Need to unload/talk

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
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Ah right, I've looked and it has its own gp surgery too, never mind,he's against swapping GPS, email is sent will just have to wait and see now
 

lushr

Registered User
Sep 25, 2020
192
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wow @Unsure2021 it seems you both are in need of careers and both have serious needs. it is stressful caring for someone else when you aren’t doing great yourself, and it is always fun to care for someone in denial of their health issues.

my dad suffered deep depression and post traumatic stress disorder when he had his heart attack, he was never sick, and to suddenly be vulnerable, have pain walking, he felt trapped. and his temper was flaring from the PTSD. fortunately i work with nurses and they gave me great advice and i was able to explain to him why he felt so down and so scared.... sorry it is off topic, but what i’m saying is i know what it is like dealing with someone that won’t talk to doctors etc. and so there’s an element of fear, vulnerability and denial. it’s a big deal.

im glad you’ve been able to vent here.... talking is really healthy, it helps you sort out your worries, and get relevant advice from people who have had similar experiences. it’s not a betrayal because you need the help processing all that has happened as well.

ifyou can get a psychologist to talk to, or a Gp. that will give you someone safe to deal with your fears and worries. and you can just say “i’m suffering anxiety i need help” and that doctor might be able to back you up and say “you must walk x amount each day” like a prescription, no arguments. the doctors would be aware of the need, and therefore there won’t be a challenge to your need to get out and exercise (which there wouldn’t be anyway).

fresh air does the world of good. even if it’s only walking a couple of houses and back. it makes a difference (says the lady who never leaves her home!).

i hope you find talking here helpful. i have. people here have a wealth of experience and have helped me through really rough stuff.

and now i’m going to go for a walk - you inspired me! even if it’s only a couple of houses and back!
 

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
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Update..OH was complaining of chest pains wed,I got him to go to a&e where they admitted him,. ( At home now ) Lots of blood tests done,ECG,chest x-ray... wasn't allowed with him but I spoke to nurses and made them aware of concerns, I don't have alot of info.
Trop level was 11 (heart damage protein) but since being discharged he's told me he had massive pain around new year, felt like someone put hand in chest and ripped his heart out.,....so trop lvls could have already peaked and dropped by time he went hosp.
D-dimer (to do with blood clot breaking down) lvl was 100 , supposed to be below 50. He was given aspirin, antiplatelets and 3 blood thinner injections in stomachache aswell as other tablets he can't remember what they were,
he has high blood pressure,
was moved wards in the middle of the night due to lower blood pressure number being almost as high as the top number.
Throughout his stay every blood sugar finger prick was spot on.
They tried to send him over to sleep clinic tonight but he refused, using me as an excuse, saying he's my main carer and I can't be left too long as I could end up over doing it and end up bedridden with pain. Told me that if they had tried to insist then he would have discharged himself .
He's come home tonight with referral for sleep clinic (probably next week,they want it sooner rather than later), referral for echo,. Heart specialist wants to see him again in two months. And blood pressure tablets.....they think he has sleep apnea.

I do have his discharge papers with big list of bloods done and the results but just too tired to decipher it lol
 

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
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I'm not sure if he was anywhere long enough for them to see anything, he went from A&E to observation ward to respiratory ward to cardiology ward, was moved around alot.
He has told me off 1 incident that could be true or he could be mistaken about.
Bloods taken every 6 hours, nurse took blood at 5.30pm last night,he said doc took it at 4pm,nurse said to him 'oh well you've had it done twice now'..
..was it taken twice? Is he just confused what time doc took it and nurse just agreeing with him.
 

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
0
Actually got him to an appointment at the doctors yesterday,it was just a blood test with a nurse but he went.

Appointment thru for contrast heart echo and they are going to send him home with sleep assessment equipment to do it at home... 22nd Feb.


He's started to forget how to use the TV controller now, often passes it to others to turn over.

He had a poor nights sleep last night,thought he kept hearing the backdoor handle being tried.

This last few days he has misplaced something,turning the house upside down for an HR or so looking,then it's like he forgets for a few hrs and then starts looking again.

He keeps saying that I am saying his name when I'm not saying anything at all.
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
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South coast
So difficult @Unsure2021
These are things that seem very familiar to me. GPs are (understandably) really only interested in covid and emergencies at the mpment, but perhaps you could keep a diary of all these odd things and update the GP when things are less fraught.
 

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
0
I do have and am adding to a list.
I did email the doctor couple of weeks before he was admitted for chest pains.

I spoke to a&e nurse over the phone also about his memory and lack of common sense at times (touching hob to see if hot, leaning over with knife in hand and nearly stabbing himself in the head). She was great, asked lots of questions.

so many blood tests done and delerium test.

abnormal liver and kidney results,high blood pressure,blood clot, abnormal heart protein result, suspected sleep apnea, lots for them to investigate....blood sugar, infection and everything else came back good.

gp actually rang him up for blood test as hospital had told them his memory was poor and even tho they had told him too book a test they didn't expect him to remember.

i know he/we got a long slog ahead, getting to the bottom of it but for now I feel like we are getting somewhere...he's starting to struggle to hide it all now,he couldn't repeat back to the doctors in hospital the instructions they had literally just given him. I am assuming they noticed something as I have never been asked to repeat back things like 'got to book gp appointment'
 

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
0
Does the pharmacist normally take over reviewing blood pressure meds? checking blood test results,asking for blood pressure monitoring, upping dosage and asking about additional testing being done.
Then arranging follow up phone calls.

Only asking as I assumed this would have been the gp.
 

Bunpoots

Volunteer Host
Apr 1, 2016
7,342
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Nottinghamshire
Does the pharmacist normally take over reviewing blood pressure meds? checking blood test results,asking for blood pressure monitoring, upping dosage and asking about additional testing being done.
Then arranging follow up phone calls.

Only asking as I assumed this would have been the gp.

At dad’s practice it was the nurse who did these things although they would ask the doctor before changing meds.
 

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
0
Thanks,
I wondered if it was anything to do with his refusal to see/attend gp appointments in the past, maybe a work around.
 

nita

Registered User
Dec 30, 2011
2,651
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Essex
Hallo, @Unsure2021 - I just wanted to say it may be routine for the pharmacist to take over this duty as recently the pharmacist at my GP surgery has been phoning me for my blood pressure readings and he also upped my amlodopine and then monitored it for a while as my BP was a bit high. It may be because GPs are too busy and short-staffed in the current situation.

I do hope you get some answers to your husband's many health problems soon. Did you say then that diabetes is not the problem as his blood sugars were OK? I know that can cause confusion and delirium if not right.
 

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
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His blood sugars were good, long blood sugar test and all finger prick tests while in hosp too.

RBC and heamoglobin are high, something to do with low oxygen so looking at heart and sleep apneas atm.
 

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
0
He goes down hill around 4ish, almost into a panic,agitated, memory is worse but once he's ate he picks back up,
I've always put this down to his diabetes as he normally eats little during the day (and it's normally full of sugar) and 1 big meal at teatime.

Since being in hosp he's made a massive effort to eat regularly and healthily and this 4pmish thing has reduced significantly but it's still there.

But on the other hand Since being discharged I've noticed the stupidly manic good moods he goes into have increased and he doesn't know when to stop,when the fun/good mood goes to far.

And my god does he talk non stop about nothing and if you don't answer him or listen to him then there is something up with you! I just want to tell him to shut up for 5 mins sometimes.
 
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Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
0
Starting to get more concerned about his common sense.

Gp and hospital are aware and awaiting results from home sleep study and echocardiogram plus also another blood test next week to retest everything.

So far his lack of common sense has only resulted in minor injuries to himself if any.

Touching hobs on cooker to see if hot.
Not using glove to get stuff out of oven.
Bending over into cupboard whilst still holding a sharp knife in hand.
Sticking fingers into the holes in top of drinks cans to take them outside.

Then incidents with memory.
Putting burns under the warm tap.
Empty saucepans on turned on hob.
Forgetting he's put food on to cook.

Last night he came down from the bathroom with blood running down his face. He had noticed some longer hairs over his ear and tried to use a razor to cut them.( Hairs not overly short, someone else with scissors would have been a much better idea) .lets just say he missed and cut the top of his ear, I had to put a plaster on it as blood kept running down his face.

Got up this morning and I asked how his ear was..why? What was wrong with it? Ooh there's a plaster. Did he scratch it in the night? No memory of it at all.

I think I'm going to have to remove/hide sharp items before he does himself a nasty injury.
 

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
0
Oh we are trying to keep him out of the kitchen. Only half successfully atm.

I used to do all the cooking but as the arthritis got worse I had to ask for more and more help mainly putting stuff in and out of the oven.

Instead of letting me do what I could and just helping when I asked he started taking over and now sees it as his job.

It was ok for a while but he started getting uninterested in doing it, whatever was quickest and easiest,some days he was kinda panicky, we ended up eating curry nearly every night. Micro rice and a jar of sauce, kids got cheese on toast or a tin of meatballs or hotdog sausages. No veg in sight.

I'd noticed he was better in the mornings so I started getting him batch cooking,lots of different meals,lots of veg.
For some reason I was allowed to help, he didn't associate it with his evening meal cooking job.

It was fine for a while,till I turned my back to get something from the fridge and when I turned back he was flapping his arms around with a knife in hand in a panic because he was cutting onions and now I had got the chicken out and he needed to cut it for me and didn't know what to do first. ( I had just got it out ready, didn't need it prepping). Spent the rest of the time flapping around watching me and not what he was doing.

So I now have my daughter come up and help with batch cooking, he uses scissors now not a knife to prep meat,I watch him while daughter does 75% of the cooking or grandkids keep him distracted.

He still does his job of evening meal but it is literally something in microwave or into oven, nothing to prep,no hob to use.
If I go to do it,he follows and takes over...it's his job. So I follow him and have gloves at the ready to pass him.its not just not using something to take stuff out the oven, he's used a wet teatowel before,once he grabbed a foodbag next to the gloves and went to use that instead.

We have found ways around most issues as they come up it's just this final step. He insists on doing the evening meal. It's his job....so currently it's supervision and be ready with oven gloves.

I'm lucky I can rely on my daughter. it would be so much harder without her.

If you have any other ideas around the whole kitchen and cooking thing I'd love to hear them, maybe you can think of something I haven't tried..,I can't get him past the 'its his job' mindset and he hates anyone else doing it. But currently it's working atm.
 

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
0
Well been some mixed experiences recently,
3 weeks ago went into GP surgery to see nurse as he had been pain in leg, while there a Dr came in, checked latest blood results,fist bumped him as sugars were within parameters....he was estatic, didn't stop talking about it.

Today been hospital for echo and sleep results... nothing wrong, told to lose weight and discharged....now he's in a right mood, upsetting the kids/constantly arguing with them. just keeps saying he's fat, everything is because he's fat, that he might as well take up smoking and drinking to give them something else to blame.

He still has to have contact with GP for his blood pressure and regular blood sugar tests, I just hope today doesn't put him off.

I can't help but feel that concerns about memory and behaviour changes and his thinking processes are being swept under the carpet.

It's driving me crazy, I still think that the diabetes is to blame for some of it even with his long term blood sugar levels are good...but because they are good they don't want to know.

He doesn't have a blood test machine at home with it being diet controlled so I think I may buy one.see if I can get him to check it and make sure it's not fluctuating too much thru out the day...can it fluctuate that much during the day to cause problems and still be normal blood sugar levels at the GP?

Sorry for the waffling just needed to voice thoughts somewhere / to someone lol
 

jennifer1967

Registered User
Mar 15, 2020
23,134
0
Southampton
Well been some mixed experiences recently,
3 weeks ago went into GP surgery to see nurse as he had been pain in leg, while there a Dr came in, checked latest blood results,fist bumped him as sugars were within parameters....he was estatic, didn't stop talking about it.

Today been hospital for echo and sleep results... nothing wrong, told to lose weight and discharged....now he's in a right mood, upsetting the kids/constantly arguing with them. just keeps saying he's fat, everything is because he's fat, that he might as well take up smoking and drinking to give them something else to blame.

He still has to have contact with GP for his blood pressure and regular blood sugar tests, I just hope today doesn't put him off.

I can't help but feel that concerns about memory and behaviour changes and his thinking processes are being swept under the carpet.

It's driving me crazy, I still think that the diabetes is to blame for some of it even with his long term blood sugar levels are good...but because they are good they don't want to know.

He doesn't have a blood test machine at home with it being diet controlled so I think I may buy one.see if I can get him to check it and make sure it's not fluctuating too much thru out the day...can it fluctuate that much during the day to cause problems and still be normal blood sugar levels at the GP?

Sorry for the waffling just needed to voice thoughts somewhere / to someone lol
it can depending on what you eat and how much exercise you do. i have type 2 and on medication for it. i did get a machine to test it if i was feeling off. it wasnt expensive. i bet he was annoyed at being praised and then criticized for his weight. did they weigh him when the gp was reviewing his sugar levels. its almost like he is being assessed for it twice with opposite results.
 

Unsure2021

Registered User
Jan 1, 2021
101
0
Hosp visit was due to serve chest pains, found high blood pressure but nothing else came up on investigations, ECG/echo/sleep study just told him to lose weight.

Diabetes was diagnosed 5/6 yrs ago after a collapse but due to an incident with a GP he stopped going for check-ups.

After the hospital found high blood pressure and he got put on meds he's had to go the GP surgery to review meds. GP has been taking advantage and checking his blood sugar everytime they take blood to check liver function because of the BP meds,

I think the GP trying to get him comfortable going in GP surgery again and making a big thing out of good blood sugars so he'll start attending diabetes checks again. Having to treat him like a little kid lol.

They didn't weigh him.

I'm just hoping that today's hospital app doesn't effect the progress made with getting him to the GP
 

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