Adventures in Wally World

Um, I remember my father's hgb being 2. Probably 2 point something. That turned out to be a bleeding ulcer..
I'm an old lab tech, but didn't work much in regular hospital labs.

so, something to pay attention to.

pings here as well.

(blood thinners can play games)

Nothing next!!!! Nothing.

You deserve a break today.

Sorry to hear Mr. Tea is having problems.

How are you doing tonight?

honestly boomer?

I'm kinda glad to have him out of my hair for tonight.

Not to say I don't love him and all that ****, but, you know?



I'm going to beddy-bye.

What next? hopefully a good recovery overnight and meds get nicely stabilized.

Sorry that this has been going on, Mrs2.

hmmmm,

He's on Coumadin for a post-surgical clot and has a 6gm HgB.

Maybe sumbody should check for some leakage.

Rest well, chai, you deserve a good night's sleep and Wally is where he needs to be.

Oof. Next: good care and stabilization. Hang in there.

Thanks everyone.

The man is stubborn.

Like I said, in hindsight he'd been looking pale, and some other signs/symptoms things weren't right.

But, he's one of those people that there's always a "reason" for something, and when you present the big picture, he'll shut down.

Maybe this is a kick in the butt he needed.

You know, whenever he's had to go in the hosptial over a non-routine/emergency situation, I'd of course stay there as long as I could, come home and be concerned, checking up on him, and so forth.

Last night, when I got there he was lying there stoney faced and pissed, I just decided to go into self preservation mode. Like when I said "It's not my fault/doing that you're here"

To let him know he wasn't the only one being put out I said "you know, I really don't want to be here either, it's 7 o'clock and I was really looking foward to relaxing at home, but I'm here at the hospital." This wasn't meant in a nagging/negative way, but in like - look, it's you that has us here, not me.

Anyway, when the ER nurse came in, I asked "what can we do to expedite his going home?" That's when she said "He's not going anywhere tonight" and told me about his hemoglobin being so low, and the blood transfusion.

Right then and there I said "well, if he's not going anywhere, then I'm going home" and stood up to leave. At the same moment the techs came in to take him off somewhere. For just a second, Wally look up like "Hey, you're leaving me here?"

Yep.

They wheeled him off in one direction, and I walked in another. I spoke for a few minutes with the ER nurse, and the ER doctor came over and we talked also. They both assured me I'd done the right thing.

He's right where he needs to be.

Wow, Chai! Wally sounds like the Dys when it comes to hospitals. I hope Wally is better today.

I know, I've never met the dys but I have a strong feeling the 2 were separated at birth.

Yikes. Any new info today yet?

I getcha down the line (calling EMS, and reaction when he got squirrelly about that).

Hope Wally's better today. Keep looking after yourself too, Chai.

Hey there Mrs2. How're things today?

He's being a doofus. You did the right thing. If he had had a stroke, quick medical action could have saved his life and brain. Those symptoms should never be brushed off. Best wishes to both of you.

He's still in the hospital, looking a lot better.

Typical of him, he acted like he's now "cured" because they gave him 2 units of blood the night before, they had a bag of plasma going in his arm when I got there last night, and they gave him a big old B-12 shot and I'm sure some other stuff.

His floor nurse, Stacy and I had had a significant conversation on the phone earlier that day, and I got to meet her last night before she went off her shift. Long story short I was finally able to communicate to someone that contrary to the totally convincing tales Wally will weave as to why everything in the world occurs, you have to be with him for a more significant amount of time to see that the odds of so many things occuring on a regular basis are astronomical.

Of course she's seen this type of thing before, and she said "look, I want you to give me the number where you can be reached tomorrow. When the doctors does her rounds tomorrow, I'll put it on his chart that she needs to call you so you can tell her all this." She totally saw where I was coming from.

One thing is, I totally dislike and have little respect for the abilities of Wally's primary care physician. But Wally thinks he's great. Well, of course he does, he can bluff the man.

I'm not saying his doctor is stupid, but I have personal experience with him. When I first started my job 10 years ago, we didn't know any doctors in Austin, so just picked him because he was close. Over time, I realized he really wasn't meeting my needs, paying attention to what I was saying. I always felt like I was being blown off as "a middle aged woman with her complaints, must be her hormones".

When I would go see him, he would always ask how my husband was, which is fine and normal, but it was like he would pay more attention to that than what I was telling him about me, being the patient at the moment. When Wally would go to him, the opposite would happen, he'd ask about me, and in more than, "how's your wife....oh good" It would be like he'd want to discuss my health even though Wally was the one there.

I can't force Wally to change doctors of course, but, I can sure give the rounding hospital doctor an earful about what I think this other guy has been blowing off and missing.

I know doctors have a strong professional courtesy with each other. But I'll be able to tell her that I think Wally is not being forthcoming with a lot of details, and to please consult with his doc to apprise him about her findings.

Hey Chai

Are you managing to get any sleep hun?

How long do they think Wally will be in for?

Go pamper yourself for a bit Chai - get's exhausting having to think for someone else the whole time - go treat yourself, just for a few hours a?

x

oh ****, I'm sleeping great.

like I said, I'm glad he's there.

In fact he and I were have a serious discussion last night about all this, and I told him just that.

I said, you know how they have respite programs for a family member that takes care of let's say an Alzheimers patient? Well, that's how I feel right now, like I don't always have to be watching him.

I have to be realistic, he can be very manipulative. Not in a mean way, and it's much harder to pull one over on me, and that's what he doesn't like.

My task is to get others who can help him see that he's not telling the whole story, and to let them know what really goes on day to day, come to me.

but really, I'm great.

have a late-ish lunch with me today if you can.
Call me

Sorry, I can't today...way too much going on at work, and later.

besides, my computer at work had crashed, and the one I'm working on right now doesn't have my list w/ your phone #, email, etc.

But I would like to do that.