General Medical issues thread

[love_the_life]

I lost 5cms when I broke my legs. It felt like a lot more than 5cms cause I cant wear my Jimmy Choos any more :-|

But you still have them just in case....?

 

[JohnK]

Daughter has RSV. Not good but not so bad. They are giving her an injection which I am assuming is a vaccine of some sort. They have cleared her nose from a lot of build up.

A few nights in hospital and hope she is fighting fit to torment her dad next week.

 

[blackcat20]

A friend parked at Footscray Hospital for a family emergency for 12 hours and only paid ~$10. Funnily it has plenty of parking but staff keep choosing to park in surrounding streets. Oh well not in my street anymore!

My hospital will set you back $26 for visitor parking...and there is very little street parking (what is available is snapped up by staff very early in the day).

 

[Quickstatus]

Daughter has RSV. Not good but not so bad. They are giving her an injection which I am assuming is a vaccine of some sort. They have cleared her nose from a lot of build up.

A few nights in hospital and hope she is fighting fit to torment her dad next week.

Definitely Not a vaccine

Almost all children will contract RSV by the time they are 2 years old.
RSV is highly contagious - as you have discovered. Its all over the surfaces at the house. Spread by droplets in the air and touching contaminated surfaces.

Whatever happens never give a baby aspirin. panadol and nurofen is ok but never aspirin.

Washup : Respiratory Syncytial Virus RSV

 

[Princess Fiona]

Daughter has RSV. Not good but not so bad. They are giving her an injection which I am assuming is a vaccine of some sort. They have cleared her nose from a lot of build up.

A few nights in hospital and hope she is fighting fit to torment her dad next week.

That is a relatively common viral disease in young infants. The younger the baby the more susceptible they are to the effects, feeding difficulties are the most common due to them not being able to breathe properly when feeding. Hospital is a good place for her where the staff can ensure she's getting adequate intake and giving supplemental oxygen if she needs it. Some babies require WHO (warm humidified oxygen) or bubble CPAP (nasal ventilatory support) if severe.
The prognosis is very good.

 

[TheRealTMA]

We are at our tallest when we are age 35-40. After that it's all downhill

Supporting research?

 

[Bundy Bear]

You accept a scare on your neck? I know it is auto correct and poor eyesight.


Old age is terrible. I have shrunk ~5cms in the past few years. That sort of shrinkage is supposed to happen over a lifetime not a few years.

And other than losing consciousness we know very little about death. Must be time for a drink again? Are you in the city Wednesday or Thursday nights? If so give me a call.

Not proof reading my typing is the main reason, now edited the original post.

 

[Quickstatus]

Supporting research?

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/150/9/969.full.pdf

 

[Milboo]

BundyBear - coming in a little late here but I highly recommend using a silicon gel like Strataderm on the scar once the healing is done. Using it to massage the scar so it does not go ropey. I followed this (advice of my dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon) when I had a large BCC from my face.

I have a scar that runs the length of my cheek and having a good surgeon (done under local) and then using that product has it barely visible under make up.

I had been suspicious that, despite having clear margins on removal, there was another small patch off to the side and after a week away overseas, I can clearly see the patch there. Funnily enough, it was after a trip overseas that I realised the initial treatment on my BCC had not been successful.

Other interesting thing my derm gave me recently was research that shows that taking Vit B3 helps with future reoccurrence of BCC (and SCC too from memory).

 

[Milboo]

Pushka - intrigued about the rash from sun comment you made.

We have ruled out PA for me which is good but my immune system is not right - and funnily enough, I got a bit of sunburn while overseas last week on my legs and it turned into an itchy rash

 

[JohnK]

Definitely Not a vaccine

Almost all children will contract RSV by the time they are 2 years old.
RSV is highly contagious - as you have discovered. Its all over the surfaces at the house. Spread by droplets in the air and touching contaminated surfaces.

Whatever happens never give a baby aspirin. panadol and nurofen is ok but never aspirin.

Washup : Respiratory Syncytial Virus RSV

Interesting to find out what the injection contains unless it is just the drip. My wife's English is not perfect when trying to explain complex things.

And my English is not much better either.

 

[Quickstatus]

Most likely intravenous fluids via a drip as you said daughter was vomiting - so just some normal rehydration and par for the course
Treatment is a PF suggests -supportive treatment, nothing high tech.

 

[JohnK]

Most likely intravenous fluids via a drip as you said daughter was vomiting - so just some normal rehydration and par for the course
Treatment is a PF suggests -supportive treatment, nothing high tech.

I hope you are right. Doctor to see her again in morning. No noticeable improvement in her condition but she is sleeping now which is unusual for her. She must be tired but she looks very relaxed in photo my wife sent earlier. This is a stubborn illness to knock down 2 households. Does the body build specific immuniny to this type of virus so it cannot get you twice like most viruses? Surprised that adults have not encountered this virus before but living in a village where they hardly move outside their "soi" it is understandable.

For what it is worth I spent the day in the village last Saturday and I cooked, sat around and touched a few things here and there and also visited the hospital ward to see my nephew and spent ~30 minutes inside the room with nephew, father in law, sister in law and nephew as well as wife and daughter.

 

[Pushka]

Pushka - intrigued about the rash from sun comment you made.

We have ruled out PA for me which is good but my immune system is not right - and funnily enough, I got a bit of sunburn while overseas last week on my legs and it turned into an itchy rash

Best get it checked out by a dermatologist who is familiar with auto immune issues, some of them aren't. Which results in failure to putting the jigsaw puzzle together. That happened to me a few years ago - this rash I get in the sun I thought was an allergy to sunburn cream or early cancers. Dermatologist said no to BCC/SC and that was that. Another rash on my scalp was diagnosed as lichens planus and given some cream. The scalp rash flared occasionally and never disappeared despite stronger cortisone cream. Move forward 6 years and the rash on my face from sun was actually photosensitivity and the rash on my scalp was discoid lupus, both of which are criteria for SLE. Add some flaky blood tests and blood issues, hand arthritis, other skin issues and bingo, SLE. Had the first dermatologist been on the ball it would have helped considerably.

JohnK, if you havent had exposure to a particular virus, or groups of viral diseases, even a 'simple' one, then the effects can be quite strong. Wait until your daughter is old enough for kindergarten - that was the time when we all came down with respiratory illnesses from a whole new bunch of people. Kids usually have around 3-4 respiratory illnesses a year, it is all normal, and all part of being a child. Supportive measures is all we can do - antibiotics are rarely needed.

 

[QF WP]

So an update on my family members illness. They didn't get any better over weekend and earliest appt with Specialist was Wed, so I suggested they tell GP, who told them to go to Emergency. I picked them up after dropping the kids at school and drove to Holy Spirit Northside ER. Amazing EM Dr and staff (male version of Princess Fiona, except Irish). Made sure we'd taken all test results with us ( bloods and CT scan). Very professional review and portable Ultrasound showed the mass in the gallbladder so Abdominal Ultrasound ordered and blood tests performed. I had two Specialists (friends, non-AFF'ers) tell me to ask for a MRCP, so EM Dr was surprised and agreed.

After scan they were admitted (I got to do the paperwork and pay). Best $365 spent and going back to give the nurses and doctors some chocolates today.

They rested comfortably in Ward last night but only having Consommé and jelly made them very hungry

Very interesting to read the chart and results:

View attachment 83061

View attachment 83062

View attachment 83064

View attachment 83065

View attachment 83066

Consult with Head of Surgery last night and MRCP arranged for 10:30 this morning. Results will I guess depend on whether ERCP done or Cholecystectomy

 

[sinophile888]

I hope all goes well from here, QFWP.

 

[Pushka]

Best wishes QFWP. While not the most pleasant place to be, sometimes ER is the only place to be.
(I'm on the app and can't see what you've posted btw)

 

[QF WP]

Just remembered to cancel their (GP referral) Gastro Specialist appt tomorrow - won't be needing him to do consult, bit late

 

[Quickstatus]

Best get it checked out by a dermatologist who is familiar with auto immune issues, some of them aren't. Which results in failure to putting the jigsaw puzzle together. That happened to me a few years ago - this rash I get in the sun I thought was an allergy to sunburn cream or early cancers. Dermatologist said no to BCC/SC and that was that. Another rash on my scalp was diagnosed as lichens planus and given some cream. The scalp rash flared occasionally and never disappeared despite stronger cortisone cream. Move forward 6 years and the rash on my face from sun was actually photosensitivity and the rash on my scalp was discoid lupus, both of which are criteria for SLE. Add some flaky blood tests and blood issues, hand arthritis, other skin issues and bingo, SLE. Had the first dermatologist been on the ball it would have helped considerably.

Dermatologists should be able to diagnose lupus. Shouldnt have taken 6 years. But certainly a few visits would have been necessary and of course a few $$

...
Well done QFWP.

BTW the attachements are invalid?

Just remembered to cancel their (GP referral) Gastro Specialist appt tomorrow - won't be needing him to do consult, bit late

Was there a fee for cancelling appointment. Some specialists are charging it these days

 

[Pushka]

Dermatologists should be able to diagnose lupus. Shouldnt have taken 6 years.

Agree. And I found one who did. Unfortunately like all things in life there are good and not so good ones.

Six years ago I didn't know I was developing a puzzle. I assumed he knew his specialty. He didn't but as a pleb patient how was I to know?

I am now older and wiser and unfortunately less healthy as a result. I do my own research in reputable journals (I'm a researcher by profession) and worked it out for myself. Just had to get the right tests done and referrals made

After 6 weeks on the treatment (plaquenil - also anti malarial) I realised last week I no longer feel like I am dragging a 10 tonne weight behind me. So it's starting to kick in.