as some of you know, my dad was recently hospitalized. Hes been constipated and he started to feel pain, so we thought he was having an issue with his intestine, but as it turns out, the pain was coming from a kidney stone
so they gave him some pill that made him flush out his system and he passed it
the mystery remained, why was my dad constipated? flash forward to a couple of days ago
my dad has been getting the runs like crazy. so basically he fasted for a couple of days and drank only water. last night he called me like at 2 in the morning and told me he was shaking. All the stuff that I mentioned, I didn't know at this time. I had to talk to him for about an hour before he told me everything. Hes still a stubborn ass. now yea, he clearly had a low in his electrolytes and I had the foresight to buy some sugarless powerades when I visited him. so I told him to go drink one and try to eat something.
Now my dad's a nurse. for real, an LVN. Sure, hes not at the top of his game, but he knows whats up. this morning he called me up again and told me that he really thinks something is wrong with his intestine. he doesn't think his runs is a result of the prescription from the hospital, he thinks something is blocking his intestine, whether it be an obstruction or maybe even a twisted intestine, but since hes been fasting, hes only been drinking liquids and hes been diarrheaing it out, never urinating it out, so yea, he thinks theres something wrong since his body is not processing it right. but the CT scans and the xrays from the hospital visit never picked anything up
then he gave me the death talk. Life goes on, death is natural etc. I think hes giving up but.....I can't blame him
my dad is retired, hes been disabled, he doesn't work, he gets a certain amount every month but he doesn't have insurance. On top of that, his doctor quit his practice and started working at a veterans hospital. so hes Doctorless too. AND hes diabetic. Hes tried Medicaid but no one around there accepts it. Hes aware that people who go through dialysis can qualify for Medicare early, but yea, he doesn't have that. Hes was hoping him having diabetes could help tip the scale there but I think hes given up that idea
The sad thing is, I don't know what to do. I dont' know who to talk to for advice or guidance. No one I know can help me, not even my siblings. I don't know where to go
I don't know to HELP him
PLEASE. What do I do? I'm at the end of my rope here. I'm desperate. What can I do for him?
I think speaking to a lawyer or someone who can navigate policies and what not would be beneficial.
In the meantime, you really ought to just spend time with your father. Try to cheer him up however you can. His state of stress and mood has a definite impact upon his physiological health so it makes sense to do so.
Okay, Honestly, I freaked out a bit cause my dad brought up death. I went into shock
but I got over it after awhile, I went to my hometown and took my dad to social security to see whats up with Medicare. Hes ACTUALLY gonna get it in march. Thank you, sweet merciful god. Apparently if you're disabled for awhile, they'll hook you up. This is a miracle
I took my dad to a free clinic and they took a look at my dad's xrays and scans, and couldn't find anything wrong. They refilled his diabetic medicine and stuff, but we still don't know whats wrong with him
then we did lunch.
at the very least, finding out about medicare lifted his spirits and gave him a second wind
Dude, I went through the runs thing. I was puking out black stuff that tasted like coffee grounds and spending most of the day on to toilet. I finally went to the hospital, they did a blood test, and pumped a bunch of liquids into me. The test showed nothing wrong, but I still just kept pooping out the liquid. So they gave me another huge bag and said to go home and have a lot of electrolytes. A few hours later I was back to peeing normal.
So I mean if that's what it is, it's nothing. He might feel like he's gonna die but it just passes.
I hope your dad gets better, man, that sucks. I think the best thing you can do right now is spend all the time with him that you can. Try to keep his spirits high, you know.
--
~=The most dangerous thing in the world is a bored Marine=~ http://img.imgcake.com/SgtSphynx/soldieroffortunecoverjpgen.jpg
BIGPUN9999 posted... colliding posted... Are his chest or hands or feet swelling?
his feet are, actually
look man, not to frighten you or anything, but there is something seriously wrong with your dad. take him to a different hospital. my dad was retaining water like this towards the end of his life - he had melanoma, skin cancer that had spread from his skin into his lungs. his feet and arms swelled and he barely went to the bathroom.
hopefully it's not as serious as cancer, but there's obviously SOMETHING wrong with him if his feet are swelling and he isn't peeing out the right hole. or take him back to the ER. sometimes they miss things. my dad was improperly diagnosed with bronchitis when he actually had ******** cancer.
also yeah, spend a lot of time with him and try and be happy around him.
colliding posted... BIGPUN9999 posted... colliding posted... Are his chest or hands or feet swelling?
his feet are, actually
look man, not to frighten you or anything, but there is something seriously wrong with your dad. take him to a different hospital. my dad was retaining water like this towards the end of his life - he had melanoma, skin cancer that had spread from his skin into his lungs. his feet and arms swelled and he barely went to the bathroom.
hopefully it's not as serious as cancer, but there's obviously SOMETHING wrong with him if his feet are swelling and he isn't peeing out the right hole. or take him back to the ER. sometimes they miss things. my dad was improperly diagnosed with bronchitis when he actually had ******** cancer.
also yeah, spend a lot of time with him and try and be happy around him.
alright, I won't take this advice lightly
I was intending to have him visit a specialist but I haven't looked into it yet
if you don't have insurance it's going to be difficult to see a specialist, which is why I suggest the ER.
obviously, if you had insurance I would recommend going with a specialist, but lots of offices are just going to be like "see ya" when you tell them you don't have insurance.
Go to the hospital, the one run by your county if nothing else since as a government institution they cant turn down Medicaid.
Thatll handle the polyps and such. While hes there, push for him to be admitted, theyll have to bust out the specialist eventually if they do.
If he needs to go on Dialysis, some hospitals have dialysis outpatient clinics and are more or less obligated to take Medicaid.
Once you handle that or while you are handling that get into contact with one of those disability lawyers about getting him medicare for his dialysis.
Pun, if you need anymore help my parents both work in and around hospitals as medics and know tons of people with power in ERs and hospitals, so i can ask them for more solid advice but thats the basics of what they told me.