Emotional Support

[Astreya]

@HeatherMarie

*hugs*

 

I hope that your Mom will be thoroughly X-rayed in the hospital to check her spine. In the weeks before he passed away, my father also took a fall, and was admitted to the ER by an ambulance. But as he was extremely headstrong and irresponsible, he insisted to go back home from the hospital (against medical advice) the same day before they could properly examine him, and he had horrible back pain from then on. The doctors only gave him heavy pain killers, but when he got back into the hospital some weeks later as his heart started to fail finally, they did a full body x-ray as they suspected some infection in his bones, and only then they discovered some broken spine bones (spinal processes) that caused the pain. I guess if they would have been allowed to find that earlier, he definitely could have been treated better and suffered less pain! (But I can't really fault the doctors - my father always reacted very aggressive towards people who wanted to help him, particularly when he was (usually wrongly) convinced that it was not necessary.)

 

I can absolutely understand this totally feeling helpless, so I hope that the doctors in the hospital will manage to properly heal her! *hugs*

[Astreya]

Hi folks! Yesterday I was admitted to the hospital with a double sided heavy lung embolism. ATM I'm still in the ICU. So if you want to pass me any eggs or so, please forgive me if I can't take anything in right now. I hope I will be released somewhen next week.

[Terces]

Yikes, scary to hear that Astreya. Sounds dreadful! Wishing you all the best with recovery!

HeatherMarie's mother too, that's a terrifying series of events and I hope she improves somehow. So sorry you're going through this.

[Lagie]

12 hours ago, Astreya said:

Hi folks! Yesterday I was admitted to the hospital with a double sided heavy lung embolism. ATM I'm still in the ICU. So if you want to pass me any eggs or so, please forgive me if I can't take anything in right now. I hope I will be released somewhen next week.

Eeps. I hope you are better soon.

[Astreya]

@Lagie @Terces

Thanks for your concern ❤️

 

Fortunately I could be already transferred to the normal ward, but I'm still very short of breath and I'm equipped with quite a lot of cables for monitoring. I hope they will release me in the next week or so.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Astreya

[trystan]

14 hours ago, Astreya said:

I hope they will release me in the next week or so.

*crosses fingers and toes* {{hugs}} hope you're well soon!

[Astreya]

@trystan

Thank you so much! I'm a little handicapped with an old smartphone here and the net seems to be pretty slow.

 

I'm feeling already better now. I had a visit from a really nice doctor earlier today who gave me a total Dr.House moment. He said they want to check if the embolism doesn't have a severe underlying reason (personally I think it was just sitting at my desk too long without moving around too much plus drinking too little).

 

So when he said "First we want to check you for lupus", I couldn't help replying "Naa, it's not lupus!"

He grinned and agreed it's improbable, but they just want to make sure and do a proper diagnostic. ^^

 

[trystan]

4 minutes ago, Astreya said:

I'm feeling already better now. I had a visit from a really nice doctor earlier today who gave me a total Dr.House moment

hehe....

glad you're feeling better..... and it's great that your spirits are up, too  

[purplehaze]

@Astreya I hope you are feeling better and that "Dr House" doesn't find anything serious going on underneath the current problems. Sending healing vibes.

@HeatherMarie How is your mother doing now? Hope she is improving.

[StormBirdRising]

On 4/22/2022 at 3:11 AM, Astreya said:

Hi folks! Yesterday I was admitted to the hospital with a double sided heavy lung embolism. ATM I'm still in the ICU. So if you want to pass me any eggs or so, please forgive me if I can't take anything in right now. I hope I will be released somewhen next week.

 

 

Good Grief. I am so sorry to hear this.  Sending you lots and lots of best wishes and teeny tiny gentle hugs. Get well soon. Feel better and stronger every day. 💖

[HeatherMarie]

Sending health-vibes to @Astreya!! 

 

2 hours ago, purplehaze said:

@HeatherMarie How is your mother doing now? Hope she is improving.

 

Mom is doing okay, I mean in the sense that she's fully coherent and doesn't seem to be in as much pain... But she's still in the hospital, still hasn't been able to walk, she was evaluated by hospital physical therapist and recommended to move to rehab. Which I agree is the best thing, but that was late Thursday and then by end of Friday nothing had been figured out about rehab, the hospital people are doing all the preparations for that (thankfully, I'd have no clue) but one rehab place no longer takes her insurance and two others simply hadn't responded in any way by the end of Friday. And nothing's getting done on the weekend, so... I'm really hoping that tomorrow will be a very productive day on that front and she'll be able to move to a rehab place. (Hopefully it won't be for too long, nurse I spoke to said probably no more than 2 weeks if that, but that largely depends on the place so... Mom and I both made it clear there are two places she will *not* go, based on past experience.)

Mom is constantly worried about how I'm handling it all (which is understandable given that last time I ended up in a mental hospital...), but I'm doing alright for now. Crying a bit each day but it hasn't been *too* long yet so I'm doing pretty okay. 

[Astreya]

@trystan @purplehaze @StormBirdRising 

Thank you so so much for your support ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

 

I'm currently lying in the normal ward in a three bed room with two very nice ladies who only have the problem that they almost speak no German - and sadly I can't speak either Turkish or Iraqi Arabian. It's a pity that they both never managed to learn German despite living here for about 30 years.

 

Their sons who dropped in for a short visit yesterday were fluent in German - one of them even said he never learned Turkish properly (which I think is a bit sad, too, when you have the chance to grow up bilingually).

 

As I helped the Iraqi lady quite a bit (she can currently barely move as she is freshly operated on and I'm feeling so well again that I'm getting bored and run around a lot), her son promised me to bring me some Iraqi food to try when he will visit today. I'm already very curious!

 

Today I will have to undergo some diagnostics, I guess. Normally it should mainly be some extensive bloodwork as the stuffthey want to check are various auto immune disorders which can cause clotting of the blood (among them the infamous lupus disease).

 

@HeatherMarie

Thank you, too! ❤️

I'm so sorry to read about your and your grand-mother's ordeal! I hope she will get to a good rehab place and get back to her feet!

 

But you should also think of yourself - it it no use if your break down, too.

 

As of bad experiences with some places... Astonishingly sometimes they can change to the better.

 

The hospital where I was sent by the ambulance (if  you call the emergency service you always get brought to the closest hospital and thus have no choice) was the one where my late Dad spent 5 weeks during Autumn 2021. At that time it was a real catastrophe (from unfriendly nurses to inedible and cold food) and so I was a bit apprehensive to go there.

 

But I was very positively surprised. Even though they still have quite a work load, the nurses are there within 2-3 minutes if I have to call one (e.g. to free me from an empty infusion or so) and they are really nice!

Plus the food they have now (obviously they through out their former rubbish caterer) is excellent and so hot that you almost burn yourself if you don't wait a little. 

 

So one never knows!

[StormBirdRising]

22 hours ago, HeatherMarie said:

Sending health-vibes to @Astreya!! 

 

 

Mom is doing okay, I mean in the sense that she's fully coherent and doesn't seem to be in as much pain... But she's still in the hospital, still hasn't been able to walk, she was evaluated by hospital physical therapist and recommended to move to rehab. Which I agree is the best thing, but that was late Thursday and then by end of Friday nothing had been figured out about rehab, the hospital people are doing all the preparations for that (thankfully, I'd have no clue) but one rehab place no longer takes her insurance and two others simply hadn't responded in any way by the end of Friday. And nothing's getting done on the weekend, so... I'm really hoping that tomorrow will be a very productive day on that front and she'll be able to move to a rehab place. (Hopefully it won't be for too long, nurse I spoke to said probably no more than 2 weeks if that, but that largely depends on the place so... Mom and I both made it clear there are two places she will *not* go, based on past experience.)

Mom is constantly worried about how I'm handling it all (which is understandable given that last time I ended up in a mental hospital...), but I'm doing alright for now. Crying a bit each day but it hasn't been *too* long yet so I'm doing pretty okay. 

 

I hope that your Mom is moved to the best rehab place that you both like the most and that she receives the very best care.  You can only do what you can do.  You are doing the most and the best that you can.  It must be very scary for you and your Mom because there are factors that are out of your control, so I am hoping that she goes to the best rehab place and makes a full recovery.  💖

[DarkellaLord]

I need some support/ Right now.
I am stupid-atupid so freakin stupid - believed frauds and now I think my granny has no money of her card left. They called her, she got scared and gave phone to me. I've freaked out too and now the situation is desperate/ Everybody in the family thinks I am an idiot and don't belong to the family for being so stupid. I' did al lthe precaution i can possibly do and waiting for the police to arrive (this is also freakin scary as hell) . I can't belive i believed- there are so many articles on that cause. Now I dunn owhat to do - I have very dark thoughts and for the last four hours I can't even, I am sorry, go to the toilet. I am sick with wo

[Astreya]

@DarkellaLord

I'm so so sorry to read this *hugs*

Unfortunately, such frauds are usually psychologically well trained to trigger certain reactions in the people they try to defraud that it can be difficult even for intelligent people to see through their ruse. I really hope you were fast enough to tell the bank to block the account so that they can't withdraw or transfer anything. *even more hugs*

[StormBirdRising]

9 hours ago, DarkellaLord said:

I need some support/ Right now.
I am stupid-atupid so freakin stupid - believed frauds and now I think my granny has no money of her card left. They called her, she got scared and gave phone to me. I've freaked out too and now the situation is desperate/ Everybody in the family thinks I am an idiot and don't belong to the family for being so stupid. I' did al lthe precaution i can possibly do and waiting for the police to arrive (this is also freakin scary as hell) . I can't belive i believed- there are so many articles on that cause. Now I dunn owhat to do - I have very dark thoughts and for the last four hours I can't even, I am sorry, go to the toilet. I am sick with wo

Don't beat yourself up about it.  These frauds are very tricky and anyone can fall for the scam.  You are not an idiot, you just tried to help your grandmother.  That is good advice from Astreya to call the credit card company to fix it. Hopefully they will be able to fix it. And make the police report also.  Good luck, and don't be so hard on yourself. It happens to many, many people.  

[Astreya]

  I finally got back home on Thursday, but instead of relaxing so that I can recover properly, I'm back to the usually stress.

 

My brother was so nice to fetch me from the hospital with his car in early Thursday afternoon, and he dropped me off at my Mom's house as he had to return to his work. So I first sat down and read the discharge letter by the hospital. I was a bit taken aback - from the report it looked as if it was closer with the embolisms than I thought. They wrote they found "extensive pulmonary embolisms in both sides that extend into all lobe arteries down to all segment levels. Bronchiectasis in both upper and lower lobes". No wonder they were a bit surprised that I was still able to run around when I arrived.

 

I checked the medication plan and saw that there were four pharmaceuticals I didn't have before, and the hospital doesn't give out any prescriptions. They expect their patients to go to their GPs who will then take over the treatment. So I decided to take out the car, but unfortunately it said "tuck tuck tuck - bahh!"  The battery was broken. We brought the car to the authorised workshop four weeks earlier because of another problem and to change the tires for summer and I asked the technician to fully charge the battery as it already lost energy way too fast (I thought it might last at least a little longer as it is not too cheap to exchange it there - but we prefer not to use cheap non-authorised parts as in the end a car lasts longer when it is properly maintained), so the renewed failure confirmed the battery was dead after all.

 

This meant it was 15:15,  and in Germany GPs usually have opening hours from 09:00-11:00 and 15:00-17:00, so I had to take the bus to get to my original GP. She shares her office with a colleague, so I hoped I could get the medication from said colleague as my GP is suffering from cancer and she has to take care of her treatment, of course, but when I arrived, there was a tiny notice glued to the door "I'm sorry, in the coming times I use Tuesdays and Thursdays for longer treatments and there are no open consultation hours in these afternoons and the reception desk isn't staffed - in emergencies, call XYZ (some mobile number). Okay, I called this number (gladly I hadn't emptied my bag and still carried along my late Dad's phone that I had in the hospital, too), but only got a telephone answering machine. I spoke on it that I was just released from the hospital and urgently needed the new medication and stood at the closed door of the office, but there was no reply. After I waited for more than half an hour, there was still nothing, so I decided to try out the GP group practice a good friend recommended to me, which fortunately was pretty close by (some hundred metres that I could walk).

 

The practice looked pretty good when I arrived, but unfortunately they don't take new patients right now (I decided to let them add me to their waiting list, which means I might get a call from them in some months). So by now it was shortly past 16:00, and I still didn't have my medication. The group practice was vice versa my old secondary school, and it is only two bus-stops away from my home, which is just two streets away from my parents' old GP, so I jumped into the next bus and went there. (I don't want to permanently switch to him as he is over 80 years of age by now and I don't think he will be able to work for much longer). Fortunately he agreed to write out an emergency prescription, so finally I had my prescription and could go to the pharmacy, which is also in walking distance (again some hundred metres, fortunately into the direction of my home). That means that I had to walk a few kilometres just after being released from the hospital after having a life-threatening pulmonary condition that actually made too much exertion very difficult. I was enthusiastic..

 

Today (Friday), I had to bring the car to the authorised repair shop (for that I first had to call the ADAC (an automobile roadway repair service) to start the engine so that I then could drive it to the workshop), then do some shopping (I was in the hospital for eight days after all), and now I'm quite a bit exhausted. *sighs*

[trystan]

oh wow @Astreya - that's a little crazy for your first few days back home!  but you're back home, so yaay!

[PrincessLucy]

It has been a little rough here the past few weeks.

 

My mother spent 2 Mondays in a row at the ER. She is 93.  The ER is all that is left of the hospital. Most of the rest is doctor's offices and testing facilities.

 

8 days later, a week ago this past Tuesday, she went to a full hospital ER and was admitted overnight. She went home around 3 PM Wednesday.

 

The next day she was taken by ambulance to the stand-alone ER. She was feeling weak and my son had to guide her to the floor to prevent her from injuring herself. He was basically pinned under her while he called the ambulance.  She doesn't weigh much but he didn't want her alone on the ground.

 

She had a urinary infection and developed sepsis. 

 

The plan was to have her go to rehab and then come home, where my son would care for her with some help from visiting nurses. He has been home helping her since March of 2020.

 

Her blood pressure was too low, so she had to go to the ICU, as the med they needed to put her on could only be given there. After a few days, they transferred her to a regular room, and she was all set to go to rehab yesterday. Short-term, as there are no long-term beds available there, but that was all we needed, and the rehab is within walking distance of our house.

 

Thursday night, I got a call that she didn't remember her name and didn't know where she was. They said that sometimes happens after a week in the hospital, but wanted to scan her head.

 

She had a stroke at some point, not recently, fluid in her lungs that had been clearing up, but suddenly, she is in heart failure, with worse lungs and started hospice care a few hours ago.

 

It is around 3:50 AM, and I am here tying with 1 hand as I am holding my mother's hand with my other one.

 

 

[Astreya]

@PrincessLucy

I'm so, so sorry to read of your plight! I still remember too vividly how things felt when my father was admitted to the ICU in the end of February with beginning multiple organ failure. Even when a loved one already reached a blessed age, it is always too early if one has to fear to let them go. *hugs* I'm sending you a lot of strength and positive energies to help you to deal with all of this and to give your Mom strength and comfort, too! *hugs*

 

@trystan

Thanks! And yeah, "crazy" really sums it up nicely!

[PrincessLucy]

10 hours ago, Astreya said:

@PrincessLucy

I'm so, so sorry to read of your plight! I still remember too vividly how things felt when my father was admitted to the ICU in the end of February with beginning multiple organ failure. Even when a loved one already reached a blessed age, it is always too early if one has to fear to let them go. *hugs* I'm sending you a lot of strength and positive energies to help you to deal with all of this and to give your Mom strength and comfort, too! *hugs*

Thank you. She passed away about 2 hours ago.

[Astreya]

@PrincessLucy

My sincerest condolences - I can really feel with you. *hugs*

[trystan]

oh @PrincessLucy, i'm so sorry {{hugs}}

[PrincessLucy]

1 hour ago, Astreya said:

@PrincessLucy

My sincerest condolences - I can really feel with you. *hugs*

Thank you.

1 hour ago, trystan said:

oh @PrincessLucy, i'm so sorry {{hugs}}

Thank you.

[purplehaze]

@PrincessLucy So sorry to hear of your loss. It is never easy to let go of those we love. Wishing comfort and peace for you and your family.

 

@Astreya I hope you were finally able to get some rest after your hectic day and are recovering well at home.