My brother passed away lady night....
Thank you all! Today we talked with a social worker from hospice with my brother about his wishes for services and funeral. Unfortuneatly my family, not prepared for this so soon, does not have the...
Mama Lama, thank you for such kind words! I love my brother so much!!! He is only 2 years older than me and we were always close growing up....
My brother got home from the hospital Sunday afternoon. He insisted on going home Sunday instead of Monday. Yesterday hospice delivered his hospital bed and supplies and medications. This morning he...
I'm thinking the confusion was from everything. At least the drs tell me it's all the progression of the disease. He was discharged from the hospital today, per his wishes. He signed the consent...
Thank you!! We're gonna literally take this one day at a time. She says she can be home with him. Her job isn't everyday. In reality I WANT him to go straight to a nursing home but I'm respecting his...
Today my brother is pretty much completely coherant and "looks" better physically however his labs are worse. He doesn't remember coming to the hospital nor the prior days of the confusion. He's on...
The creatinine level pertains to kidney function. My brothers is 1.73....
I didn't get a chance to update much since I've been spending half days at the hospital, the other half at work and then home with my husband and kids. Not enough hours in the day. Yesterday was a...
As of yesterday and today he's not in pain but his confusion has increased dramatically however his amonia levels aren't super high (or so the nurses say 41 isn't too high). He wasn't sleeping much...
He was prescribed tramidol previously but I don't think he was taking them too often, but I'm not certain. The one dr told me it was from the fluid build up pushing on his organs. I don't know....
Yes they have him dilaudid and it helped the pain. Today he seems to not be in much pain but quite confused. Hoping the Lactulose helps that....
I was an hour away from a previous hospital he was in. He and his girlfriend live in the same town as I do. He's now at a local hospital and yes she and I are working as a team on these decisions....
He's not yet eligible for a transplant. He's only at month 2 of sobriety and has spent all but 2 weeks of the 2 months in a hospital or nursing home facility. I guess I'm just curious as to what...
My brother asked to have an ambulance bring him to the hospital today due to extreme pain in his abdomen, itchiness and dizziness. They gave him a couple doses of dilaudid and even after that he was...
Thank you! For helping me work my way through this and how bad does that sound, I'm not even the one with the disease. One thing his GI doctor told him is no red meat, while I've had nutritionists...
I know Aziffle you say I shouldn't put so much thought into the way he looks right now but it's SO hard. I saw him today after his girlfriend took him to a follow up appointment with his GI dr. They...
My brother got released (I feel it was more shoved out) of the LTAC he was in on 5/23. He was at home for a week doing ok. Taking his meds, eating well, trying to watch his fluid intake and moving...
Yes, I will be calling on Tuesday after the holiday weekend to make an appointment for an evaluation. Either I or his girlfriend will call Tuesday to make his follow up appointments with Dr's as well...
I completely agree. I've been in contact with the liason for the LTAC and I have the contact info for their CEO. You bet your (you know what) I'll be writing a written complaint to them!! So many...
Thank you. I will have to look into that for sure and hopefully his state insurance will cover that. I'm so upset.....they discharged him from the LTAC last night. His case worker there told me that...
No Dr has said "terminal". As far as prognosis......I've heard many drs opinions (he's been in 4 facilities). One dr said 1 month, another said 3....another said he could possibly make it to a...
I know :( I guess I'm just scared and worried....
Thank you!! The times I've been there when he talks to Dr's, he doesn't really go over the big picture. He seems to focus on one thing at a time (how his kidneys are doing). Lately I feel like he...
He's always been able to make his own decisions, a social worker at the first hospital urged him to pick a POA in case things got worse. Early on he was on a ventilator for a night due to internal...
Thank you., Right now we're tying to find a nursing home for him to go to for more physical therapy to get strong enough to go home. So far no luck, places are saying no because of his age, he isn't...
I talked to his Kidney dr today. Kidneys are getting better still. BUN is 9, creatinine 1.1, sodium 134 (so I'm not sure if that sodium figure of 166 the nurse gave me yesterday was accurate or not,...
They have been together and living together for years. I know she wants to take care of him, but I'm not 100% sure she knows what she's in for. It's very hard to say as we are 2 very different...
Yes that sounds like what they are saying. I, personally, cannot have him come live at my house. I know that sounds bad, but I have a husband and 2 young boys that I need to take care of and I don't...
Yes, they said if we want him to be evaluated we have to call and make an appointment (which one hospital only sees evaluation patients on Thursdays and they're booked a month out right now). They...
Ok after talking to his nurse today, she said he IS on a diurectic. He is on spironolactone. The kidney Dr ordered to up the dosage from 200mg to 300mg. She said his sodium level was 166. I don't...
I know his sodium levels were low which was my understanding for the fluid restriction. I will specifically question the nurse today about the diuretics, however, yesterday when I asked what meds...
I don't believe he's on any diuretics right now. His diet....that's hard to say. Again I only talk to him on the phone. He claims he's eating well, but when his girlfriend visits him and the last...
First of all, I don't really care for the LTAC facility my brother is at, however he seems to like it there. I can't get there to visit him as much as I would like to as it is an hour and a half...
Thank you! I don't know what his numbers "typically" are since he was still drinking and not seeing drs until a month ago. I do know what his numbers were each hospital trip he's had over the last 3...
Ok, so I know that BUN and creatinine are related to kidney function, I know creatinine, Bilirubin and INR give you the MELD score and I know the ALT, AST pertains to the liver function. My question...
I know they were giving him vitamin k. His dr said they COULD tap him but it's just a big risk so right now they're waiting for the levels to come down. His HE isn't bad at all, some forgetfulness...
Today his MELD is 34. It came down from 40 at the end of last week, but has stayed around 33-34 all this week. The INR is not moving. His ALT and AST are not budging either. His creatinine is 1.75...
I'm waiting to hear from my brothers Dr today. He sounds better than yesterday on the phone (not as crabby). For the past week his INR has been at 2.7 so they can't "tap" him. The last time they...
It is??? The Dr's aren't acting as it is. They're treating him with antibiotics, but talking about maybe releasing him to a LTAC in the next couple days.......
He's still in the hospital. They are weaning him off the 3 meds for the kidney issues to see if his kidneys will "hold their own". They were trying to determine if the kidney problems were from...
I don't know what his GFR was yesterday. I know last week it ranged from mid 30's to mid 40's . The hospital he's at is about an hour drive for me so it's hard to get there. I'm going tonight to see...
I know, that was not a typo.....it is the same number. He cannot get on a transplant list, because he does not have 6 months sobriety. I guess I'm now wondering how fast or long this will go??? I...
On Monday my brothers Dr called me, his kidney function had gotten worse. 3 Dr's involved all think the liver AND kidneys will fail and there is not much more they can do. The only other thought was...
Thank you! Yes he's very jaundice. The highest his bilirubin was 2 weeks ago in the hospital was 33, it lowered to 15 last week, but back up again. I do speak directly to his dr's, I have health care...
The drs are very concerned about his kidneys. He is getting his abdomen drained tomorrow. He's having issues with hydration. When thru give him IV fluids, the creatinine goes down a bit but the fluid...
A week ago tomorrow, he was released from the hospital and taken to a nursing home for physical rehabilitation. I went to see him on Monday and WOW what a difference. He had lots of energy, was up...
I'm sorry I haven't posted any updates lately. Last week was a long, emotionally/mentally exhausting week spending almost everyday at the hospital with my brother then trying to get to work to get...
Last night they moved him out of ICU to telemetry. They took the IV out of his jugular vein. All meds are now given in pill form. He's still very weak but is able to get up and go to the bathroom....
They have not mentioned anything about midodrine. He KNOWS he cannot drink, it's just not an option. He knows his liver is BAD but when I mention a transplant he commented on how long the list is. I...