Update on my Mom

[charisstoma]

Mom used her medic alert while my sister was at work. EMTs took her to the ER.
She had dizziness, cold sweats, BP 162/136 , blood sugar 188. (numbers. vaguely I think this is bad)

She is a breast cancer survivor of 20+ years, diabetic, and under stress (usually pain/surgery) her BP and sugar levels go up.

Admitting doctor and staff kept running off during consult with Mom so that Mom and my sister finally got out of the hospital at 1 am. One thing that doctor did say was that there were indications of neoplasia in the lymph nodes in Mom's chest, neck and right shoulder and Mom should have them biopsied. The doctor saw elevated white blood count, pain in abdomen and came up with UTI. Mom came home with a prescription for that hours after the doctor said she'd written it up and the nursing staff were supposed to have given it to Mom.
Admittedly they did put Mom in a room in the Psych wing.
My sister googled Mom's symptoms (do NOT do this) and came up with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.


This is today's update from my sister:

Mother's regular doctor called this afternoon and gave us information on the results from all the tests done on Mother while she was at the hospital Saturday. Everything seems to have come back normal. Nothing out of the ordinary was seen on the x-ray. The only thing that caught Mother's regular doctor's attention was that the bile duct was a bit enlarged. The doctor was a bit puzzled that a liver test wasn't performed, so one will be done at the same time labs and biopsy are done. The doctor was going to try to schedule the biopsy this Wednesday. Mother's doctor also took Mother off of the antibiotic that was prescribed for a UTI. Seems the bacteria culture came back negative, and Mother wasn't showing any symptoms related to a UTI. Mother is feeling much better. Her appetite is also improving.

Oh yes, you will love this, according to the visiting home health nurse that stopped by to check on Mother, the Emergency Room report indicates that Mother was suffering an anxiety attack.



ER doctor, per my sister, was a smart cookie and able to keep Mom on task describing what was wrong. My sister was impressed.

I have an interesting family.

Comments

[frogs_of_war]

Good to know that she's feeling better and it wasn't anything serious. Did they put her in the psych ward because they thought she was having an anxiety attack or did they think it was an anxiety attack because she was in the psych ward? My mother would have had an anxiety attack just from being put in a psych ward, even if it was the only open room in the hospital.

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

There is no telling with that hospital why she ended up in the Psych ward. Might have been a busy night for them and staffing being thin.
Mom and my sister didn't know it was the Psych ward until my sister commented on one of the other patients acting unusual and being told which ward they were in.

[2metaldog.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear your mom is okay. Incorrect diagnoses doesn't surprise me in the least. Also, completely wrong, idiotic stuff put into the admitting report is even less of a surprise to me.

I went to the ER during my 2nd TIA. I was coherent and calm (I'd already been through this before and knew what it was) but I was scared as I also knew how serious a thing it was. I had complete numbness on the entire left side of my body and uncontrollable muscle spasms on the right side of my body. I couldn't walk unaided and it was difficult to talk (because of, y'know, the muscle spasms and numbness) but I slowly told the admitting nurse my symptoms, that I'd had a TIA before and that I believed I was having one again. The nurse asked if I had a headache and I said yes.

I sat in the ER, waiting to see a doctor for 3.5 hours. When I finally saw one, he asked why I was in the ER for a headache. At least he was properly shocked at what I'd told him for coming into the ER (by that time, my symptoms had gone away). That TIA screwed my spatial reasoning and I can't help but think that if I'd gotten the proper medication (I never received any as they need to give you that shit within the first 30-45 minutes to be effective), I might not have the problems I do now with spatial reasoning.

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Have a feeling that my Mom did have a panic attack. There was pressure to have her put in a nursing home this hospital visit. Which my sister and Mom don't want. That would justifiably give Mom a panic attack.

Damn. Your experience makes me very angry on your behalf. How hard could it be to say, patient has had previous TIA and believes she is having another. Does have headache.

[2metaldog.livejournal.com]

With talk of being shunted off to a home, which she didn't want and the docs probably talking over her head like she wasn't there or couldn't understand a word being said, I can totally see her starting to have a panic attack.

At the time of my incident, I was 33, which is considered young for a TIA. It happens, yes, but rarely for someone that young. Although, for me to have said that I'd had one before should've gotten the nurse hopping since, y'know, prior episode. I think part of the problem was that I was calm and not freaking out. Couldn't be serious if I wasn't panicking, right?

Given my novella sized list of current and past medical issues and the amount of time I've spent in hospitals, it takes something truly stellar to make me freak out. Although, to be fair, even when The Boy was born and a vein was damaged leading to a very impressive arterial spray that I could see even without my glasses on and knowing I was bleeding out, I was still calm. They'd either fix it or not and having a freak out would only make me bleed out faster. Yep, I'm that calm and rational under pressure.

[mee-eep.livejournal.com]

Was she having a panic attack due to other symptoms or was it a complete mis-diagnosis?
Psych ward doesn't sound the best place to have put her!

Glad the tests so far are okay and hope that continues.
hugs to you all.

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Didn't call them as the results from the biopsy should take at least a day. Same with the liver panel.

My sister was with her keeping her company as they live together. Mom is in her upper years and a bit frail enough that they wouldn't do surgery to take the metal rod out of her back from the spine tumor surgery. They've had her as a patient, in another wing, before and she was treated for a UTI. So I'm betting they were hedging their bets but yeah, psych ward is an oddity for a panic attack, I'd think.

Wasn't the best service. Mom asked for some hot water to drink. Hours later a nurse came in with a cup of ice. That was dumped into the sink and Mom thought well if the ice was there just get some that had been put in the sink. Um no. My sister said that they'd poured the excess urine from collecting a specimen down the sink. VERY odd.

On the other hand, Mom has excellent health insurance.

[mee-eep.livejournal.com]

*HUGS*

Any more results back?

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

Not yet that I'm aware. Am going to call Monday or shoot them an email. Hospitals have labs on site. Am thinking that clinics will take longer to run the results and then the doctor has to look at them and figure out what to do for my Mom.

*HUGS you back*

[writer-klmeri.livejournal.com]

Anxiety or not, it's good to hear the lab results came back positive!

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Still have to wait on Wednesday's biopsies of the swollen lymph glands but the breast cancer surgery messed up those so she had to have sleeve therapy that would inflate and milk her arm several times a day for a while. And then there's the liver panel. But Yes the positive lab results so far are great.