I'll preface to say I'm not looking for advice, just venting.
Dad calls tonight, and says "I've just got a question for you."
Uh oh. That never bodes well... (keep in mind I'm 350 miles away)
He tells me he has been miserable with a sinus infection, etc., and goes to his doc who gives him amoxicillin even though Dad tells him he is allergic to penicillin because "that was 30 years ago".
:stone
Dad says, "I've got this rash all over me."
He lives alone in the middle of nowhere, there's no way I'm going to tell him to pop a benadryl and forget about it... So I say "Go to the ER."
He argues. ER is busy. It's probably nothing. Yada yada. And by the way, what could they do anyway?
:stone
I tell him it might not be anything serious, or it could progress. He should go to the ER and have them evaluate the reaction and treat it. He asks what they treat it with. I said probably some benadryl and maybe some steroids. Well that gets him off on another tangent--- "I don't like the idea of having to take steroids. I don't want to catch diabetes."
"Dad, I don't think you're going to develop diabetes with a single dose of steroids to treat an allergic reaction."
"Oooookaaaay. If you say so...."
:stone
Then he says "oh by the way".
Uh oh again...
"I was awakened last week with my heart skipping around and couldn't get back to sleep. So I went to the doc and he gave me...uh, hang on...what's the name... digoxin."
WHAT?!
"He said my heart was going 150 beats a minute and that was too fast."
WHAT?!
"But the medicine fixed it. I guess I'm alright now. This morning my pulse was 50."
WHAT?!
"Dad, did you get a consult to see a cardiologist?"
"Do you think I need to see one?"
:stone
"Anyway, that is why he had to give me the amoxicillin even if I'm allergic because there is nothing else I can take while I'm on digoxin."
"Ooo... I seem to be getting redder. Oooo... there's blotches all over my neck! And a big strawberry looking thing under my arm. Wonder what that means?"
:stone
"Dad, go to the ER. Now."
"*sigh* Ok. But I bet it's nothing."
Now I know what will happen. The ER doc will tell him it's not a big deal, give him a benadryl that he "could have taken at home" and then Dad will call me back angry because I "forced" him to go to the hospital "in the middle of the night."
He wants to know if I think it's ok for him to stop taking his dig.
*sigh*
Says he went back to the doc because the rash has progressed (now with severe itching and involving the palms of his hands too). He also told the doc that he is having problems with his vision and proceeds to describe a halo/shadow effect.
!!
He says the doctor gave him a "cortisone" shot, and told him to see an eye doc because he probably needs glasses.
:stone
I tried to stay calm and asked if he drew any blood work.
"No, why?"
"Dad, go to the ER."
And the cycle starts again lol.
I told him I'd call the cardiologist's nurse to see if they could work him in before the 10th. I managed to get him in for next Thursday. When I called Dad back, I told him that the nurse agreed with me, and that he should go to the ER immediately to have a level drawn and be evaluated and let the doc there decide if he needs any other medication besides dig.
"So you both think it's ok for me to stop taking this until I see Dr __ next Thursday?"
:stone
"No Dad. That is not what either of us said. GO. TO. THE. ER."
He seemed to be less argumentative about it, probably because there was someone else suggesting it
The arguemnts I have with Father about managing his diabetes!!!
He's been diabetic for over 15 years and he still doesn't remember what pills he takes! Standard response?
"Wait. I'll ask your mother..." :stone
I truly think that a higher power has inflicted these events upon us as payback for the years of torment we caused our parents...
My own father, on his last hospital admission, said his heart was fine, and that he has never had any heart problems. However, I recalled that he had said once he was in the hospital because his heart "was going too fast". I found an ancient bottle of dig in his apartment which apparently hadn't been touched since the Crimean war.
When he got hooked up to tele, he was in classic atrial flutter, with about a 3:1 ratio, HR at 70. Sigh.
My mom's the same way. I figured one of my sibs that lives close to her had taken her out for mother's day a few years ago. So I call and leave a message on her cell, happy mother's day etc. Next day I try to call again-she finally answers the phone, we have an entire conversation then I notice she sounds puny-asked her if she had the flu. Her response yeah but I feel better now, love you, bye OhbythewayIgotapacemakeryesterday CLICK.
Well, Dad knows his meds... and now that he's got mad skillz on the interwebs, he knows too much at times.
He called last year and told me he thought he had that mice disease.
"Mice disease?"
"Yeah. That virus you get from mice and rats that kills you. Think I should go to the doctor?"
Seems he was cleaning out his boat, and found a mouse nest.
He goes on describing the symptoms of hanta virus, and says he thinks he has it. Fever, cough, chest congestion, etc.
Then (in another offhand, "oh by the way" moment) he tells me the reason he cleaned the nest out was that he decided to go out fishing. Catches a fish or two, and as he is trying the restart the boat motor to come back in, he stands up to get leverage--- and flips over backwards into the water.
"Boy I musta drank half that lake! Haha! I was sputtering and hanging on to the side of the boat. Good thing someone happened to see me fall off!"
"Uh, Dad? Do you think that falling into the lake and nearly drowning yourself might possibly be the cause of your symptoms?"
"I think it's that mouse virus."
He went to his primary and his ENT. They both told him he didn't have the "mice disease", but to this day he believes he did...
Hee hee...mad skillz on the interwebs:lol2:...how to use the Google:roll...mice disease!!! :rotfl: Your dad sounds like a card, and your posts, though I know you're frustrated, are really funny, Emmanuel!:chuckle
Many years ago I let my husband manuver me into position of being the one responsible for his health. Have never been able to break the pattern. He voices complaints, even ask for advice, has a fit when I give advice, says "no, no, no". Sooner or later he will end up doing as I advised. If things don't go well it is my fault. When will I learn to say, "well what are you going to do about it" when he complains about a health issue. If he trys again to push the responsibility on to me I should say "your problem not mine" and walk away. There seems to be somesort of co dependency going on with him and me. He makes me responsible for his health and I like it because it makes me feel involved with his life. PS Let us know how your dad is, hope everything is fine.
Well, the ER doc drew a dig level and it wasn't high. Gave Dad a script for Atarax and told him to stop the dig.
I went to see him today; the horrible, weird, itchy rash was gone, and his vision was back to normal. He said everything pretty much went back to baseline 48 hours after his last dose; just a bit of residual redness on his hand this morning. By this evening it was clear.
He's seeing the cardiologist this week, and I told him to make SURE he tells this guy he's allergic to dig. Strange reaction; not sure I've ever seen someone react that way without being dig toxic.
EG, your Dad is a hoot!
EmmaG, RN
2,999 Posts
Just got another call...
He wants to know if I think it's ok for him to stop taking his dig.
*sigh*
Says he went back to the doc because the rash has progressed (now with severe itching and involving the palms of his hands too). He also told the doc that he is having problems with his vision and proceeds to describe a halo/shadow effect.
!!
He says the doctor gave him a "cortisone" shot, and told him to see an eye doc because he probably needs glasses.
:stone
I tried to stay calm and asked if he drew any blood work.
"No, why?"
"Dad, go to the ER."
And the cycle starts again lol.
I told him I'd call the cardiologist's nurse to see if they could work him in before the 10th. I managed to get him in for next Thursday. When I called Dad back, I told him that the nurse agreed with me, and that he should go to the ER immediately to have a level drawn and be evaluated and let the doc there decide if he needs any other medication besides dig.
"So you both think it's ok for me to stop taking this until I see Dr __ next Thursday?"
:stone
"No Dad. That is not what either of us said. GO. TO. THE. ER."
He seemed to be less argumentative about it, probably because there was someone else suggesting it
So he's off again...