Freaking out a little! Need advice Asap

[jlm]

I've known for a long time surgery was coming...My GI put in a request a few weeks ago for a consult for a surgeon. In this time she's sent him 3 more letters to get me pushed through.

Long story short, she ran into him today in the hall, he informed her he won't be able to do anything until June (lets be clear, im coping, but Im miserable).

They have concocted a plan. They are both on call tonight in Emerg. My GI wants me to go in, say i'm obstructed again and I think I need to be dialated, then she will be called, she will then call in the surgeon who will agree that I need surgery and an emergency surgery will be scheduled for this weekend.

Issues:
I work full time... should I tell them this or explain after the fact and say that it was well an emergency surgery and nothing I could do. I'm looking at at least 6 weeks of.

We bought a house and I take possession on march 25th. I can't put all of the work and stress on my partner. She actually said it was okay, god love her, she is by far the best.

What do I do? Normally I'm a planner but can fly by the seat of their pants when needed, but this is just crazy.

 

[tzvia]

If it were me, I'd do the ER plan, and tell work afterwards that you had to have emergency surgery. If you need the surgery ASAP, then you should do it. Maybe friends and family can help with the move?

 

[Kero]

Do the ER first, and you go for surgery, well not "your fault" was an emergency. As far as the move, I don't know what to tell you there. Enlist friends and family to help, and supervise them if need be.
I hear ya on feeling guilty on leaving this on your partner, but if she is ok with it, then do it. I managed to injure my ribs 3 weeks before we had to move to another city, and still had to get all the packing done and everything else. The other option would maybe be to hire movers? They will usually pack and move and unpack lots of your stuff, especially the big pieces. Will also save you and your partners backs a bit

 

[ruhereyet]

Gosh - that would scare me. If this was exposed, then I suspect you and your doctors could get in trouble for insurance fraud, assuming that insurance will be footing the bill. If possible - and healthy to do so - I'd be inclined to wait until June. I'm really leery of that stuff, though, and tend to think that if you're GI/surgeon REALLY wanted you to have it done beforehand, they'd find a way to make it happen without pulling you into their scheme....unless you really are obstructed, in which case, then it's more legitimate.

 

[Trysha]

It is great to hear the docs are on your side and willing to go the extra mile to help you.
I would go for it, get it over and done with and be more comfortable.
The docs obviously feel this is necessary surgery .
Your family is on your side and as far as work goes you have an emergency situation that could not be avoided.
It could well happen too if you are continually waiting.
Good luck with what you decide
Hugs
Trysha

 

[Axelfl3333]

I would do it without hesitation,your stuff can happily live in boxes in your new house,also you would have recovered by the time summer arrives,do you really want to at home at the height of summer?your drs sound good guys.good luck all the best

 

[jlm]

Ruhereyet I'm in Canada so no insurance involved, this whole thing is free. And since we have free health care this is my only option or wait until june/July. The stricture I have is a pyloric stricture that causes me to throw up everyday multiple times a day no matter what I eat or don't eat. Since December I've had 6 balloon dilatation. My GI REALLY wants me to have this surgery and this was her way of getting it done. Yes we have free health care but sometimes there are long waits.

So the decision was to come into emerg. My GI saw me, surgeon admitted me and now I'm just waiting. I'm going to be done as an emergency surgery over the weekend. I told work such so I'll figure that part out later. We're going to hire movers and my mom is going to fly out here next week to help us. So far so good ducks seem to be in a row. Thanks for all the advice. Glad too see that most of you had the same thoughts as me.

 

[ruhereyet]

I'm so glad that it's going in your favor. Here in the US, our healthcare is pretty weak, so I was going off of that. I'm really glad you have two doctors willing to do this for you. Good luck for a speedy recovery and I hope work and your move go well. Hugs to you!!

 

[Kero]

Free healthcare is great, but we wait Sometimes we gotta give a push to get help, basically if you aren't laying half dead on the ER floor, you wait Alberta is awful, keep cutting healthcare and doctors are always leaving

 

[Kero]

Good luck with surgery! :hug: Wishing you a speedy recovery, keep us updated

 

[jlm]

Very much so. My GI seems to really like finding work around. There was this one time manitoba health was taking a long time approving my remicade and I desperately needed a dose. She admitted me to hospital just for the day and gave the drug through emerg.

Just met the surgeon. It won't be done Laproscopic which is sort of disappointing. And it's not a resection, he's going to make a new exit out of my stomach and hook up my small bowel to it. And I will be waking up with an NG tube. Can't have everything I guess lol.

 

[ruhereyet]

Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

[hawkeye]

Good luck on the surgery. It can make a big difference - had a resection to remove a stricture little over three weeks ago and it is a night and day difference. I didn't think a stricture could cause so much discomfort and impact on quality of life.

Hiring movers is a good plan. We hired them once for a local move and once for a City to City move and it was money well spent both times.

The closing should go OK, the big hassle is usually going to the bank and law office to sign documents - probably wouldn't be the first time that forms had to be brought to the hospital to sign if you were still in there.

 

[jlm]

Hey Hawkeye thanks for mentioning that. I was a but worried about not being able to sign stuff but I assumed maybe the lawyer might come here? I'll probably be out next Friday all things go well. So much left to do for this house business. Need to hire the movers, get insurance, my partner needs to get her 4 months of bank statements, supply a void check, get an alarm installed, hire a carpet cleaner, possibly get a snow removal comoany to come in on the bright side I get out of all forms of cleaning and with my hospitalization insurance we can put in new floors!

Thanks everyone! I'll msg after surgery tomorrow. For the people who have had surgeries do you guys fine one pain killer is more effective then others?

Also there's like 70 year old ladies doing laps up and down the halls faster then me on a good day. That's pretty impressive.

 

[hawkeye]

Insurance was an issue when we bought our first house as the roof was 20 years old when we were shopping around for insurance prices, the companies we were getting quotes from were concerned with the age of the shingles on the roof. We ended up going with the company that my wife had tenants insurance with - insurance agent drove by the house (we told him we were going to replace the roof within a couple of months of moving in) and delivered the policy after closing - he looked at the fireplace and electrical panel as well.

In terms of pain meds, I was on a PCA pump that dispensed dilaudid - I think the other guys in the ward with bowel surgeries had this setup as well. If you have a PCA (you push a button to get the meds - it's set up so you don't get too much, mine was set to give meds every 6 minutes) don't be scared to push the button. The nurses told me I wasn't pushing the button enough the first couple of days after surgery. They leave the pump in for a few days then use dilaudid pills or tylenol. I found the dilaudid worked well for the post surgery pain and the obstruction that I had to go back in to the hospital with the day after I came home.

And yes get up and walk - I was slow at first but built up speed. I didn't get up until the day after surgery.

 

[Trysha]

Hope the surgery goes well for you and is straightforward.
It is very good to see you made the right decision.
You obviously have very caring doctors on your side.
Feel better soon
Let us know how everything works out.
Hugs and best wishes
Trysha

 

[Maxwelljax]

My goodness...is this what we have to look forward to in the US someday? Having to go on a waiting list for surgery or work up a plan with Dr to go through ER is just not a humane way to treat sick people.

 

[jlm]

It's not so much a waiting list. It's just he was all booked up until june. I guess sacrifices need to be made somewhere since we have no out of pocket costs. I wouldn't even want to guess how much this week in hospital would cost if I had to pay for it. I've read what some people pay for deductibles in the US and I can honestly tell you I wouldn't be able to afford it. I pay about 40 dollars for insurance through work that covers meds and eye glasses massages, stuff that isn't in hospital. Then the manitoba government covers all of my medications as well. And I have zero deductibles. I'm 100% covered. People who need care get it. One of my issues and blessings is that I'm on tpn so I'm a stable patient. I'm just exhausted from having to throw up all the time. The doctors helping me out right now is more of a compassionate thing.

 

[Axelfl3333]

I,m afraid that medical aid in the USA is totally dependent on your financial situation sadly there are plenty of Us citizens on here who can,t afford treatment,it's not right!while national health services have issues,the sick person being unable to afford treatment isn't,t one of them.
I have had to wait occasionally for non urgent treatment myself and to be honest it never bothered me,but on the fortunately few occasions it has been required more quickly it's been fine and quick.bye the way I do know not everything in the garden is rosy with NHS systems.

 

[jlm]

Well surgery complete. Wasn't to bad went to the OR at 530 got back to my room around midnight. Lots of pain walking up but that didn't last long. Pretty sore today. But I've gotten up twice. Surgeon thinks I'll be in here for 7 days.

 

[Kero]

:hug glad you are doing good. Keep us updated

 

[hawkeye]

Glad to hear the surgery went well. Keep us posted when you feel up to posting.

7 days sounds about right - but if things don't feel right don't be scared to stay for a day or 2. I was in for 6 days after surgery, then went home, then was back in the ER less than 36 hours after getting out with an obstruction in the small intestine and ended up staying for another 7 days (wound up in the same room and bed in the surgical wing).

 

[jlm]

Well 48 hours out now. Little sore but can move on my own. Have an NG tube in that's being drained and I'm on a PCA. So far so good.

My issue is my freaking roommate. She's this old lady that's nice enough but she doesn't have an indoor voice, I'm pretty sure she straight up lies or over eexaggerates everything. And she repeats the same stories to everyone she sees. Plus she eavsdrops and laughs after every thing she says. Like a nervous habit.

Tonight she just ratted on a nurse saying the nurse did all of this stuff and she didn't. I was here the whole time. I'm going to let the charge nurse know.

 

[Trysha]

Good to hear you are improving
Sorry about the roommate,she sounds like an early Alzheimers or some other mental degeneration.
Hopefully this has already been recognised by the medical and nursing staff.
Good of you to report her to the staff though.
Get well soon
Hugs and best wishes
Trysha

 

[jlm]

Still no movement on the gas front. Catheter is gone NG tube still here nd hooked up to suction. This is like day 4 I believe. Pretty uncomfortable. Still have my pain pump though not really using it all that much. This trip to the hospital has been filled with people being loud and scaring the crap out of me and me jerking and hurting myself. Seriously this has happened at least 10 times. When did people because so inconsiderate?

 

[hawkeye]

It took me 3 or 4 days for gas without an NG tube.

Luckily I had good roommates but found there was still quite a bit of noise at night - the nurses station was across thehall from the room. If the noise is at night - I used earplugs at night but found they did not help all that much, next time I'll take the nurses up on the offer of something to help me sleep and use the earplugs too.

 

[jlm]

Down right miserable. Day 7 stuff finally starting moving and I've had the smallest bm ever. This NG tube is driving me absolutely effing mad. The pain in my throat when I swallow is just stupid at this point. I still have the PCA hooked up so I've Decided I'm going to sit here tonight and get stoned on Dilaudid.

Silver lining is the hospitalization insurance my parents still pay for. I make more money laying here then I do working full time. Every day is just another home renos project.