What's wrong with this patient

Nurses General Nursing

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I have a question to all my fellow nurses. My dear sister in law has lost approximately 35 pounds in 2 months without dieting, I find out yesterday that she has been vomiting a few times and I noticed her skin is golden. I tell her I think she needs to see her MD and she blows it off. What do you all think?

mario: Sometimes, people become so ill that it clouds their judgement and it takes the intervention of a third party to get them the appropriate medical attention.

There are so many things that can be causing this, but these are very ominous sx.; please try to get her to seek immediate attention.

Any changes in bowel habits/appearance of stool; any itching, "frost" on skin; any changes in mental status/personality changes; if she's eating, does she vomit shortly afterwards; fevers; unusual smell, inc. breath? Just some ideas.

Wish you and your sister the best...let us know how things are going! spin

Originally posted by mario_ragucci

This is just a thought of mine, but wouldn't it be unfair to hound someone to go to the doctor? This sounds like depression. But then, if a person doesn't want to do whats (apparently) right and go to the doctor, should you force them?

As a health care worker, this is a shocking statement. If I was ill, I would seek help because I want to keep living. But if someone is turning color gold and don't want to face, or go through, a serious illness....when do we say it's time to give up and respectfully leave them alone? Are we in their shoes?.

Again, this has no bearing on the present thread, but surely people's feelings about their own body are an issue.

Im sorry to bring this up :-(

If this person REALLY cares about themself, thade get it checked out. If they don't...now we are talking about something beyond recognising and pointing out objective symptoms.

Again, I'm sorry "(

You seem to be such a sweetie and you've thought of a few things that I hadn't. But all the same, I would still drag that person kicking and screaming to the doctor, their choice or not. Some people ignore symptoms out of fear, think they will go away or think that it's no big deal to glow like a lightbulb in the dark. My grandad was like that...typical farmer joe who thought he was tougher than nails and by God, there was nothing on earth that would keep him down. He vomited blood for six months before my mum and I finally dragged him to the doc against his wishes and had him checked out. He didn't have ca but had a nasty bleeding ulcer from crunching too much aspirin on an empty stomach. He had a scope, had the ulcer cauterised and didn't look back for another 10yrs till he died in his sleep, which is the way he always wanted it. He never begrudged us for dragging him along to the doctor and getting it checked out, particularly when it was something that could be so easily fixed. He told me in his final years that it was a blessing he had such a pigheaded daughter and granddaughter because otherwise he would have missed out on so much needlessly.

It is so hard to watch a loved one ignore serious symptoms.

My dear Mother lost 50 pounds quickly and laid on the couch covered with a blanket to hide her swollen legs from my Dad and little sister....

CA mets to liver...was gone in 5 days after a bad reaction to chemo ---probably vascular invasion and hemmorhage. My Dad also later developed liver mets from colon ca...he had a bronze tone to his skin without scleral jaundice.

I will pray for you and your family...try to get her in...tell her scary stories if you have to. Good luck.:kiss

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