Many thanks to those who have helped me out. I have tried to email everyone and thank them but I wanted to acknowledge their support here as well.
Hubby came home this morning but the ordeal isn’t over.
I really don’t understand what goes on in the minds of some doctors. Hubby was sent to the hospital so his high potassium level could be brought down. That was the only reason. Why do doctors who aren’t really familiar with a patient’s medical history try to change their treatment regiment pertaining to conditions not related to their hospitalization?
Hubby has a primary doctor who treats his diabetes. He just had an appointment with that doctor this past Monday and he increased his Lantus (long acting insulin) from 50 units at bedtime to 55 units. Hubby also injects 45 units of Novolog 70/30 before breakfast and 30 units before supper. His doctor didn’t want to make any changes in his Novolog dosage.
The floor doctor at the hospital lowered the Lantus to 20 units and switched the Novolog 70/30 to Humalog. Humalog is a mealtime insulin and the amount injected is determined by the patient’s blood sugar level which is measured just before eating. The doctor sent hubby home with a chart that tells him how many units to inject.
Hubby checked his blood sugar before lunch and it was 240. His blood sugars had been really good before going to the hospital. I suspect that the high reading was due to the decrease in the Lantus dose. I told Hubby that if I were him, I would go back to the type of insulin and dosage that his primary doctor recommended until he can get an appointment with his doctor. He definitely doesn’t need his blood sugar going out of control. Hubby decided to just eat a very light lunch with few carbs and inject 30 units of Novolog before supper and 55 units of Lantus at bedtime like he was doing before he went to the hospital.
The doctors at the hospital also opened the skin abscess on his chest and now Hubby is going to have to go to the wound care clinic to have it packed. The nurse at the hospital said he would have to go at least every other day, possibly every day and it could take 4 to 6 weeks for him to heal due to the diabetes. They will be calling us on Monday to set that up. The would care clinic is about 20 miles from where we live so that is going to be expensive. Hopefully, we can schedule some of our other appointments on days when he has to go to wound care to save on gas.
Please continue praying and sending good thoughts our way. I truly believe that it helps.
Graduation time is coming soon. A handcrafted ink pen would be a nice gift for someone graduating from college or high school. Hubby is anxious to get back to making pens. Custom orders could possibly be arranged.
www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com
Thanks again for any help.
Blade
First, let me make this clear. I am not asking for donations. I am asking those who read this to please consider buying an ink pen from our website.
I wouldn’t be doing this but I have run out of options and I just don’t know where to turn. I do want to thank the commenter who directed me to the Give Forward site which I may sign up with but they are a for profit business that keeps a portion of your proceeds. It also would take time to receive any money donated as they collect the donations and mail a check out to you. Hubby and I need to raise some money quickly due to more medical problems.
They say when it rains, it pours and that has been our life for quite awhile and it seems like these medical issues always crop up at the worst possible times.
Last week, hubby started having bouts with his muscles being very weak to the point where his arms shook when he used them to push himself up and his legs were trembling when he stood. I wanted to call 911 but he said that he thought he would be okay until his regular check up which was this past Monday. These spells would come and go and since he has a lot of problems with his back we thought that was probably causing his symptoms.
He saw his primary doctor Monday. I finally got him to switch to someone closer to where we live so that our transportation costs aren’t as big a burden as they used to be. The doctor said that some of hubby’s medicines could cause muscle problems so he did some blood tests. Wednesday, the doctor called and said that hubby’s kidney function was low and referred him to a kidney specialist. He also wanted hubby to come back to his office and have the blood test repeated to make sure that there wasn’t a lab error. The appointment with the kidney specialist was Thursday afternoon. Hubby and I both had appointments with pain management Thursday, too and hubby also had to go by the lab to have the blood work repeated.
We got through our earlier appointments and made it to the kidney specialist with just a few minutes to spare. As soon as the doctor came in the examination room, she said that hubby had to go to the emergency room. His potassium level was too high and she said that it would have to be treated at the ER. His level was 6.4. She said that normal was 5.5 or less and that while the elevation didn’t sound like a lot, it really was and could cause heart problems. She said that hubby would get an injection and something to take by mouth and then could go home. It didn’t happen that way.
We got to the ER. The kidney doctor had called ahead and sent a letter with us to give to the charge nurse. Hubby was taken straight back to a room and a doctor saw him almost immediately. The doctor looked at the lab work from Monday and from Thursday morning and it was still high so he admitted hubby to the hospital. We found out that the problem was caused by medications. Hubby has a skin abscess that he went to the urgent care clinic about a couple of weeks ago. They put him on Bactrim DS 800 milligrams. The prescription said take two tablets twice daily for ten days but said dispense 20. The pharmacist said that would be 40 not 20 so he gave hubby 40 tablets. High potassium is a side effect of Bactrim DS and another of hubby’s medicines, Diovan can also raise potassium levels.
Hubby is doing good but I am a wreck from worrying about everything. I rarely drive because of my own medical problems. I have only been behind the wheel a few times in the past 5 years because I have a lot of pain in my arms and legs when I drive. I drove the 20 miles home, praying the whole way. I would have just stayed at the hospital with hubby but I didn’t have my medicines with me and I can’t do without them.
I received a donation of 50 dollars earlier this week that was greatly appreciated. That money was used for gas and to pay for our prescriptions. We are totally broke now and the car is nearly out of gas. Hubby told me not to come to visit because there is only enough gas for one trip to the hospital and back so I have to wait until he is discharged. It is a week until we get paid and hubby should be discharged before then so I can’t go visit him. I worry about him being in the hospital alone because so many mistakes are made. Hubby was given an injection meant for another patient once during a prior hospitalization. The patient who was supposed to receive the medicine had been moved to another room and even though we told the nurse that the doctor she said ordered the injection wasn’t hubby’s doctor, she would not listen.
I hate even sharing this here because I know the hateful posts will start. I am just at my wits end and don’t know where to turn. Our son was involved in an automobile accident last week and doesn’t have the money to come to visit our send us any help. He wasn’t seriously injured but his vehicle was totaled. We are still facing all of the problems we had before hubby’s latest illness. Any ink pen purchases made would be a huge help.
Please, also pray for us or send good thoughts our way. We really need them.
To those who will post rude remarks, please put yourselves in our shoes and think about how you would want to be treated if you were in the same situation.
www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com
Blade
