Been married 33 years. My wife has had stomach issues for the last 12 years, constant bouts with throwing up and IBS . Last Monday and Tuesday a week ago her stomach pain got really severe.
Wednesday morning took her to a doctor to get checked out. White blood cell count was 22k where it should be 10k or less. They sent her straight to the emergency room for more testing and Cat scan.
Turns out she had a strangulated hernia which caused a blocked colon.
So emergency surgery commenced within about 3 hours last Wednesday the 16th. Surgery went better than expected, perfect in fact. After surgery she felt better than shes felt in 12 years. no more cigs ,she said she's done smoking (45) years and to throw her stash out.
Monday the 21st she was to be discharged around 9:30 am and I'm there waithing for the paperwork and we're in her room visiting with a friend that stopped in.
All of the sudden she stopped talking and her jaw was just quivering and she had this blank stare. I got the nurse in to look at her and everything seemed fine except she couldn't speak. After about 8 minutes she was able to speak again and everything seemed normal. This event happened 9 more times from then until 2:00 that afternoon as they kept her at the hospit for observation.
I had stayed with her all the time as I was worried, at 2:38 she started having another spell and then it turned into a full blown seizure. Now if you've never witnessed one, i'll tell you now ,you really dont want to.
her arm came out and made a tight fist and she just locked up and quit breathing .I was telling the nurse to get somebody now, right now. My wife, you could see every vein in her face and arms and she turned the darkest shade of purple you could imagine. Then she went limp . I yelled to the nurse, you need to call a code RIGHT NOW! She fell back ,as she had raised up during the seizure and was laying there blue. Like a corpse. Not breathing. I've got tears now as I type this.
About ten people rushed in at once. That damn code thingy gets you help fast. They told me to leave and I refused. They all did what they were trained to do and got her breathing again. probably within about 3 minutes.
another doctor came in and asked me to leave and I willingly did so as I was spent. I knelt in the hallway outside the room and cried. I had just witnessed my wife die.
but she wasn't dead.
They got her stabilized over the next couple hours ,awake and alert and ambulanced her to amarillo to a major trauma center.
So she's been there since Monday evening and has these episodes where she can't speak and lose function of her hands ,arms for 5-20 minutes out of every hour , sometimes three events per hour.
They don't have a diagnosis that they've shared with me. you can't get a straight answer from anybody ther, nurse can't tell you which doctor is due to come in or what time. the hospital is like the twilight zone and a bad nightmare combined.
Our only daughter is going through high school graduation ths week and it's been the big event on my wifes calendar for the last 6 months. She won't get to see it.
I have no idea if the doctors can fix this or if i'm bringing home a vegetable.
Originally Posted by BlackHelicopters:
You say the health care system sucks, but it did save your wife’s life. How about some gratitude?
Is it really the time for that bullshit? C'mon man. Delete your post and I'll delete my reply and we'll just pretend you didn't have a momentary lapse of stupidity. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Frazod:
Man, I wish Hog would give us an update.
Just got a minute here . Finally got to visit with a doctor I could hardly understand.(Are there any American doctors anymore ?) They say she is having a Focal seizure which means its located in one hemisphere. In my time with her now it seems to be continuous rather than intermittent. She speaks jibberish fluently and I have a hard time deciphering what she's trying to tell me. She's also losing her awareness slowly.
I would definitely say she is worse today than she was yesterday.
They are moving her to the Hospital next door because its"IN MY NETWORK"
which I'm told is a much better hospital and also where my daughter was born.
Next step is an MRI. Which should have been done 3 days ago but well I guess they are busy, even though 75 % of the beds are empty. They said it will get done tonight or tomorrow. Kinda like whenever they get around to it.
In my internet research the focal seizure can manifest to other parts of the brain, I don't know if it can be stopped or not ???
I told the doctor that after giving thought she came out of surgery and said she had no desire or craving for a cig. She's had other surgerys (2) and felt the need for a cig immediately afterward.
so does that mean there's a possibility the anasthesia was too strong and caused brain damage. He said the stress from surgery can trigger seizures.
I don't know, not looking for a law suit by any means but just would like to know why!! If you know the cause it should make it easier to fix.
High school graduation for my daughter is tomorrow . I've made 9 trips to amarillo (an hour away) in 3 days trying to stay with her and keep my daughter on schedule at school which is all screwed up this last week.
Uggh
Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers. I was able to tell my wife she had over a hundred prayers sent her way from people all over the world through the power of CP. she managed a smile. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BlackHelicopters:
You say the health care system sucks, but it did save your wife’s life. How about some gratitude?
heh, No I'm right , the system sucks but the people in my hometown hospital that rushed to her side surely saved her.
as soon as she was sent to a major hospital she became a number instead of an individual. a perfect example is her haveing to be moved to ANOTHER hospital tonight becase of insurance so again the continuity of a 1 on 1 doctor relationship is broken again. [Reply]