General Medical issues thread

[Flashback]

Indeed a relief. Although I do remember House saying he didn't want to diagnose Lupus as it was a bad diagnosis. But at least manageable and treatments improving all the time. And now a fantastic specialist.

I need to chill the champagne don't I!

An alcoholic wouldn't ...

 

[love_the_life]

So are you the quintessential 'little Aussie bleeder' Pushka

Please don't cut your finger in April as this old dame isn't real good with blood!

And keep the champagne chilled, never know when you might need it.

Nice of your doctor to fess up though you were probably glad he didn't tell you that at the time. Your SIL nailed it well before the rest of the medical profession.

 

[Pushka]

So are you the quintessential 'little Aussie bleeder' Pushka

Please don't cut your finger in April as this old dame isn't real good with blood!

And keep the champagne chilled, never know when you might need it.

Nice of your doctor to fess up though you were probably glad he didn't tell you that at the time. Your SIL nailed it well before the rest of the medical profession.

I am paranoid about knives now! Gotta watch out for me in the buffet or Britannia now Dame, those butter knives can be deadly.

I booked all the Insurances through Insureandgo - no one else wanted to touch them online. Used one of them in Bali, and another for Christmas Singapore cruise and the third for QM2 in April. Had to pay a premium of course but happy to do so.

 

[wandering_fred]

Mrs WF just had a gastroscopy exam. A couple of (non-fatal non-interesting) things normal for a person reaching our levels of experience, but there was one thing which did explain why she had difficulty eating (meals). Apparently the opening from the oesophagus to the stomach was about half the expected size. Suitable stretching was applied so hopefully mealtime will once again become enjoyable...

Anything else I might say about eating would likely counter productive...

And back to my corner I wander

Fred

 

[Pushka]

Mrs WF just had a gastroscopy exam. A couple of (non-fatal non-interesting) things normal for a person reaching our levels of experience, but there was one thing which did explain why she had difficulty eating (meals). Apparently the opening from the oesophagus to the stomach was about half the expected size. Suitable stretching was applied so hopefully mealtime will once again become enjoyable...

Anything else I might say about eating would likely counter productive...

And back to my corner I wander

Fred

Don't people pay for that kind of restriction?

 

[Quickstatus]

Great that your SIL thought of it first. And there are many stories of medics getting to diagnosis in a round about way. Except there is a reason for the roundabout journey to diagnosis.

Antiphospholipid syndrome is nearly a diagnosis by exclusion in the sense that there are other more sinister diagnosis and potentially very treatable diseases that must/should be excluded first.

A medical student who gets this as an exam question would not get good marks if s/he said anti phospholipid syndrome first. But if after excluding others first then mentions this would be heading to a distinction level

............

Don't people pay for that kind of restriction?

Lap bands have gone out of favour in recent times because "bandees" can easily get around the restriction

 

[Pushka]

Great that your SIL thought of it first. And there are many stories of medics getting to diagnosis in a round about way. Except there is a reason for the roundabout journey to diagnosis.

Antiphospholipid syndrome is nearly a diagnosis by exclusion in the sense that there are other more sinister diagnosis and potentially very treatable diseases that must/should be excluded first.

A medical student who gets this as an exam question would not get good marks if s/he said anti phospholipid syndrome first. But if after excluding others first then mentions this would be heading to a distinction level

Yes. That sums it all up perfectly and was certainly an elimination of cancer - everywhere - first. And I understood why. I was about to give up finding the reason why and that is where my SIL wouldn't let me. She was a bit of a pain to be honest as I had enough but I owe her big time as I was about to stop the anticoags. Which we know now was not a good thing.

 

[JohnK]

My stupidity continues to have no bounds.

Almost everytime I held my daughter she would scream. I would hold the back of her head/neck/shoulder with my left hand and the rest of her body with my right hand. She would try to move my hand with her left hand and kick her legs. Occasionally she didn't scream. Most people would hold her with her head resting on the inside of the elbow/arm. She was fine most times being held like that. I thought my daughter hates me.

She also had a rash on her throat and back of neck. Asked the doctor about it when she got her vaccine and he said don't worry that's normal as her pores are not fully developed.

A week later the rash had started down her back. My wife took her to local hospital who said it was due to the heat which I guess is the same as the first doctor. They gave her some medicine. My daughter hardly screams now and sleeps better at nights not keeping my wife up all night.

She was in pain and I was torturing her. Should I have known the screaming was not normal? She could not sleep 5-6 hours every night. Mum was telling me there's something wrong. But what? Why didn't the first doctor pick this up? Very sad.

 

[mannej]

JohnK, parenting isn't easy. It is a daily learning curve. My eldest is nearly 4 and I am still learning.
It may be hard but try not to be so hard on yourself.

 

[cove]

We were fooled into having a second child by the first one sleeping all night long JohnK. The second one was the opposite and wanted non stop cuddling. Somehow we parents muddle through this early period.
Enjoy being a parent as it is for the rest of your life and follow the vaccination timetable.

 

[Flying mermaid]

1534710[/URL]]My stupidity continues to have no bounds.

Almost everytime I held my daughter she would scream. I would hold the back of her head/neck/shoulder with my left hand and the rest of her body with my right hand. She would try to move my hand with her left hand and kick her legs. Occasionally she didn't scream. Most people would hold her with her head resting on the inside of the elbow/arm. She was fine most times being held like that. I thought my daughter hates me.

She also had a rash on her throat and back of neck. Asked the doctor about it when she got her vaccine and he said don't worry that's normal as her pores are not fully developed.

A week later the rash had started down her back. My wife took her to local hospital who said it was due to the heat which I guess is the same as the first doctor. They gave her some medicine. My daughter hardly screams now and sleeps better at nights not keeping my wife up all night.

She was in pain and I was torturing her. Should I have known the screaming was not normal? She could not sleep 5-6 hours every night. Mum was telling me there's something wrong. But what? Why didn't the first doctor pick this up? Very sad.

try and relax and don't blame yourself for things. No one gets it right and every child seems different. I don't want to scare you but just when you think you are on top of things something new happens and the learning curve starts again! I just about had a nervous breakdown when Miss FM was 14 as she really pushed the boundaries and I just didn't know what to do. The baby years are hard, but nothing to the teenage ones. I think in the end, as long as you love them and they know they are loved, in the end you will muddle through together as we all do.

 

[Quickstatus]

Im pretty sure there is no manual that comes when baby arrives. Most of us just learn as we go. Youre ok JohnK!

........

but I owe her big time as I was about to stop the anticoags. Which we know now was not a good thing.

Antiphospholipid syndrome is still very poorly understood. Sounds like yours is Secondary APLS. The primary one is genetic in origin. Some women find out they have APLS from recurrent miscarriages

The other difficulty is there are times when you should stop it - mostly when having surgery.

 

[Pushka]

Im pretty sure there is no manual that comes when baby arrives. Most of us just learn as we go. Youre ok JohnK!

........


Antiphospholipid syndrome is still very poorly understood. Sounds like yours is Secondary APLS. The primary one is genetic in origin. Some women find out they have APLS from recurrent miscarriages

The other difficulty is there are times when you should stop it - mostly when having surgery.

Yes. Only 'discovered' in 1983. Auto immune runs rampant in the family and all on the female side. Four generations now. Grandmother RA, mother Hashimotos as a teenager - hashimotos for me in my twenties, now SLE/APS. I had the pregnancy issues too but before 1983 so no treatment available, and now my niece has SLE in her 20"s. All on the maternal side of my family. I think my brother and nephew may have APL (just the antibodies) as they both have the shakes. But they refuse to get tested even though their daughter/sister (and my niece) has SLE. She does not have APL but other areas of concern in joints and heart. No wonder Drs and patients go a little crazy as the one disease has so many different expressions.

The surgery thing is an issue esp if I need a kidney biopsy if next bloods go to putty as is accidental bleeding issues as currently there is no reversal for the anti coag I am on unlike warfarin. But it is out of the system in 24 hours so fingers crossed. The kidney biopsy might be needed to establish baseline and if steroi_s needed. Currently just stage 2 ckd and not needing treatment just monitoring.

 

[Quickstatus]

Ah the old "medical merry-go-round"!

your story will probably be in an exam paper somewhere or if you have symptoms at the time of oral exams you might be invited to be the "patient".

You wil probably be paying a bit more in hospital parking fees :shock:

At least the anticoagulant you are on does not need weekly or more frequent blood tests and strict diet. In some people alcohol makes the warfarin effect more powerful and should also avoid brussel sprouts cos it make it less effective

 

[JohnK]

Im pretty sure there is no manual that comes when baby arrives. Most of us just learn as we go. Youre ok JohnK!

Not really but that's not relevant.

I was hurting my daughter and laughing about it because I thought she didn't like me. I can still picture her face when she was screaming. Have a few photos of me holding her where she is screaming.

And apparently my daughter has now picked up the cold/acute bronchitis that everyone has in the family. She is coughing and sneezing. Wife not coping too well on her own and didn't want to go and stay in hotel on her own away from family. Not sure how my daughter is going to cope with the cold at 7 weeks of age. And yes I do know she would not be the first.

I have been back for 3 days and realise that I am trying to do too much. My mind is overloaded. I don't see anything changing. I don't have any answers other than possibly a long holiday to relax but that's not going to happen anytime soon either.

 

[Quickstatus]

Its tough to be travelling so much to look after family. Hard to know what to do as everyone's situation is different.
Obviously better if everyone is in same place. Wil you wife have support other than yourself if family is in OZ?

 

[Pushka]

Ah the old "medical merry-go-round"!

your story will probably be in an exam paper somewhere or if you have symptoms at the time of oral exams you might be invited to be the "patient".

You wil probably be paying a bit more in hospital parking fees :shock:

At least the anticoagulant you are on does not need weekly or more frequent blood tests and strict diet. In some people alcohol makes the warfarin effect more powerful and should also avoid brussel sprouts cos it make it less effective

Yep. My mother was on warfarin after a stroke induced by heart attack. She was on it for 18 months with continuing blood tests but 11 months ago she either had a brain bleed or another stroke and being DNR she died. At the time it didn't seem important to find out which it was. Just 6 weeks later I threw my DVT in jugular vein. And I guess now I wish we had worked out which it was for her. I don't want to go on warfarin as it was either a failure for her (threw another clot) or caused a bleed in the brain. Plus, I still want to drink alcohol. Mum never drank.

While trying to resume my travelling life I do feel like I am walking on glass currently.

You hear of all the health warnings for cigarette smoking. I never smoked. I never took drugs. Never even smoked pot in my Uni days. And unless travelling I don't drink much alcohol. I never sunbaked as I hated getting hot and instead of tanning my skin went rashy. (I know why now.) But still managed to come a health crop.

I think I am still processing the GP visit yesterday....

 

[Pushka]

JohnK. Maybe you will feel better when you are in familiar territory and your family involved back in Australia.

Honestly, other than the post birth experiences of your wife, there is nothing new or terrible or surprising in anything that you are doing. Babies, such tiny things, turn everything upside down. The house revolves around them! And each of us learn as we go with every child being different.

Its only when we are grandparents that we can look back and get perspective on it. Im still waiting for that! Son is having too much fun!

 

[Foreigner]

First-time fathers can be overwhelmed...

 

[JohnK]

Its tough to be travelling so much to look after family. Hard to know what to do as everyone's situation is different.
Obviously better if everyone is in same place. Wil you wife have support other than yourself if family is in OZ?

They will both have mum and dad and my brother to help out wherever they need to go.