Anxiety Issues

[deboz]

Your advice is so true

Your advice is so true

I have seen my poor husband struggling to breathe, and have had the same stupid responses, "Your oxygen sats are high enough, you absolutely don't have a problem!" And some of them actually took his oxygen away to see what would happen. Well, I can tell you what happened. Some bloodwork and testing could have revealed much more than just playing around ahd "seeing what would happen".It just tore me up.

And, yes he could not lie down at all. He eventually had to sleep sitting up. That became a problem also because so much sitting developed a bed sore near the coccyx. And that was terrible. Then he couldn't sit, nor could he lie down.

What an interesting thig to come in to read, i have just got in from the hospital and watched the change of shift nurse say to my Dad, well your oxygen sat levels are 96 so that means you can breathe normally now. After reading everyones advice from here i was able to reply to her that it really didnt mean that at all, to which she just looked at me as if i was of the two headed variety. As you said Nancy, they just dont get it . I am worried about him getting bed sores now too as he has sat in the same chair for five days now and only stood once but no one seems too concerned about the obvious issues that may occur. i really thank you all for your advice as it really does relate to a lot of what is taking place in the hospital with my dad at the moment, and by the way this is a top private hospital that they have paid good money for and by no means understaffed, at the moment there are only five patients in the whole ccu ward and four nurses to the ward.So tiredness really cant be an issue for their slackness To me it all appears that the medical staff dont really look at individual cases and cant look out of the square . But we will see what today brings and hopefully the antibiotics will keep doing their job and he will improve. Keep your fingers crossed for us please. Because apart from contractin this chest infection you would never know he is a little over 2 weeks post op from OHS, the surgeon there did a brilliant job.

 

[Ross]

Well he has enough air to live, he just doesn't feel like he has any. I am right there with him. I know what that is like. Doc and Nurses thought I was nuts, but thanks to Mary, they do know about it, but never acknowledged it.

 

[Nancy]

In the best ICU that Joe was ever in, they had a skin team come around to look at people's backsides. It sounds very funny, but it was necessary. They were looking for signs of skin breakdown on the back and on the bum. When Joe was healthier--he thought it great fun to "legally" moon them. He was always funny even when sick.

So-o-o, I hate to say this, but if no one will check out your dad's back and bottom for skin breakdown, guess who gets the honors?

What they look for is redness in the skin. And when that is found they have some barrier cream that they put on frequently to protect the skin. Once an open sore is present it is terrible to try to get rid of, especially when a person cannot move around much. And bed sores can get huge fast.

I would first ask the nurse to check things out, and be there when she does, so you know it is being addressed. Then make sure they put on the cream, and if there is a sore, they have to take care of it.

Joe got a small one in another hospital (not the good one), and it never went away, no matter how hard I tried to get it to heal when he was home.

If that hospital had taken precautions, this would have never happened.

It sounds like you are being extremely vigilant and that is a good thing.

 

[ponygirlmom]

Prior to my re-operation, I was in Class IV heart failure. I was short of breath just having a conversation. .... [The doctor] explained that it's "the amount of work you have to do to get that 94" (or whatever it was) that makes you feel like you're not getting enough air.

What a great way to put it! That totally makes sense, too.