Congestive Heart Failure
My mom and me took my dad in for an appointment the other day, his ankle was still swelling up and his leg still hurt bad at night and he was still short of breath - all things we had been telling doctors for like a month he's been having trouble with.
His heart specialist said we should tell his general doctor about the leg pains and ankle swelling, then prescribbed Magnesium for the cramps. Another heart specialist had nothing to say about the leg pains and swelling. and the doctor standing in for dad's regular doctor (who was on vacation) said to try and ignore them and try taking another medication for relaxing muscles (Soma) to get the legs to stop cramping - paid no attention to the shortness of breath or the ankle swelling.
The other day (Thursday I think it was?) we took dad in to see the doctor filling in for dad's normal doctor and dad explained the symptoms he had been having the past week and the guy apparently assumed dad meant he was having them problems then because he ordered a EKG, then after studying the EKG came in and asked if we had any of dad's nitro with us - we didn't. The guy ran out and grabbed a bottle and was in such a hurry to get one in dad that his hand shook and he spilled 1/2 the bottle on the floor. I had to help him pick them up.
Dad's normal doctor was across the building with another patient, she came rushing in and checked dad over then said she was sending him to the hospital. I heard her on phone outside the room arranging him to go straigth into the ICU.
And that is why I have been gone for several days - I've been over at the ICU with my dad most of the time. Apparently he lost 4 or 6 units of blood somewhere? Doctor's can't figure out where, but the blood is back in him now.
What gets me is, one of the pages that I got when he was in hospitla says...
Call your Doctor if you notice these symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure...
- Steady weight gain (2-3 pounds in one day or 5 pounds over 5 days)
- Unusual shortness of breath (especially while you are lying flat or upon exhertion)
- Swelling of your ankles or legs that dosen't go away after keeping your feet or legs raised
- Persistent cough
Wait... hold up there.... at least three of them things was part of our reports to the doctors. Why didn't the two heart specialists see the symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure???
I've determined that I need to be a lot more noticable of what's going on with dad than I had been. I assumed that since he's been seeing his heart specialist and all that, and his blood pressure is good, that he's doing okay. The heart specialist even said dad's heart was pumping below normal levels - what the f*ck??? the guy noticed that but not that dad was down 6 units of blood?!?!!??
I noticed dad was pale, but I assumed since his blood pressure was checking out okay that he was okay. I'm not making that mistake with them doctors again, from now on I'm watching over dad and questioning any "Oh just give him a pill for that" reccomendations.
His heart specialist said we should tell his general doctor about the leg pains and ankle swelling, then prescribbed Magnesium for the cramps. Another heart specialist had nothing to say about the leg pains and swelling. and the doctor standing in for dad's regular doctor (who was on vacation) said to try and ignore them and try taking another medication for relaxing muscles (Soma) to get the legs to stop cramping - paid no attention to the shortness of breath or the ankle swelling.
The other day (Thursday I think it was?) we took dad in to see the doctor filling in for dad's normal doctor and dad explained the symptoms he had been having the past week and the guy apparently assumed dad meant he was having them problems then because he ordered a EKG, then after studying the EKG came in and asked if we had any of dad's nitro with us - we didn't. The guy ran out and grabbed a bottle and was in such a hurry to get one in dad that his hand shook and he spilled 1/2 the bottle on the floor. I had to help him pick them up.
Dad's normal doctor was across the building with another patient, she came rushing in and checked dad over then said she was sending him to the hospital. I heard her on phone outside the room arranging him to go straigth into the ICU.
And that is why I have been gone for several days - I've been over at the ICU with my dad most of the time. Apparently he lost 4 or 6 units of blood somewhere? Doctor's can't figure out where, but the blood is back in him now.
What gets me is, one of the pages that I got when he was in hospitla says...
Call your Doctor if you notice these symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure...
- Steady weight gain (2-3 pounds in one day or 5 pounds over 5 days)
- Unusual shortness of breath (especially while you are lying flat or upon exhertion)
- Swelling of your ankles or legs that dosen't go away after keeping your feet or legs raised
- Persistent cough
Wait... hold up there.... at least three of them things was part of our reports to the doctors. Why didn't the two heart specialists see the symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure???
I've determined that I need to be a lot more noticable of what's going on with dad than I had been. I assumed that since he's been seeing his heart specialist and all that, and his blood pressure is good, that he's doing okay. The heart specialist even said dad's heart was pumping below normal levels - what the f*ck??? the guy noticed that but not that dad was down 6 units of blood?!?!!??
I noticed dad was pale, but I assumed since his blood pressure was checking out okay that he was okay. I'm not making that mistake with them doctors again, from now on I'm watching over dad and questioning any "Oh just give him a pill for that" reccomendations.
posted by Sandra at 4:34 PM
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