feud at hospital

[brenda seal]

Laurie is in hospital AGAIN ! The nurses from his clinic came to our house on Tuesday to do blood tests etc. , Laurie showed them his lump and they rang his specialist . He agreed it was a hernia and as it was getting larger and more painful he advised him to go straight to ER .
 The surgeons agree it is a hernia and needs repairing . The feud is now raging between the kidney doctors and the surgeons as the renal team want the operation done now and the surgeons are wanting to send him home  and wait for about three weeks . The surgeons cannot justify doing the surgery as an emergency as it is not in danger of strangulating . They have stopped his dialysis to prevent extra pressure on his abdomen - so here we are back to square one . It is now Friday evening and they are no closer to ending the battle . Just to top things off Laurie has developed an infection in his leg ( cellulitis ) while he has been in the hospital and is now on IV antibiotics .

[MaryD]

Oh Brenda!  This is beyond belief.  Poor Laurie.  And I'll bet you are feeling majorly stressed, too.

Does this mean is will not be doing dialysis for the three weeks?

Thinking of you

[Grumpy-1]

If they "stopped his dialysis", what is with that?   I would agree with the Dr, This is an emergency.  Operate ASAP...

[jeannea]

That sounds awful. He's lucky he has you to help him. Keep fighting to get him help. Sometimes you have to keep yelling to be heard.

[conchman]

If they won't listen speak louder, if they still won't listen get fugly (that's f'in ugly)   

I remember being with my wife one time, I started nice, when the hospital did not listen and react as I felt they should, I got "fugly"...In the end we won...

[billybags]

Brenda, I can not believe you are going through all this, poor Laurie, I bet he is right peed off. So if they are going to stop his dialysis, what is he going to do? To me this is an emergency, I hate it when one doctor goes against another. Our neph went head to head with an anesthetist who refused to operate on my husband because of his heart condition, in the end he got another one because it needed doing. Stick to your guns, make your voice heard. Hope things work out for you quickly.

[Whamo]

Caught between a rock and a hard place.  I'd call my lawyer.  But first, I'd threaten every doctor involved, call the hospital customer relations or whatever title they have,  to call a lawyer if something is not done.  That would probably work.  Yell like hell because a squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[Chris]

Can you go higher up in the hospital to present your concerns along with neph to get the idiot surgeon off his ass?
Just doesn't seem right.

Or can you get another surgeon?

[justjen321]

I agree with being the squeaky wheel. It always gets the grease. Keep going up the chain. Seriously. They cannot deny you the right to talk to people in charge, and if your kidney team wants it done, it should be. They are THE most connected with your husbands issues. MAKE someone higher up the food chain explain to you WHY they are denying your husband treatment. If he can't dialyze while this is going in, it's absolutely, 100% life threatening.

[brenda seal]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions . It is my concern - that if he goes three weeks or more without dialysis then how sick is he going to be when he has a general anaesthetic for the surgery not to mention the time after it will take to heal . We have no private health insurance and the public system here in Australia means no insurance = no choice of doctor .
 I voiced my concerns about the lack of dialysis yesterday to the surgeon and he said it was up to the renal team to come up with a solution such as temporary HD .
I have all the 'phone numbers and email addresses of the patient liaison officer and such ready to start yelling , I have done it before and I can do it again . I am reluctant to fuss too much while he is actually in the hospital in case it compromises his care even more .

[cassandra]

This non-dialysis is compromising too far already.

[lmunchkin]

Brenda, I would immediately have neph get intouch with VS and have a cath put in so they can do temp Hemo on him. This is no game and you should demand, not ask, it.  He will not go long with out some form of D.  So get him in for temp HD. At least this will give them time to settle their "Ego's" somewhat, but not at Lauries expense!!!!!

Also, is he a diabetic? Sorry if you mentioned that in an earlier post. Cellulitis in leg, foot or anywhere on a diabetic, IS NOT GOOD!  At least they had the foresight to put him on not only antibiotics,but IV antibiotics. That will hold down the infections somewhat!

I know when J was in hospital that long stretch, they had him on so many antibiotics to get rid of this VRE of the bone (in foot), that over time it caused him pertionitis and he had to stop PD.  It was an awful time for us both!

Stay on top of this Brenda.  First thing, get him Dialysised.  That is first and foremost!

So sorry you and Lauri are having these problems! It seems endless!!!
God Bless you both and let us know what is going on,
lmunchkin
 

[boswife]

((((((((Brenda))))))))  Its awful what your dealing with and i am sending moral support.  We just had a 6 day hospital stay but it was much better than yours.  This is just scarry and i hope resolved  soon. 

[brenda seal]

Well Laurie was sent home from hospital on Sunday after spending the night on a cycler machine . They have scheduled the surgery to repair the hernia  for April 23 rd . He went into the clinic today  ( Tuesday ) and they had him on the cycler for six hours and he goes back on Thursday to do it again and have some training to use the machine at home . He is exhausted already  - the clinic is over half an hour drive away from home .
Laurie is not diabetic - but is prone to cellulitis as a result of taking prednisone for a prolonged period . Thank you all for your advice and good wishes . Everyone has been so kind - my son arrived at the clinic to pick Laurie up this afternoon and found the nurses kissing and cuddling him as he had had a bit of a weep .
I have been reading the posts about not communicating with friends and family and I feel that unless you have this disease or live with someone who does , you can not fully appreciate what a total drain it is and how ill and tired you can become . It takes a valiant effort just to get through the day - the mind boggles as to how some of you manage to hold down full time jobs .

[MaryD]

It's good to hear Laurie is home again, and it sounds as though he has thoughtful staff at the clinic.

You both need a bit of coddling.   

[billybags]

So glad Laurie is home, you both take care.

[lmunchkin]

How has his week gone, Brenda?  Are you guys settling in a little!  I know this is very overwhelming for you both.  But at least you have each other, and that, my dear speaks Volumes!!

Let us know how it is going!
lmunchkin
 

[Lillupie]

im so sorry to read this. If he is in pain then the hernia needs to be fixed. I really hate doctors. THey act like God too much.

Lisa