Hubby's in the hospital

[brooklyngirl]

Thanks guys! And @Larra that definitely helped me feel better! They haven't done any further GI testing, he has an appointment in 4 weeks (the soonest ER follow-up slot they could give us!!!) and they'll send him for further testing. We're also hunting for a GP since he doesn't even have one, only ever did the yearly "physical" with the bus that comes to work every year. For now, all we have is zofran and pain killers.

 

[DianaCox]

I am not a doctor - but I would add a PPI in case this is an ulcer. But WTF - he has a partially collapsed lung and "it's no big deal" even though it might be causing the intense pain AND it could be caused by something bad AND they think it's OK to wait a month??? I'd be pounding on the PCP's door or heading for the ER.

 

[southernlady]

Thanks guys! And @Larra that definitely helped me feel better! They haven't done any further GI testing, he has an appointment in 4 weeks (the soonest ER follow-up slot they could give us!!!) and they'll send him for further testing. We're also hunting for a GP since he doesn't even have one, only ever did the yearly "physical" with the bus that comes to work every year. For now, all we have is zofran and pain killers.

Can he go to yours/mine? Or does he want someone closer?

 

[hilary1617]

Lauren, just sending positive thoughts your way. Being by his side is the right choice and I'm so sorry for his suffering. Hoping for a swift resolution of the pain.

 

[robs477]

Have they taken a look at his stomach, i.e. upper endoscopy and/or upper GI x-rays? Sometimes the exact location where someone feels the pain doesn't correlate exactly with where the pain is coming from. the body only has just so many ways to express pain, and diagnosis of abdominal pain in particular can be challenging.
Also NASH isn't the same as cirrhosis. It stands for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and can progress to cirrhosis but is less severe. Also, unless they did a liver biopsy (which I doubt from your story) there is no way to differentiate NASH from the less serious NAFLD, i.e.nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, aka fatty liver. Here is a link to more info:

http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-inf...nonalcoholic-steatohepatitis/Pages/facts.aspx

so while I'm not suggesting that hubby's liver problem should be ignored, they may have alarmed you unnecessarily. I would recommend discussing this with his regular doctor.

Of course none of that explains what's going on now, so I hope further testing will be done so they get an answer for you, and mostly I hope hubby will be feeling better soon.

@Larra wouldn't that be a reasonably easy diagnosis with all the liver related blood tests?

 

[DSRIGGS]

Rob and Lauren, I am very sorry about your situations but the not getting in to Dr's has nothing to do with socialized medicine....we are still 3rd party payer and that hasn't changed at all. It has everything to do with practices and how many people they can handle.

I have been given long dates like this before and unless it is for a world renknowned expert in a field one can get into somebody within a week or two if you look hard enough (that has been my history in Central, IL). My GP will see me tomorrow if I call him and he will get me in with a specialist quickly as well.
As a person whose family has seen way to effin many different Dr's over the last years (my son has been admitted probably 50 different times and has had 10 suregeries since December of 2010 and I have had 5 surgeries myself) it sucks and can be very frustrating. That being said, you just have to push, push, push until you find a Dr who can see you and whom you trust. As Larra says stomach pain is so tough to diagnose and can be many different things, and as Liz said, sometimes you can chase for a long time finding answers.

I can tell you this, Cameron has battled, battled, battled stomach issues since the time of my DS surgery (he had his 2nd nissen fundopication with hiatal hernia repair) and has felt like hell for nearly two years....he has been suicidal because of this (and I could fucking kill the Dr who did his surgery because he took out the vagus nerve during surgery and didn't freaking tell us.....fucking asshole). Just a month ago we finally got the diagnosis of gastroparesis and I have been talking with Dr k and a local surgeon a great deal this week. There is finally light at the end of this tunnel and Cameron now has a shot at a normal life......

I don't want to hijack this thread (and I apologize Lauren) I just want to encourage you and Lauren to keep pushing and don't take no for an answer. There are more Dr k's out there in the medical community that we realize.....sure like any profession there are those who suck, but there are more good ones and great human beings like Dr K who care about their patients greatly and will do whatever it takes to find an answer. It can be an incredibly frustrating path, but don't give up and keep pushing..

 

[Larra]

@robs477 The blood tests don't differentiate between fatty liver and NASH. In fact, they may be normal and the patient could have no symptoms at all. Lots of people have a fatty liver and don't know they have it. Probably same for NASH. I think a fatty liver or NASH would show up on ultrasound or CT, but again, you wouldn't know which it is without a biopsy. The imaging studies that are available these days are great but not perfect, as you and your wife have also learned. Not everything shows up.
One of these days it will be like Star Trek where the doctor just scans you with a hand-held gismo and knows everything, but we aren't there yet.

 

[robs477]

@robs477 The blood tests don't differentiate between fatty liver and NASH. In fact, they may be normal and the patient could have no symptoms at all. Lots of people have a fatty liver and don't know they have it. Probably same for NASH. I think a fatty liver or NASH would show up on ultrasound or CT, but again, you wouldn't know which it is without a biopsy. The imaging studies that are available these days are great but not perfect, as you and your wife have also learned. Not everything shows up.
One of these days it will be like Star Trek where the doctor just scans you with a hand-held gismo and knows everything, but we aren't there yet.

Thxs Larra, that explains a lot! You're so smart !

 

[DianaCox]

"people are jumping out of the medical field in record numbers because they aren’t getting paid by the insurance companies"
Wait - are you saying that people go into the medical field ONLY for the money? I think it is a good thing that THOSE people are LEAVING the field.
Whenever there is a demand for more medical people, the market will respond. And one way of doing that is getting the @#$%^ insurance companies out of the business of throttling/controlling access to medical care.

 

[southernlady]

Okay, BEFORE this thread goes too far OFF the rails...remember, this was to help Lauren and give her ideas as to how to help her hubby.

 

[robs477]

Okay, BEFORE this thread goes too far OFF the rails...remember, this was to help Lauren and give her ideas as to how to help her hubby.

@southernlady.....Agreed, unfortunately, just like I knew it would, I wrote a book about my Wife’s recent sufferings and emergencies which were similar to Laurens Husbands and the only thing people will hear in my post was the “Socialized Medicine comments”.

Speaks volumes… I will delete my thread and re-post it as its own thread. My apologies to Lauren for the sidetrack.

 

[JackieOnLine]

I hope you get some answers soon, can't believe they expect you to wait a month.

 

[brooklyngirl]

Oh boy, looks like I've missed something!

Anyways, the soonest GP appointment I could find was next week with my (and Liz') doctor's partner. One receptionist actually had the nerve to tell me their next new patient appointment was in August. AUGUST! Even after I told her it was an ER follow-up! I'm very frustrated, but that's not gonna get me anywhere. I started him on Zantac yesterday afternoon, thinking that if it's perhaps GERD or ulcer related pain, then maybe it'll help, but at least won't hurt. I also made him start blowing up balloons, figuring that might help his lung instead of it just being ignored until he gets seen? Not sure what else to do, but he said the pain is still the same intensity when he feels it, but he's feeling it less often. I'm taking that as improvement.

 

[southernlady]

Oh boy, looks like I've missed something!

Anyways, the soonest GP appointment I could find was next week with my (and Liz') doctor's partner. One receptionist actually had the nerve to tell me their next new patient appointment was in August. AUGUST! Even after I told her it was an ER follow-up! I'm very frustrated, but that's not gonna get me anywhere. I started him on Zantac yesterday afternoon, thinking that if it's perhaps GERD or ulcer related pain, then maybe it'll help, but at least won't hurt. I also made him start blowing up balloons, figuring that might help his lung instead of it just being ignored until he gets seen? Not sure what else to do, but he said the pain is still the same intensity when he feels it, but he's feeling it less often. I'm taking that as improvement.

At least you got him in there this MONTH!

Hopefully they will find out what is going on with him.

Yeah, new patient appts are hard to get but that office is easy ONCE established.