My boyfriend Dusty had a high fever and chills 8 weeks ago. He had dramatic weight loss. 30 lbs loss in 8 weeks. He had me pick him up at work and take him to the emergency room on Thursday due to blood in urine. Through scans they found he has 3 each 4" diameter abscesses on liver from unknown causes. He's been on IV antibiotics since then at hospital. He's also getting probiotics. They did a biopsy so they can target the infection with specific antiobiotics (from the global antiobiotics they started with.)
They suspect Dusty may have gotten the abscesses from diverticulosis which Dusty did not know he had. He was on no drugs prior to all of this and riding his bike 15 mile per day...i.e. extremely healthy. He's had no previous surgeries. He does not drink.
THey are doing a colonoscopy on Wednesday as they see some thickening on the colon. They mentioned they saw inflammation on the distal colon (I think it was distal.)
Two questions....
Colonoscopy......anything I should have the docs do?
Job.....is there anything he should do so he does not lose his job? He works at a company with over 50 employees. The docs are talking possibly draining the absesses and/or keeping him on IV antiobiotics for 4-6 weeks. I don't think Dusty understands that he would be on IV antibiotics for 4-6 weeks at the house, i.e. unable to work at the battery shop where he is the manager. They are talking about sending him home with a port in his body to get the IV antibiotics. How do we protect his job? He called in sick though Wednesday today and left a voicemail on his bosses phone but I think I'm going to have him start emailing his boss from the hospital so he has a paper trail.
Prayers please. I'm not crazy about the gastro docs at this hospital. I had my colonoscopy here and got my MC diagnosis here but the gastro doc did not get it that with Mom with celiac I am high risk for celiac. If we had known he had a gastro situation I would have taken him to the S_han_ds/Un_iv_of florida (don't want to show in internet searches) emergency room. We went to the S. U.of F emergency room first but there were hundreds of people there and he did not want to wait so then we went to the regional hospital emergency room which is where he is now.
Anyways, just curious if anyone has any colonosopy comments and employment comments and prayers requested.
Brandy
colonoscopy question (liver abscess) the boyfriend
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Hi Deb,
Thanks for the prayers. He looks amazingly well and we walk laps around the floor every couple of hours due to the boredom. He is in better shape than half of the health care workers who struggle to get around.
His biopsy showed he had anaerobic streptococcus in his liver abscesses and he is now getting unasyn through IV to target that.
He gets a drain put in the liver tomorrow and then a colonoscopy on Wednesday.
I had him email his boss in writing that he would be in the hospital at least through Wednesday as I thought it would be better to put this in writing.
I feel better about the local hospital he is at. The other hospital in town....the teaching hospital.....can be very chaotic.
We are really blessed in a way. Untreated, if the liver abscess had burst, has a 100% statistical death rate. I think the fact that he got blood in urine was a "God thing" that got him to the emergency room. Treated, the liver abscesses still have a 10% death rate but I have to think that these folks have other health situations going on. Most liver abscesses seem to be tied out to infection left over from prior surgeries.
Thanks again for the ongoing prayers.
Brandy
Thanks for the prayers. He looks amazingly well and we walk laps around the floor every couple of hours due to the boredom. He is in better shape than half of the health care workers who struggle to get around.
His biopsy showed he had anaerobic streptococcus in his liver abscesses and he is now getting unasyn through IV to target that.
He gets a drain put in the liver tomorrow and then a colonoscopy on Wednesday.
I had him email his boss in writing that he would be in the hospital at least through Wednesday as I thought it would be better to put this in writing.
I feel better about the local hospital he is at. The other hospital in town....the teaching hospital.....can be very chaotic.
We are really blessed in a way. Untreated, if the liver abscess had burst, has a 100% statistical death rate. I think the fact that he got blood in urine was a "God thing" that got him to the emergency room. Treated, the liver abscesses still have a 10% death rate but I have to think that these folks have other health situations going on. Most liver abscesses seem to be tied out to infection left over from prior surgeries.
Thanks again for the ongoing prayers.
Brandy
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Brandy,
That was definitely fortunate that this was discovered before it got out of hand.
I'm thinking of you both, and sending my best.
Tex
That was definitely fortunate that this was discovered before it got out of hand.
I'm thinking of you both, and sending my best.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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UkuleleLady
- Gentoo Penguin
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- Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 4:45 pm
- Location: Texas
Brandy, you're both in my thoughts and prayers. On all fronts. I can't speak to medical leave/ emergency. If the store is national or a chain is there an HR manager that can discuss FMLA or medical emergency leave of absence? If a mom and pop store, I don't know.
Keep us posted on his progress.
Hugs,
Nancy
Keep us posted on his progress.
Hugs,
Nancy
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~The Dalai Lama
Hi Brandy,
Hugs to the both of you. I agree with Nancy- do they have an HR department that he can talk to about FMLA. Is the IV portable? Would he be able to work modified hours?
The struggles of health issues and jobs......
Hugs to the both of you. I agree with Nancy- do they have an HR department that he can talk to about FMLA. Is the IV portable? Would he be able to work modified hours?
The struggles of health issues and jobs......
Deb
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead, where there is no path, and leave a trail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
2007 CC
2013 thyroid cancer- total thyroidectomy
2013 Hashimoto's - numbers always "normal"
2017 Lyme's Disease
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead, where there is no path, and leave a trail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
2007 CC
2013 thyroid cancer- total thyroidectomy
2013 Hashimoto's - numbers always "normal"
2017 Lyme's Disease
Hi Patricia, Jean, Tex, Deb, Deb13, Nancy, Linda, and everyone,
THanks for the support! I'm tired but I've been trying to take care of myself.
He had the drains (3) put in on Tuesday. They look like clear hand grenades attached to tubes to his liver. The nurses empty them periodically.
About an hour after his drain install recovery he had to start his colonoscopy prep.
THE TRULY FUNNY THING was the nurse said he could use the porta potty or the bathroom toilet for his colonoscopy prep. Sonster (Dusty's son) and I were leaving and I turned around to make sure he had enough toilet paper for the evening. I asked if he planned on using the porta potty or the bathroom toilet. Dusty looked sad and said he could not use the toilet as it was disabled. I'm like..."What?". He told me the cleaning crew disabled the toilet when they cleaned the bathroom after Mr. Williams, his roommate of 5 days checked out. This did not make sense to me. I went into the bathroom and the cleaning crew had cleaned the toilet and the bowl had that blue cleaning liquid in it and the seat had one of those 2" wide paper strips wrapped around it that some hotels use after they sanitize the toilets. I ripped the 2" paper stripe off of the toilet seat, turned the light on and told Dusty the toilet was operational for the evening. Sonster and I laughed hysterically.
He had his colonoscopy today. Results were non eventful. He does not have to have another one for 10 years. No cancer. The gastro saw some diverticulitis. He has to eat less processed and more fruits and veggies. The diverticulitis might be the cause of the liver abscesses but we may never know.
They are doing a scan of his biliary duct tomorrow. I think that is the last thing they have to check.
They will be installing a PICC line so he gets antibiotics when he goes home thru IV.
We are still not sure of his discharge date.
Thanks for the thoughts!
Brandy
THanks for the support! I'm tired but I've been trying to take care of myself.
He had the drains (3) put in on Tuesday. They look like clear hand grenades attached to tubes to his liver. The nurses empty them periodically.
About an hour after his drain install recovery he had to start his colonoscopy prep.
THE TRULY FUNNY THING was the nurse said he could use the porta potty or the bathroom toilet for his colonoscopy prep. Sonster (Dusty's son) and I were leaving and I turned around to make sure he had enough toilet paper for the evening. I asked if he planned on using the porta potty or the bathroom toilet. Dusty looked sad and said he could not use the toilet as it was disabled. I'm like..."What?". He told me the cleaning crew disabled the toilet when they cleaned the bathroom after Mr. Williams, his roommate of 5 days checked out. This did not make sense to me. I went into the bathroom and the cleaning crew had cleaned the toilet and the bowl had that blue cleaning liquid in it and the seat had one of those 2" wide paper strips wrapped around it that some hotels use after they sanitize the toilets. I ripped the 2" paper stripe off of the toilet seat, turned the light on and told Dusty the toilet was operational for the evening. Sonster and I laughed hysterically.
He had his colonoscopy today. Results were non eventful. He does not have to have another one for 10 years. No cancer. The gastro saw some diverticulitis. He has to eat less processed and more fruits and veggies. The diverticulitis might be the cause of the liver abscesses but we may never know.
They are doing a scan of his biliary duct tomorrow. I think that is the last thing they have to check.
They will be installing a PICC line so he gets antibiotics when he goes home thru IV.
We are still not sure of his discharge date.
Thanks for the thoughts!
Brandy
Hi Lisa and everyone else,
I had a good day today! I did some stuff for me like bake chicken, work in the yard and get some groceries. I've been going to the hospital twice a day...once to take me and the second time to take Sonster over to see his Dad. I decided to make things easier and take one trip with Sonster.
Dusty's biliary gland scan showed nothing. He had his PICC installed. He is getting released tomorrow!
A stroke of luck is the social worker who is in charge of the exit strategy is the sister in law of my best friend who works at the other hospital in town. Normally this kind of discharge requires expensive visiting nurses but the social worker came up with a more affordable strategy. Dusty will have the three drains for at least a week and we will be trained on how to empty them by his floor nursing staff. The IV antibiotic vendor has a nurse who will train us on how deploy the IV antibiotics. We will have access to the nurse from the IV antibiotic company for free for the duration. Dusty will have IV antibiotics every 8 hours for an hour at a time for the next 10 to 14 days. (I guess they take an hour to drip down.)
Dusty gets scanned again next Friday to check progress. Dusty and his infectious disease Doc will get together several days after the scan to tweak the plan. Tentatively the plan is to have Dusty on the IV antibiotics for 10-14 days and then switch him to oral antibiotics which will be more conducive for Dusty getting back to work. The social worker told Dusty the norm is 4-6 weeks of the IV antibiotics but Dusty told the infectious disease Doc that he has to get back to work so the infectious disease Doc thinks he can transition to oral quicker but things will depend on his scan. NOTE TO SELF:::I NEED TO REMEMBER TO ASK ABOUT PROBIOTICS. Dusty thinks his infectious disease Doc is former military as he came down kind of tough on him and told him he needs to rest for two more weeks.
I'm getting kind of tired now so I'll report back with the job update which is kind of interesting.
Brandy
I had a good day today! I did some stuff for me like bake chicken, work in the yard and get some groceries. I've been going to the hospital twice a day...once to take me and the second time to take Sonster over to see his Dad. I decided to make things easier and take one trip with Sonster.
Dusty's biliary gland scan showed nothing. He had his PICC installed. He is getting released tomorrow!
A stroke of luck is the social worker who is in charge of the exit strategy is the sister in law of my best friend who works at the other hospital in town. Normally this kind of discharge requires expensive visiting nurses but the social worker came up with a more affordable strategy. Dusty will have the three drains for at least a week and we will be trained on how to empty them by his floor nursing staff. The IV antibiotic vendor has a nurse who will train us on how deploy the IV antibiotics. We will have access to the nurse from the IV antibiotic company for free for the duration. Dusty will have IV antibiotics every 8 hours for an hour at a time for the next 10 to 14 days. (I guess they take an hour to drip down.)
Dusty gets scanned again next Friday to check progress. Dusty and his infectious disease Doc will get together several days after the scan to tweak the plan. Tentatively the plan is to have Dusty on the IV antibiotics for 10-14 days and then switch him to oral antibiotics which will be more conducive for Dusty getting back to work. The social worker told Dusty the norm is 4-6 weeks of the IV antibiotics but Dusty told the infectious disease Doc that he has to get back to work so the infectious disease Doc thinks he can transition to oral quicker but things will depend on his scan. NOTE TO SELF:::I NEED TO REMEMBER TO ASK ABOUT PROBIOTICS. Dusty thinks his infectious disease Doc is former military as he came down kind of tough on him and told him he needs to rest for two more weeks.
I'm getting kind of tired now so I'll report back with the job update which is kind of interesting.
Brandy
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jessica329
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