New Member Introductions Welcome to our community! Come in and introduce yourself to other members!!

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Old 02-25-2008, 12:11 AM #1
eaglesfan eaglesfan is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 6
15 yr Member
eaglesfan eaglesfan is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 6
15 yr Member
Default simple surgery, now incoherent

A good friend of mine for 30 years has gone through a bad experience
and is now not responding and my friends and I are not sure what to do next.
Here is the story.

At the end of December, my friend had gall bladder surgery. this surgery is
considered low-risk and standard nowadays. A week later, she experienced
excruciating pains in her abdomen and was rushed to the hospital where they
discovered a gallstone still lodged in her bile duct. The bile had been leaking
into her abdominal cavity for a week. They performed surgery, removed the
gallstone and placed 3 drains in her cavity to drain out the bile. She was in
the hospital for 3 weeks before being sent home. She went back in 4 days later because the antibiotics that she was on caused a severe reaction. She stayed in the hospital another 10 days and during that time hadn't eaten solid foods nor really kept anything down. They removed one of the drains, so now she only had 2. They discharged her and she was sent back home again.

Over the next few days, she threw everything up she tried to eat or drink. She went to the doctor, told them she was throwing up and they re-admitted her for a third time. The doctors told her had they known she hadn't eaten solids, they would have never discharged her. This was last Friday, the 15th. Over the weekend, they discovered that she had additional liquid that was causing her to vomit because it was sitting on top of her small intestines and causing a reflux-type reaction. On Monday, Feb. 18th, a third drain was placed into her side to drain this fluid.

She has not been the same mentally since. My friends and I either spoke to her or saw her last week and she is incoherent, babbling, hallucinating and
essentially not functioning. She had been on morphine the day after the 3rd
drain was placed (Tuesday, the 19th). They stopped the morphine as of that day and she hasn't had any medication. she hasn't eaten, they removed her IV on Thursday and essentially she's been sleeping and not functioning ever since. We saw her on Saturday and her right arm is swollen, she's sleeping all the time, she cannot feed herself and you have a hard time waking her up. They did CT's on her brain, took multiple blood tests, etc. and all her tests have come back negative. It's like she's given up.

She has not had contact w/her family in 15 years. Her friends are her family.
She refused to allow us to contact them these past 7 weeks. This past Saturday, we called her family. She cannot make any decision about her own well-being and we're not sure what to do. Her family is supportive and has come to visit.
During this time, we've expressed to the doctors to have a Psych consult, but had been denied. Finally, they relented after seeing that she shouldn't be acting this way after getting a drain placed.

I'm just seeking any advice as this is new to me and my friends and we haven't ever experienced anything like this. I can see how she could be so depressed.
She's been in the hospital for 7 weeks, she's estranged from her family, she is
very obsessed about work and now she's not working and her co-workers are moving along w/o her, and her friends aren't able to spend as much time w/her because we have families and jobs. We get down there as much as we can, but we aren't w/her 24/7.

Can you advise on websites, anyone we can speak with?
eaglesfan is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
 


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
A simple question reverett123 Parkinson's Disease 66 01-26-2011 02:16 PM
simple question (i think) queenarmijo Aneurysm 9 09-16-2008 08:03 PM
Simple or complex or bit of both Cedar Epilepsy 7 01-02-2008 03:18 AM
Doug's in severe pain, incoherent, i'm crying befuddled2 Bipolar Disorder 82 08-04-2007 04:45 AM
Serious or Simple GregD Parkinson's Disease 10 11-16-2006 03:26 PM


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:10 PM.


Powered by vBulletin • Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

vBulletin Optimisation provided by vB Optimise (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2025 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
 

NeuroTalk Forums

Helping support those with neurological and related conditions.

 

The material on this site is for informational purposes only,
and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment
provided by a qualified health care provider.


Always consult your doctor before trying anything you read here.