dh very sick

[jerry001]

Today I talked with my dh dr, she told me that he had 2 organisms in his urine and a bug growing in his blood stream. I am very worried about him. Especially when I found out that he has staph and another bad infection that is also contagious. I worry so much about him.
Today my sister was telling me that yesterday she remembered that her 14 yr old had a dentist appointment. So, when she arrived at her school she had the daughter paged. Well, my niece told that she thought it was about my dh. She was upset. When she saw her mother smiling she knew this was not so. But she replied that she loved her uncle and didn't know what she would do if something happened to him. Well, as I was telling my dh this I teared up. I looked at him and he also had tears rolling down his cheeks. He said he loved her too.
If this isn't enough on me, everything else has happened. My uncle is dying, my bestfriend is divorcing and I had a fight with my mother-in-law.
My mil just doesn't get it. I am so tired of her lying to my face and her accusing my family of stilling money from her. I plainly told her today that I had a lot on my plate and I didn't need her lying to me at all. Also, I asked her if she realized how sick her son really is. I told her there is a chance he could dye. I still don't think she gets it. Well, I must go now, I am falling asleep typing. Paula

[marmalady]

Paul, I hope that as I'm typing this, you're getting some rest. I'm so sorry; it's awful for us when our loved ones get sick and we seemingly can't help.

Re your mil, I'd ask dh to sign a consent form for the nurses/docs so that they can keep you informed and up to date on what they're doing. With the new 'privacy' laws in place, it can get pretty sticky sometimes. Try and deal with her as little as you can, and focus on you and dh. Make sure he's getting the general nursing care he needs - getting turned in bed is a biggie that oftentimes falls by the wayside, and then there are pressure sores to deal with. Ask them to have him put on a mattress that will lessen the likelihood of developing a pressure sore - ideally a low air loss.

And finally, take it one day at a time; tell yourself you only have to deal with this one day, not the ones before or the ones ahead.

And if love heals, then I know dh will pull out of this with flying colors; your love for each other shines through all of your posts.

(((((((HUGS)))))))))

Jackie

_____________
Tough times don't last - tough people do.

[martha]

Paula, so sorry to hear about dh. Please do whatever it takes to get the doc(s) to tell you what they are doing to identify this "bug" in his blood stream and treat it, what they are doing to identify this other "bad infection" and how they are treating it, along with exactly how they are treating the staph. And if they aren't treating any of it, raise hell. They kept telling me that Julian had an infection in his blood they couldn't identify. I begged them to treat it with some broad-based AB's while they tried to identify it but they said they didn't want to chance killing off the "good flora". In retrospect that's a chance I think they should have taken. Doing something just seems logically better than doing nothing.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and dh. As Marmalady said, concentrate on you two. If you have to, tell mil to get lost. If she already thinks you're stealing from her and she's already lying about you, doesn't seem it would be a great loss to (temporarily?) remove her from your life and have one less thing to worry about even as harsh as it sounds.

[jerry001]

I finally found out what is wrong with him. He has MRSA. They have him on 3 different antibotics to fight that and his uti. He is on Tobamysin, Rocphin, and Vancomycin for the infections and Flucunazole for his yeast infections.
Today a CAT scan was done on his head because of headaches he is having.
On Monday the drs are doing a Myocardiogram to see if the infection has affected his heart.
I've been here all day. I left to go get a drink downstairs and missed the PA, and later I left to get something out of the car and missed the dr. Luckily, dh had a great RN that answered all my questions.
On Monday also I suppose they'll be putting in another pic line. I don't have school because of MLK day. Well, I must go for now. Paula

[marmalady]

Paula, you guys are in my heart and prayers.

Jackie

_____________
Tough times don't last - tough people do.

[Obieone]

Paula I'm so sorry you folks are having such a tough time! I can relate to the whole communication problem very well. We live in a rural area so I'm not with Bill every minute and I usually miss the docs rounds. The nurses often don't have time to call me and some seem to think Bill is mentally disabled as well as sci and don't explain to him what we need/want to know. I understand your frustration. They should spend a little more time on developing good communication skills when they're in doctor school don't ya' think?? The not knowing is a scary place to be on top of everything else!!! [img]/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif[/img]

Bill just hates having his blood taken, his veins are so bad. It seems to me the pic line is a good idea so your dh doesn't have to be poked any more than necessary. I sense your feeling overwhelmed Paula - remember to take care of you too. Try to stay strong....remember to breeaatthhe [img]/forum/images/smilies/tongue.gif[/img] .....keep us posted!!

[Wise Young]

Paula, I hope that the antibiotics kick the infection. Wise.

[SCI-Nurse]

So sorry about your DH. I hope the antibiotics are working. The delirium he is experiencing is very common with sepsis like this. Be sure they are also monitoring his blood sodium levels as well, as in people with SCI and severe infections they often develop hyponatremia (low sodium levels) which only makes the delirium worse. As the infection is controlled, his confusion should clear.

Be sure that his physician is working very closely with an infectious disease specialist on this.

(KLD)

[marco25]

Paula,

I've been following your situation. I hope you know that you're not alone. Glad you found Care/Cure.

I used to live in metro Atlanta, and specifically in Kennesaw in the late 80s. You haven't mentioned what hospital/s or doctor/s you're dealing with. Are the doctors at Shepherd involved yet? Just curious.

[kate]

Originally posted by Jman:

Luckily, dh had a great RN that answered all my questions.
Paula

Paula, hope things are improving quickly now. Please keep us posted.

I also wanted to underline your sentence above, for the benefit of all the RNs who read posts on this site. You can't imagine how important it is to family members to have great nurses willing to answer questions. Thanks for being there.

[SoulMate]

Paula,
I too am sorry that dh is having such a rough time. My bf had MSRA as well, and the delirium is pretty scary. As soon as the anitbiotics started kicking in his head cleared. You're in my thoughts and prayers.
hugs,
SoulMate

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities... Brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

[martha]

Paula, I'm so glad they identified dh's problem and hope the AB's are working quickly.

Chalk up another stupid question for me, but what is MSRA?

[lass]

Prolly MRSA....methycillin resistant staph aureous. It's an antibiotic resistant staph germ lots of people carry around. The problems start when it enters your system, usually via a skin break. It can enter your lungs tho (a common site is in the nasal passage). The reason it's worse than most infections is because it is resistant to most antibiotics. The big fear of course is that it will become resistant to all current antibiotics.

[jerry001]

Dh was dealing with Northside pain clinic. We are now going to start using Piedmont Pain clinic and hopefully do some f/u with Sheperd. We are home and he is receiving 2 different antibotics. The Vancomycin is giving via IV 2x a day, the rocephin is 1x a day via IV. We are getting thru okay right now. Keep praying for us though. My Uncle is also dying as I write. So, when it rains it pours. One thing I am thankful for is the fact my mother in law left on Monday. I got the chance to let her know just how I felt about her. She never has done anything for Jerry, and this makes the second time in a year that as Jerry was either getting out of the hospital or a day or so later she decided she couldn't get along with either one of us. I told her that she may have brought him into this world but she sure has never been a mother to him. Especially if she can leave right when Jerry needs her most. But we are both glad she is gone, that's one less stress in our lives. Paula