I'm sending this to all 3 lists to save time and energy. Perhaps the
thread about impaction on the PD lists was a trigger? Today (Monday) Peter
woke at 5 AM in terrible pain, unable to move--had to call the life squad
again, and take him to the ER. We knew it was not due to urinary
retention, as he has "worn" a catheter since the last trip there on
Saturday! An Xray showed a blockage in the intestines, quite high up. He
was admitted for observation, and is still there tonight, but I hope I can
bring him home in the morning. Like another listmember -PWP , he has been
functioning pretty normally, so we did not anticipate this. It took 2
enemas and also laxatives by mouth to start him moving again. Obviously
the reason he had been so "OFF" was that the meds were not able to reach
the small intestine to be absorbed, so he was in deficit for dopamine. The
nurses got a good demonstration of the "Parkie Freeze"!
The ER staff was wonderfully considerate of BOTH of us, which I much
appreciated. Of course I took along all his *10* bottles of meds, and
detailed info, so as not to have to remember dates, etc , and they liked
that--saved them time and effort, and I think they will follow his
complicated schedule OK tonight and in the early A.M.
I encourage all CGs to do this--Take copies of schedules, symptoms,
warnings re: contra-indicated meds, etc with you--and leave them there for
the record. Our local doc always charts an order that I can administer his
meds while I'm there, from home supply, and they'll let me do it if I bring
all meds IN ORIGINAL BOTTLES --Good to know ! Since nurses change on
different shifts, be prepared to repeat yourself as often as needed. The
doc was considerate of my need for some rest, too, and decided to have
Peter stay overnight so they could monitor things and see how he is in the
AM. I hope this is the answer to the recurring early morning pain
episodes, as I feel like telling the nice guys on the Life Squad, "We've
got to quit meeting like this ! " :-) Both our daughters and our 2
granddaughters were able to visit him and that cheered him up a lot. But
of course the stress of even going NEAR a hospital can throw everything off
balance.
A word to my friend on the QW list---thanks for all your messages, prayers,
and encouragement. It means a lot. I'll "talk to you later"--gotta head
for bed now.
Camilla Flintermann, CG for Peter 81/70/55
Oxford, Ohio
http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/camilla/one.htm
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"Ask me about the CARE list for
Caregivers of Parkinsonians ! "
