Sod’s Virus? - a novel way to reward careful isolation

[Bealman]

Keep looking on the bright side, Mike.

I can see why your wife calls it the madhouse. Having spent two months in one, I agree completely. I had a PIC line put in for instant delivery of antibiotics near my heart, and that got infected... ended up with two more.

Chin up and the both of you battle on. I'm sure things will get sorted. 

[dannyboy]

Starting to be a bit of a saga Mike. Hopefully Sheila gets a diagnosis soon and the right treatment can be started.

[daffy]

Sheila starts a holiday today!

Okay, so that's in the manner of a tabloid newspaper headline, as the 'holiday' the Doc has in mind was for her to be taken off the antibiotics (again) it see how she fares. So cannula out this morning ten minutes after a nurse had just put a new one in😕), and now awaiting a PET scan and an MRI scan, the latter on her head as she is having a vision problem.
They are also testing for all manner of odd diseases, including half a dozen tropical ones he mentioned.

Sadly after a good nights sleep - for a change - she now has a raised temperature and feels rubbish and not at all like eating.

But at least the new Doc is right on her case and everything is being done that can be and with very little delay.

[Train Waiting]

All best wishes to you both.

Kindest regards.

John

[daffy]

Many thanks for all the good wishes.   Much appreciated by us both.

Good and bad and odd developments:
It's been a strange week. The good news is that the MRI and Bone Marrow results showed nothing  , and blood cultures all came back with no problems identified.
But on Friday the PET scan that the doctors had arranged by "moving heaven and earth" to fit her in as soon as possible was subject to a total and complete mess up (I'm being very polite about it now) by the Transport Department that resulted in Sheila being in tears as it will not now be done until Wednesday afternoon.
Whoever booked the transport from Boston Hospital to Lincoln Hospital was unaware of a change in procedure whereby they should tell the transport lot the time of the scan appointment and transport would be arranged to ensure she was there on time. In Sheila's case this was a 9:00am scan at Lincoln, with transport expected to collect her between 7:30 and 8:00am. However the nurse who booked it put the time down as 7:30, meaning the time to collect, so at 6:00am a call was made to the ward asking if Sheila was ready for immediate collection for a 7:30 scan, which of course she wasn't.
Then it all went Pete Tong! Rather than somebody - anybody! - realising the error and rearranging the transport time to 7:30, they did ab-so-lute-ly nothing!!! Even the ward staff, who came on shift sometime after 6:00, were not informed, so they just got Sheila up and ready for collection at 7:30! By 8:00am with Sheila sitting on her bed all expectant like, somebody realised something was wrong and that's when the Doctor just visiting the ward on his rounds at that moment went ballistic.
But it was too late. The appointment could not be kept, and I can imagine some very angry phone calls ensued. After a lot of effort by a second doctor a new appointment was made for the first available scan slot. Wednesday afternoon.😟 And that was only possible through some juggling of other scan appointments. (PET scans are expensive, lengthy processes, and much in demand.)

Sheila was very stressed, upset, hacked-off, angry, shaking, and disappointed all because some idiot hadn't got the wherewithal to recognise what was a simple mistake and lack of communication that could so easily have been put right.

Anyway, despite an odd development (more on that in a moment), her bad day was not over yet!

She had an appointment that very afternoon to see a Consultant in the Eye Department of the hospital she was in for her double vision problem. At 2:20 she was taken down to the department for her 2:30pm in-patient appointment, taken through the Eye Dept waiting area with its crop of outpatients, and into her own little room. And there she sat for half an hour.  A nurse came in, Sheila asked for a drink, but was directed to the machine along the hall (Sheila has zero energy and zero money), but after another 15 minutes the same nurse brings her a cuppa Rosie Lee. Another 55 minutes go by before she gets called in to see the Consultant and his assistant nurse!
Expecting a detailed examination and maybe a scan of her eyes (she has been down this road before for anther eye condition) she was most surprised to find that all he did was ask her to follow his moving pencil, shine the usual light in her eyes while looking through his scope, and announce he could see nothing wrong, they would do a follow up in about two weeks time, maybe a scan, and that was that! All of five minutes, start to finish and Sheila on her way back to the ward, confused, unsatisfied, angry, hacked off and stressed. Okay, so the morning's shenanigans hadn't helped, but a five minute check after a 100 minute wait for an in-patient with her history was just .....   (Family Forum: language self-Moderated.)

So now we come to the 'odd' and hopefully interesting bit of her day.
The Doc who went ballistic saw fit to read Sheila's entire file of notes that morning and then, with a second doctor, asked to chat with her and give her a full examination. He could find nothing untoward during the exam, and taking all her temperature and heart rate history into account, as well as the fluctuations in infection load found in her blood, he then put forward what he called a "5%" theory. In short - and over simplified - he wonders whether the cough she developed in February from her sinus infection since Christmas might have cleared up in time WITHOUT the use of antibiotics prescribed by her GP. Since then she had been on various antibiotics practically continuously, each stronger than the last, until now she was on one they would give for sepsis as a first very powerful line of attack. So his theory, 5% likely as it may be, is that it is the antibiotics themselves  that might be the reason the cough persists, why she is so drained, and why her blood count for infection and haemoglobin levels are so out of kilter.
So now she is off ALL meds, other than paracetamol for headaches etc, and they are closely monitoring her reaction. So far she has had one bad night of raised temp, heart rate and sweating, but that subsided as fast as it appeared and at the moment, touch wood, she is okay. Tired, but okay.

All very odd, but maybe, just maybe this Doc is right. After all, delayed PET scan notwithstanding, she has had every darned test under the sun and they've found no more than a touch of anaemia to account for her condition.
Time will tell.

[guest311]

so sorry to read this.
stress on stress on stress is not what she needs.
but,
it sounds that the Doc has maybe got it right, even if only a 5% chance that is what it is.

fingers crossed he's right, and she will soon be back home.

[Newportnobby]

Sadly it's a case of some going above and beyond, and others plumbing the depths of ineptitude.
Even to me, a layman, what the doc is saying about the antibiotics makes some sense, and I really hope he is correct. It's only when you've been in hospital for any length of time you realise just how stressful it can be. Lack of sleep, being prodded and poked at any hour of the day, not being told what's going on etc.. I feel a huge empathy with your good lady, Mike, and hope someone can make some sense of what is going on very quickly.

[daffy]

Thanks Mick.
One good thing since Thursday is that a new admission needed close care next to the Nurses Station. Sheila was in that bed so they moved her.
To a singje room complete with openable window!
Only way she will give up her squatters rights is if they need it for an isolation patient sometime.

[guest311]

got back this morning from walking HB, to be greeted with 'Guy's have phoned, they'll phone back as I told them you were out with the dog'.

about half an hour or so, phone rang and it was a very nice man from Guy's, who then did the tele-consult.
took about half an hour, absolutely no rush, and made sure we were both understanding the proceedure and risks.

looks like SWMBO is going to have a robot poking around in side here, not sure if CPO or the other one, but keyhole surgery anyway. about a week in Guy's, and before that we need to both self isolate for a week [note to self, stock up with scottish water  ]

they are looking at removing one of the lobes on her left lung, and that should sort the problem [ 25% reduction in lung capacity, does that mean a quieter life for me ?]

she's being added to the waiting list, which apparently is around four weeks, amazing in the situation the country is in at the moment.

so great news all round, and SWMBO is happy with it all after we'd gone over it again after the call finished.

[Newportnobby]

That sounds like great news, Alan.

[dannyboy]

At least you now have something positive Alan. I hope things work out well for you both.

[guest311]

she is certainly more relaxed now than I have seen her for several weeks, mostly down to the very caring way the teleconsult was handled.

[daffy]

Alan, sorry I missed your kind comments a few posts back. Thanks.👍

Good news that your wife's surgery is soon to be done. Robotic surgery! What a wonder modern medicine is. Best wishes to you both and let's hope the whisky and the isolation don't wear you down too much over the next four weeks.

As for the 25% reduction in lung capacity being possibly beneficial for you:


Dream on mate!

[daffy]

The withdrawal of meds for Sheila has left her very tired and lethargic. One fair nights sleep, but last night was rubbish, with her cough plaguing her all night.
Monitoring continues but this afternoon she had a bad episode where her heart rate suddenly went bonkers, fluctuating rapidly with a high of 146bpm. They did an ECG and gave her what I assume were beta blockers to slow it down to a steady rhythm, with a warning that she may get some palpitations for a while. All okay at the moment, and hopefully it should mean she has a better night. Fingers crossed. The coughing subsided all day - except when she had to talk on the phone to this idiot at home.

So although I'm ostensibly tee-total these days, this ever-changing and long-running  roller coaster ride saw the gin bottle get opened tonight for a small glass of steadying fluid.

[guest311]

I would hope / assume that as the drugs clear from her system, things will improve.

unfortunately when you have been on any drug, stopping it does not mean it is not still working in your system, and it sounds as though she has been on some very potent drugs, but hopefully they will soon be out of her system, and fingers crossed the doc's 5% chance will prove to be correct.

I'm sure I speak for all our members when I say our thoughts and best wishes are with you, and your good lady.