical hospital, but come on ... nine hours?? We typically take two to three hours from front door to inpatient unit. The one upside to the hospital we went to is that the other, bigger, shinier (better, IMHO) hospital I would have preferred to take her to receveived the victims from a head-on collission between two SEPTA trains. We were sitting in triage when my pager started going off over and over and over ... All my mom's specialists have privileges at the hospital she prefers to go to, so she may have better coordination of services. I'm holding up, she's well enough to be cranky, although yesterday when she was convinced she was going to die I was getting all kinds of instructions ... location of the cemetary deed, and instructions to give her the cheapest send off possible, and NOT to put her in the family plot that she gave me the location of the deed for. She fights with her family enough currently, she doesn't want to hang with them in the afterlife, either. I was told where the deed was just so I could give it to her brother. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis Last edited by wolf; 07-03-2006 at 01:24 AM.

07-03-2006, 07:03 AM	#3
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	I'm sorry to hear about your Mom's troubles. 9 hours seems more than a little excessive. good luck G __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

07-03-2006, 08:22 AM	#4
Trilby Slattern of the Swail Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 15,654	my best wishes to you and your mom, wolf. I've always wondered about the brutally long waits in the ED's. I think half the time they're hoping people will get fed up and just leave; you know, the old, "Oh, I'm not that sick!" routine. An abdominal infection is nothing to sneeze at. I hope she's on the mend. __________________ In Barrie's play and novel, the roles of fairies are brief: they are allies to the Lost Boys, the source of fairy dust and ...They are portrayed as dangerous, whimsical and extremely clever but quite hedonistic. "Shall I give you a kiss?" Peter asked and, jerking an acorn button off his coat, solemnly presented it to her. —James Barrie Wimminfolk they be tricksy. - ZenGum

07-03-2006, 12:33 PM	#5
Elspode When Do I Get Virtual Unreality? Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Raytown, Missouri Posts: 12,719	Tell your mom that we're pulling for her recovery, Wolf. __________________ "To those of you who are wearing ties, I think my dad would appreciate it if you took them off." - Robert Moog

07-03-2006, 12:36 PM	#6
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Bummer, Wolf. Hang in there. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

07-03-2006, 06:57 AM	#2
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Good luck & fingers crossed for your Mom - I hope they find the cause soon. It does sound like she's in a good place to be, once you get over the first hurdle. In London I had 9 and 7.5 hour waits in A&E (ER) which I simply didn't understand. I was walking wounded so the waiting affected my mood more than my health, but I still considered it excessive. Luckily waiting times in A&E have been targeted and the last time I went (in Leicester) I was seen within 30 minutes. Any parent well enough to be morbid sounds like a parent on the mend

07-03-2006, 12:37 PM	#7
skysidhe ~~Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.~~ Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 6,828	aww, best wishes for the best outcome wolf

07-03-2006, 12:55 PM	#8
slang St Petersburg, Florida Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 3,423	I was all prepared to craft this wonderfully witty (in my head anyway) message that may not be fully appreciated but have decided not to post it and instead write this post to create the illusion that I'm in process of developing tact. Besides, you might still have my GPS coords. Hope your mother recovers fully despite this initial delay. Make sure you give her a big hug for me.

07-03-2006, 02:08 PM	#9
rkzenrage Guest Posts: n/a	Sending loving and healing energy to your mom, you and your family

07-03-2006, 04:13 PM	#10
bluecuracao in a mood, not cupcake Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 3,034	I hope your mom has improved since you posted, wolf...and that you've had a chance to get some rest, too.

07-04-2006, 01:10 AM	#11
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Rest? What the Hell is that?? I'm not entirely sure what things like "regular nutritious meals" are either. The quality in the hospital cafeteria has gone down significantly since the last time my mom was hospitalized. I can't stand soggy croutons in a salad, and dammit, if you are going to serve Chicken Cesar Salad you should have some damn Cesar Dressing for it!! The surgeon told my mother today that it was unlikely that she would leave the hospital without surgery, and also let her know that she is a high risk patient. We still do not know exactly what the surgery would entail. The radiologist placed a drain to get the infected matter out of her abdomen, this apparently happened late this afternoon after I had visited with her. My mom is scared, but in fairly good spirits, and seems to have a good team of people looking out for her welfare. She has even come to accept her surgeon, whom she had seen before and had some problems with. The Hospitalist (an internal medicine physician whose practice is covering the hospital, rather than having an outpatient practice) came to see her while I was there. He had just the right combination of goofy humor and good medical skills, and said that members of his own family have been treated by this particular surgeon, and he wouldn't want anyone else. I thank everyone for their prayers and energy, they are helping a great deal. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

07-04-2006, 06:36 PM	#12
seakdivers Icy Queen Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Southeast Alaska Posts: 700	Oh my gosh Wolf - I just saw this post! I am really hoping that things have improved for your Mom..... that's some scary stuff. How are you holding up?

07-04-2006, 07:46 PM	#13
plthijinx Master Dwellar Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 4,197	wolf, just saw the post as well. I send the best towards a speedy recovery for your mother! __________________ For your dreams to come true, you must first have a dream.

07-04-2006, 11:49 PM	#14
Elspode When Do I Get Virtual Unreality? Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Raytown, Missouri Posts: 12,719	Keeping Mom in a good, positive humor and her spirits up are the first steps to ensuring her successful treatment and recovery. I can't imagine anyone doing a better job of that than you, Wolf. __________________ "To those of you who are wearing ties, I think my dad would appreciate it if you took them off." - Robert Moog

07-05-2006, 10:03 AM	#15
BigV Goon Squad Leader Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 27,063	wolf, I pray for healing for your mother, wisdom for her doctors and peace for you. Feel free to share amongst yourselves. I'll be rooting for you. __________________ Be Just and Fear Not.

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