General Chat

Oh Janey, so sorry for No 1 and the op, but you can make me laugh, though no laughing matter.

Recently my MIL was ill, mainly because of her high blood pressure and meds which needed to be changed, and lack of oxygen. She was seeing things out of the corner of her eyes, one worse than the other, also hearing things. Well she did not have her hearing aid in so problem solved when finally hearing aid was inserted into her ear. Docs wanted her in a nursing home. I asked these medicos "Do you know what a floater in the eye is?" The looks I was given were astonishing to say the least. So off to the eye specialist and guess what, floaters! Also very bad, one so large that when she bent her head down it landed on her cornea, and vision vanished. Docs thought she was losing the plot. She is saner than me.

So maybe the British Columbia 2x4 could be used on the laughing receptionist.

So glad you will now be able to play nursie. I really cannot imagine you in that role. :)

Gail

Oh, I play nursie of the variety you see in S&M movies. ;)

He can be such a moron. Let's pretend the BP reading the nurse took in his room that gave him 119/something was actually accurate. When the one the doctor took 3 hours earlier was 161/something. And the one in the ER last night was similar. And the one I took 6 weeks ago when I had the home gadget on loan was 154/something. And when I showed it to our mutual doc she said Yes he needs to come in. And he hasn't.

No, let's just let the nurse think his BP is bang on "normal" when he's going for surgery in a couple of hours. Let's not remember we nearly died of DKA a year ago when hospital people ask about medical problems. Let's decide that "no" is the right answer to the surgeon's question whether you've had anything to eat or drink this morning, when you had a cup of coffee before leaving home and have just downed a bottle of diet coke at the hospital. Heck, let's not think to ourselves: I'm probably going to be having surgery, I shouldn't be ingesting anything anyway.

Eeeeeeee. So I follow him around treating him like a teenager and shaking my head silently when he gives these stupid answers and then giving the right answer when the asker looks at me. That's why *I* filled out his history form on the ward.

I was tempted when I got to the "is it possible you're pregnant?" question ...

Last year, when he was just recently home from the diabetic ketoacidosis episodes, I got a call from the MRI clinic at that hospital. He was there for his MRI. Odd, I thought, he didn't say anything to me about having an appointment for an MRI, but whatever. They'd tried the cell phone number he gave them for next of kin but it was wrong. I don't have a cell phone, but whatever. So they'd called me, and they wanted to review the medical history questions, because he'd answered that he might be pregnant. I hadn't thought he was that moronic, but he might be that careless, whatever.

Anyway, a few questions later, and it transpired that they had a different "John Smith" at their clinic, and had been sent the wrong file!

Well that was a relief. I wasn't at all sure he was ready to be a mother. ;)

Don't they need to be treated like a teenager?

My OH was very ill last year, came on very suddenly, piled him in the car and drove to hospital. I said I will get you a wheel chair, as you cannot walk in, left him in the car and went to get said wheel chair. Nurses asked what is wrong and symptoms, stated I think he has a kidney stone lodged. They stated that was up to the doctor to decide. He was grey and sweat pouring off him. He decided he was capable of walking, while I was getting the wheel chair, he collapsed on the way, he is a very big man in height and weight, so two tiny nurses trying to get him in the wheel chair was comical to say the least. Doctor arrived very quickly, and full examination later, his diagnosis was, "he has a kidney stone", well yeah I knew that, I too can google, plus his dad had kidney problems as well, OH has to have tests every year for kidneys, so have googled extensively on said disease. So drips and injections and enough morphine to put him off his face for 24 hours and he was home that night. No more problems of signs of stones since. At least the doctor did acknowledge to me that I was correct.

I must add that taking one BP reading as normal is not normal, I know with OH they were doing BP ever five minutes after his arrival at hospital, due to the pain it was high, and had to settle back to his normal for 4 hours before being let home. Due to the medication it ended up too low. So if your No 1 was going for an op, why were they not monitoring his BP consistently.

I also do not think he is ready to be a mother! He need to look after himself a bit better first, like not ingesting anything when going for an op. I must say though I have been tempted to tick that particular box just to see what the reaction of medicos would be. Whenever I have an X-ray, they ask me that question and I still get the giggles at the absurdity of it.

Gail

Oh, I think the BP thing would have sorted it out, because yes, this was just the initial workup when he arrived on the ward. There would have been more when he got into pre-op, at least. They were to have 30 minutes' notice of when he was going down, and something was to happen then, blast, I forget, but that would have been when the dilator was done again, and I'm sure the blood sugar and BP. (That's right, the dilating drops, because they'd had to send to the pharmacy for both them and the insulin. It was unusual for them to have an eye case on the ward, because regular scheduled surgeries are done at a whole separate facility.)

He is extremely skinny (isn't that just special), and I think the machine's cuff simply didn't fit on that one reading. She did it manually then and got the high one. (Me, on the other hand, I have no BP at all when they do it manually ...)

I was sure glad he wasn't the John Smith with the possible pregnancy. Not just him being lousy mother material -- I would have been embarrassed beyond belief to have to admit the moron in question was my moron!

Ignoring instructions -- I'll bet yours would behave just the same way the next time. ;)

Instructions: You bet he would do the same again, then expect me to nurse the bruises and scrapes from the fall. No sympathy from me on that one. Not when you tell them to stay put all he will get is "I told you so".

When will your No 1 be home? I now think they should remain in hospital as long as possible.

Mine has to have an op on his arm again soon, when he gets home, he cannot do anything for himself, not even cut his food. So I now have two nelson knives and he WILL use it this time, I am not cutting his food or will put up with the excuse that I am used to it and he does not have to get used to only using one limb. They really are another species.

Gail

"Oh, I play nursie of the variety you see in S&M movies. ;)"

Really Janey - tell us more;-)

Glad the op's over with but now comes the hardest part. Looking after a MAN who has just had a medical procedure. Tough work - you may need more than a piece of 4x2.

Sue xx

SueMaid, it is like when you both get the flu at the same time.
Him "You did not get it as bad as me",
Me "Why not!!!"
Him "Cause I had to go to bed for two days and you did not"

No I did not, WHY, cause he had MAN flu, that's the difference, and a very serious illness as well. :))

Gail

Well Gail - apparently I get a cold but OH gets the flu. I have an upset tummy - he gets gastro enteritis. I have a headache - he has a migraine. Sound familiar? lol

Sue xx

Soooo familiar. Do not get me wrong, my OH is an amazing man, but the first sniffle and I know I am in for a rough ride. Luckily he does not get ill much.

Gail

I think most men revert to childhood and want their mum when they're ill. Luckily my OH doesn't get ill often either.

Sue xx

My OH is great at cutting himself and refusing to go to hospital to get stitches. Then it ends up weeks later still not properly healed and costing us a fortune in dressings. He has a perpetual cold and will not consider the idea that he is allergic to the wood dust his hobby of wood turning creates. So will not use an anti-histamine. He is afraid that he might have to give up his hobby! And yes, his illnesses are always worse than mine, though he does tell me I've been long enough in the sun, because of all the medication I am on.

I'M SORRY JANEY
THAT MADE ME LAUGH
THANK YOU I NEEDED IT

Dizzi, When I first read the thread, I sat here with tears streaming down my face from laughter. Janey has a way with words and an extremely black sense of humour. It made my day.

Gail

Better get some sleep Janey just in case he DOES come home with a baby!!

Glad he came through the op OK Janey and hope all now progresses well.

We keep an eye on OH's eyes as he sees 'flashing lights" down the sides of both, mainly when it is dark with car headlights/street lights etc. Optician has said after examination that it is a sort of 'jelly' that moves around causes it. He sees at least one case a week. However if it gets so that it is continuous we have to go straight to A&E.

So here it is, 10:30 a.m., and I have heard nothing! He promised not to do what he did the second time he was in hospital with the diabetic crisis last year -- just up and call a taxi and show up at home. There's a phone beside his bed. Guess there's some reason not to give me a call.

Maybe the freezing has worn off and he's busy making the nurses' lives a living Hades ... Guess I'll call the nurses' station!

Ah yes. Well, he's been up and down and in and out smoking. You try to tell them ... GIVE HIM A PATCH when he comes out of surgery. Three different people you tell. Do they listen? Nooo.

So the nurse (and of course this morning it's the one who says things like Who are you? I don't have time to read his file. Etc.) says: This morning, he was a little ... how shall I put this ... Unpleasant? I said. Yes, she said. But she gave him a wheelchair and said go. So he did, and he's been nicer since. Well, he's old enough to ask for his own patch, and if they can't figure it out, they deserve him.

He gets seen back at the eye place downstairs at 3, and they decide what to do with him then. Hopefully, they will keep him til tomorrow!!

Harrumph. Some people think they can get away with saying just any old mean thing by PM.

Says a certain C******:

'it's a case of the blind leading the blind then?'

Well she said she would say it, but that would be cruel.

Sniff.

I should mention there's a good side to this coin.

When No.1 nearly died last year, it was the weekend before he was supposed to go to his hometown 5 hours away by bus to help his brother & wife move in with his mum (after his dad went to a nursing home). Oops. No can do, sorry. (And his sister-in-law actually as much as accused him of manufacturing it all for the purpose.)

This year, he's supposed to go there for the first week of July to stay with his mum (who is quite capable of looking after herself) while they go camping. Oops. Five hours on a bus / five hours from home, two weeks after surgery for detached retina? Sorry, no can do!

I know the sister-in-law just isn't going to believe No.1's luck.

Janey what a cr*p weekend you have had and still having. BUT your humour of telling has me in tears.

I really hope all goes well and please don't lose that humour.





As for the person/s who think they can be clever by PM ....it's not clever, it's not funny, infact it's not brave either so what does that make you?
A .. a boring un-educated coward.

Oh, lucky I looked before running off to the hospital!

No no! That *was* my dear friend C******! And she *was* being funny!

Just like I thought I was being. I wuz joshin' her. Heh. Poor C******! She's really a nice girl who shares my mum's birthday. ;)

Really, two people, six eye surgeries in less than four years. How greedy can you get, eh?

;)