Thoughts please.......

[StatBlues]

Patient in Canada...

What are your thoughts on this case?

In her own words.............

Hi i have had people ask me about the accident i had that finally put me in a wheelchair, I,m going to try and make this as short as i can.{ About 6yrs ago i fell of a swivel chair and fell hard on a cement floor, it knocked me out,when i came to i had this pain in my side with in a couple weeks i started to {BLOAT} in my belly,and then other places ,seen 7 spec, done every test,Some 7 times,they opened me 2 times to try and find the problem,but they couldn't,find it,My weight went from { 145 to 225 in the last 3 yrs,its not reg, weight ,I,m swelled all over now,it has cause many medical problems, my muscles are losing their strength, my wrists are turning in,cause of my muscles dropping,i ended up in the wheel chair,cause my legs won,t hold me up, if i try to walk i fall,my very small veins in my legs break.The drs say i have a very serious medical problem,but they can,t find it,they call me { a medical mystery}the only way they will know if some thing happens,so i live day to day with pain 24hrs a day,can,t take pain killers .cause it might make thing worse the Dr,said so i live on Tylenol ex-strength, hope this will answer your questions,sorry i couldn't,t make it shorter,ty for your concern and god bless you all,

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[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

My question is this - HOW MUCH Tylenol Extra Strength? Because that stuff, in constant and high amounts, has an unreal hepatoxicity....

[SmilingBluEyes]

wow! I would tell this one to keep searching til the answers are found.......poor thing.

[veronica butterfly, ADN, RN]

some sort of sepsis?? gram negative organism. maybe a small tear in the bowel from the fall and an infection brewing?

I once took care of a man who slipped down the stairs. Got a sliver in his buttock, didn't think anything of it. Years later passed out while driving. Horrible sepsis in his body, one hip had deterioated and was taken out and replaced after months of antibiotic therapy.

just a thought...

[HairCanada]

Sounds to me like your problem is in the first statement "patient from Canada". i live in Ontario, alot of MD's here would be useful in a civil war battlfield tent, outside of that ................well you get the picture. There is so much wrong with the Canadian medical system that trying to tackle it in this reply would be useless. My advice, get a loan and come to the states and see a real specialist.

my $0.02

PS If i have miss understood the post, and the patient is just a Canadian citizen, and is currently seeking treatment over here, then sorry, my bad!

[rn/writer, RN]

How did you become aware of this person's horrendous situation? Is/was she someone you have cared for?

It's sad to hear the stories of people with long-term undiagnosed medical conditions. I had a much less serious problem with an excruciating inflamed nerve in my ankle that made it impossible to work for about three years (had to take narcotics, couldn't wear shoes that touched the area, couldn't stand or walk for more than a half hour at a time). Each specialist viewed my symptoms through the lens of his own expertise (if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail), and when they couldn't come up with any real solutions, they all tended to become discouraged and pull back.

After a while, you begin to doubt your own sanity. Just when I was starting to slide into serious depression, another nurse referred me to a microsurgeon who made an accurate diagnosis in one half hour! He said I had a giant neuroma (nerve tumor) from a prior injury, and after he removed it, I got most of my life back.

I hope this patient keeps looking for answers until she finds someone who can make sense of her predicament. In the meantime, if you are still in contact with her, please encourage her to get counseling or some other kind of nurturing for weary and wounded spirit.

Take care,