Nate’s back in the Hospital
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September 5, 2007 at 12:27 am
Yesterday morning, I woke up about 4 and saw his light on. I went in to see why it was on.
He was shaking and feverish. I gave him Tylenol and told him to try to sleep.
I was hoping it was only a flu bug. Not.
He couldn’t pee and what he did was bloody. Yikes.
His face had really strange coloring too. He looked awful. I had an idea of what was going on.
We called the doctor and he said to get him to the closest ER…….. NOW.
I took him to Sharp Grossmont since its where he does PT anyway and its the closest to us just 6 minutes down the fwy. They took him in and assessed the situation and marked his chart Urgent. We didn’t wait more than about 20 minutes before they took him to the room.
The hooked him up to every monitor in there.
The ER nurse took his blood pressure and could barely get anything close to normal. It was 79/33. Way too low.
They plugged him to an IV but it didn’t go up any. They plugged him into another one and had 2 bags going. It only came up 5 points, so they switched to another type of solution. It took 4 bags of fluid to get his blood pressure up to 97/58. Low but ok.
They catheterized him and there was blood in the bag. I was really scared.
He was not putting out much in the bag either and that worried the doc.
Nate was feeling like hell. His muscles were all tensed and really painful from the fever and his head was really hurting.
They took blood and urine to the lab and said he was really sick.
They came back about 5 hrs later positive for infection so they hung a bag of Zosyn after they found out he was allergic to Levaquin. His hand got all red from that stuff.
They also took him to CT scan to check for kidney stones but he didn’t have any. Good.
He does have a bowel obstruction though but they’re giving him stuff to move it though. I don’t know what that is about.
Nate still has no sensation in his bladder. He cannot tell when its full so it has gotten very big and is backing up into his kidneys causing infection.
Nate’s doctor that is treating him at the hospital says they are going to teach him how to self catheterize himself to empty his bladder more often.
Otherwise, his bladder is going to get so big that it will lose its elasticity and ability to contract and empty. He will be left having to catheterize himself for the rest of his life if that happens.
They don’t know if he will ever get bladder sensation back. Only time will tell.
His doc says its not uncommon for that to happen post GBS.
He also says Nate will get more kidney infections. There is nothing to stop that. I hate that idea. Infection can damage kidneys.
At least we know what to look for now and what to do and how fast.
Today nate looked just a bit better though still in lots of pain.
He says he feels just a tiny bit better but not much.
Hopefully he will feel a little better tomorrow. He will probably be in the hospital 3 or 4 more days, then on antibiotics at least 2 weeks after he goes home.
Its so infuriating for me to have to watch him go through more. He’s been through enough. You all know that from experience.
Trudy, natesmom
Nate, Flu Shot 11-05
Sick 12-20-05
GBS diagnosed 1-6-06 -
September 5, 2007 at 12:42 am
Oh Trudy ~ how frightening for you! I am so sorry this is added to Nate’s problems. Thankfully the medical people got right with it.
The bowel thing is most likely nerve connected. I have difficulties every once in a while altho it’s really improved in just the past couple of years. I’m not surprised that Nate has problems beings as how you know his bladder has been affected. I have days with lesser kidney function ~ I know an approx. healthy volume ~ so I am able to drink more water and start things going better again. I really don’t know if or how much my bladder is affected. Isn’t it amazing how our whole body function is dependent on our messaging (nerve) system!!
I will keep Nate in my prayers (please tell him) for his healing and you and the rest of the family for comfort and peace. Many hugs to all 🙂
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September 5, 2007 at 8:23 am
Trudy, Please know Nate and Your Family are in My Thoughts and Prayers. You are a Great Mom! Way to listen to your gut instincts. Bladder and Bowel involvement isn’t a fun thing to contend with, but in time both of you will make it through. In my case, the problems and degrees of feelings change on a daily basis, identifying what the problem of the day is is the hard part. Careful monitoring and fluid intake is the way to go. Wishing Nate a speedy recovery. Big Hugs to both of you.
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September 5, 2007 at 1:11 pm
I just talked to Nate and he says he still feels really awful but they tell him at least now his blood pressure is returning to normal, after 2 days of being low.
Thats a good sign.
One thing better, hopefully the rest will follow soon.
Trudy, Natesmom -
September 5, 2007 at 11:04 pm
So sorry to hear about Nate’s infection. I hope tomorrow shows much improvement! You are a great mom and caregiver — my thoughts and prayers go out to you….
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September 6, 2007 at 1:33 am
When I saw nate today, he still looked and felt like hell. Now his blood pressure went too high. It was 180/100. Its from his kidneys. They gave him some meds to get it down and its working. It was 120/92 at 4:00 p.m. today. Much better but not quite where they want it.
His doc came in last night and told him it was just going to be a waiting game, waiting for the meds to do their job. His fever is gone now so something good is happening.
His urine output is a bit better now and its not quite as dark as it was.
His head still hurts and his back. That’s probably his kidneys hurting but he can’t tell.
My 77 yr old mom is in the hospital now too. She has pretty much lost her ability to make any sense and she doesn’t know where she is now.
She just waves her arms and yells now.
She is about 250 miles away from me so I can’t do much with Nate sick.
My sister and aunt are close by her, so they can help make decisions and figure out what to do with her.
I know what they mean about “when it rains, it pours”. My mom has them but nate only has me, my youngest son and my husband of 2 1/2 yrs.
I’m go glad to have them to help me through all of this. I think I would have a really hard time getting through all this by myself.
All I really want now is for Nate to get better and be as ok as he can be.
He has been through so much. Its time for him to get a break.
I will tell him hi from all of you and thank you for your encouragement.
Trudy, natesmom -
September 6, 2007 at 10:38 am
I am so sorry for you son! I pray he gets better soon. My FIL has/had GBS, he is 80, he has lost contyrol of his bladder too. they tried to start it, but the muscle seems to have stopped working, now he is still not walking so we are hoping that when he starts walking the muscles to the bladder will work too. He has a cathetar on too all the time and he take him to get it chnaged. Do they have a urologist looking at him?
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September 6, 2007 at 2:24 pm
We will be going to UCSanDiego Medical Center to see the same urologist we saw about 6 weeks ago for follow up on how Nate’s bladder is doing.
His doc seeing him in the hospital says the lack of sensation in his bladder is from the nerve damage GBS did. It may not ever come back. Hopefully it will in time.
I wonder sometimes if nate will ever be ok again but I have to keep hoping to help him and the rest of us not lose hope.
Your FIL is going to heal according to how fast his nerves regrow myelin and how well is muscles respond after that.
How long it will take is anyone’s guess. Its a long way back no matter how long it takes. Keep encouraging him and tell him about our successes here.
Trudy, natesmom -
September 7, 2007 at 12:16 am
Nate’s nurse told me today that he has Enter Coli. Its a variation of E.Coli. Deadly stuff.
It shuts down kidneys. No wonder his were so slow.
His doc says its due to him not being able to empty his bladder often enough to chase that stuff out. It started growing and traveled up the tubes into his kidneys.
His blood pressure still keeps going up but now his heart rate is going too slow. Normal is 78 or 80, his is 49 and lower.
They are getting him a cardiologist to check him out.
If its not one thing, its another.
If all goes well, he should be going home in a few more days.
He’s very uncomfortable. His kidneys hurt and so does his head for some reason.
I am again wondering if he will ever be ok again.
Trudy, Natesmom -
September 7, 2007 at 1:24 am
Trudy,
I don’t think we have ever spoken, but my heart goes out to you and your son, Nate. I will be praying for him and for you as well.Blu
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September 9, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Nate is still in the hospital. His kidneys are responding now but he has had a horrible pain in one side of his head and the back of his head.
The doctor is worried that some of the infection leaked into his Central Nervous System or is causing increased Cranial Pressure.
Nate is in really bad pain that only gets just a bit better right after they inject Dilaudid into his IV. That makes him sleepy but he only sleeps off and on for a couple of hrs, then the pain comes back.
I hate to see him like this. Its awful.
They did an MRI with contrast yesterday which made him itch. Then they sent in a Neurologist who ordered a Lumbar Puncture last night.
I don’t particularly like the guy but if he can figure out what is making the pain and make it go away, thats ok with me.
He didn’t have the results last night so he left. Hopefully we will find out something today. This is hard not knowing. I feel very helpless and so does Nate.
Trudy, natesmom -
September 9, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Trudy, Please make sure you take care of yourself. You both are in my thoughts and prayers Hun! Maybe the lp will show good news, my fingers are crossed. Good news about the kidneys, now if they can only control the pain. Is his head pain like a migraine? Have they tried Relpax for it? It did great on my migraines with my relapses. Please give Nate a Big Hug for me, I’m praying he’ll get out of the hospital early this week. Take care.
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September 10, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Trudy,
My prayers are with you and Nate. I really hope things get better really soon.
Love,
Shannon
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