Topic : When a Family Member Gets Sick

Angie, Go to webmd.com and type in MRSA. My 11 yr old son with Down syndrome & autism has been fighting cellulitis for over a week.His face started to swell up like the elephant man and 3 days later his eyelids turned black and swelled shut. I was told this was cellulitis from a bug bite on his scalp and he was septic. My son was put on antibiotics,benadryl,eye drops, and zyrtec.I found info on cellulitis on and MRSA on that web site.I am not in the medical field but I read anytime you get a bite, scrap, cut, open wound your are suceptible to these and other infections.I knew someone that got a hang nail and was using neosporin 3 xtimes daily and went into being septic, because the infection was on the neosporin tube accorind to her Doc. I hope this helps. Cyndi

Karen, I have been through all types of cancer with my mom, and her sisters. My mom was diagnoised with lung cancer.I got help through the Cancer Treatment Centers of America.You can call them and talk to a clinical oncology nutritionist. for a "small" fee they will design a diet to help keep your husband strong. If he goes through radiation he has to have a certain number of calories a day to keep him strong. You can also buy shakes called Weight Gainers Fuel. You mix the shakes and can aid fruit etc.Also they make a vitamin called Juice Plus that has 13 fruits and vegtables for when they cannot eat what they need to stay strong.The Cancer centers claim we need 13 fruits and veggies a day to keep cancer away  and you know how hard it is to do that.Also to keep the cancer from spreeding they recommended fresh gound flax seed.I bought a coffer grinder and flax seeds but  I don't remember how much is needed.The flaz seed mixture can also be added to the shakes.If he is not eating you might want to think about a feeding tube, I did with my mom so at least he is getting the calories needed to sustain him for radiation and chemo.I wish I could have afforded t o take my mother to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America but I have a child with Down Syndrome and Autism, that is non-verbal, self abbusive, not potty trained, and has heart problems. Recently he has had swelling of the face and head almost like elephant man syndrome but the Docs says it is from a bite and it went into cellulitis.There is a 70 year old man with Lung Cancer that has survived because of the cancer treatment center and you can actually read his case on line. Unfortunately for my mom she was already in stage 3 and it had already gone to her brain. I was fortunate to speak to Lance Armstrongs doc who tried to help but ,mom was 72 and even thougth she was very active and had seemed healthy it was too late for her.I miss her everyday and she has been gone for 5 yrs. She was the only one I had to help me with my son.Don't give up. I fought for my mom's life to the very end. I never stopped calling Doc's and even called Doc's that had been in lifetime movies to see if they could help. They were all very nice and I would ship them mom reports and ct scans and they tried to help from afar but our docs here were wrong about what stage mom was is in. They thought stage 2 and were "95%" sure they could take out her lung and she would be okay. They did not know it was already in her brain.I hope the info helps you and your husband. I almost lost my husband 2 years ago to typhoid fever and since we  have a disabled child I could not make it without him.I would be lost without him we were highschool sweethearts that brokeup and were apart for 8 years and then got back together.I know Dr. Phil does not believe in soul mates but this is truely my soul mate. May God be with the 2 of you. Cyndi B

    I am writing for some advice.  I have been sick for 11 years now and have yet to find a doctor that can correctly diagnose me and make me well.  I have been diagnosed with irritable bowel, acid reflux, GERD, spastic colon, ulcers of the stomach (also the bacterial infection that causes ulcers), endometriosis, psychological problems that cause stomach problems, amoung other things.  I beleive that most of the diagnoses' were given to me just to get me to give up and not go back to see them anymore.    

   

I was first sent to a Childrens hospital up in St Louis when I was 12 that supposedly had the best Gastroenterologist in the US for children.  He did nothing for me, except to try me on I would say some where in the neighborhood of 20 medications.  For some reason I was at one point taking enough medication for a 500lb man and it did not effect me at all.  I then started having a spell where I couldnt stop puking and even the medication they gave me at the hospital did not stop it so I puke for around 12hrs straight.  After this episode I was then told by Dr "The problem is your esophagus, you need a phundoplycation and then you will be fine."   Well I had the surgery and I was still sick; however, I never have puked again so technically it did solve some of my problem.  I kept seeing him until he told me that I was just making it all up and convinced my parents of it.    

   

Then because I had missed so much school that I was forced to have one of the teachers come to my house and tutor me.  After a few months of tutoring I was informed by the new principal that that the old principal had lied to us. I would be forced to either do over the grade or quit.  So then I quit school and got my GED 6 months before my class even graduated.  I ended up getting married to the first guy that I ever really dated because I was basically stuck at home and had no contact with anyone but family members on special occasions.  After that I got a job and started college but i had to immodium just to function.    

   

After several years of being sick and barely being able to stay out of the bathroom long enough to hold a job I decided to try again with a new doctor. I decided to go see an OBGYN  and he was the first doctor to ever really help me.  He listened to me and did a laparoscopy and found that I have Endometriosis.  He started me on a heavy birthcontrol to try to help.  

   

After about a year I had had enough and  ended up going thru a bad divorce from an abusive husband.  About another year I ended up finding a wonderful guy and we decided to get married, but right before we did I decided to try another doctor only to find out I was pregnant about 6 weeks later.     

   

Since then I havent been back to see another doctor.  I need your help I feel like even if I do go to another doctor that all I will get out of it will be thousands and thousands of dollars worth of medical bills.    

   

I dont know what to do I feel bad for my husband and my daughter because I am unable to do everything with them like I should be able to because of being sick all of the time.  I am back to the point that I was when I was about 13 or 14 years old where I was unable to leave the house because even taking immodium didnt help long enough for me to be able to go anywhere.    

I would like to be able to find a doctor that would find out what is wrong with me and fix it.  If its physical or psychological I dont care I just wish somebody would figure it out and at least give me some type of medication to make me a little better.  

   

Please Help!  

Unfortunately your story is all to common an occurance. I too have been ill for over 7 years now with too many doctors scratching their heads not knowing what on earth is causing my problems.   

   

As for the psychological, after such a long undiagnosed or unsuccessful treatments you do begin to think it's all in your head. After all, if it wasn't they would have found it right???   

   

Not always the case. The last time I went through this nonsense I was in and out of hospitals for 6 years and after freaking out at the pain they did a cat scan and discovered I had a tumor that even the scan did not show all of it.    

   

Psychologically there is an impact on pain. The old question is, which came first. I had that wonderful emerge visit where a dr said, I needed a shrink. I called her bluff and told her yes, but get me the best because I had already been assessed and was told this was not psychological. My neurologist laughed and her explanation to me was this.   

   

There is no doubt that there is a psychological component that can aggravate the pain however it is not the cause of my unknown problems.   

Thank you Doc!   

   

Don't give up on the medical profession. Unfortunately, you may have to weed out the bad apples who don't want to take the time to figure it out before you find one that really likes the challenge on we difficult cases.   

   

My newest doctor has been open and very compassionate in his admission that he just doesn't know what is going on, But he hasn't given up. While that doesn't get rid of the pain, it goes a long way to helping my psyche.   

   

I do the best I can because I know the impact on everyone around me and the frustration they feel at the length of time it is taking. Hang in there! Sooner or later your body will show them what they need to know.   

   

One thing my neurologist suggested was to keep a diary of the pain, where, intensity, description etc. After a year of that it helped her to see a pattern that individual appointments weren't really showing her. There were so many that I could not describe all the pain flair ups with the details that my diary gave her.   

   

God Speed in finding a good Dr. and the path to a better way to cope.   

Coffee :)   

My world was rocked in feb this year when my eldest daughter was diaganosed with type 1 diabetes.  The lack of information given to  my husband and I was unreal.  I was in shock and took a couple of days to get my head around everything.  My daughter on the other hand was unreal, day 2 of her hospital stay and she was doing her own BGL's.  I do the majority of her injections but I am slowly getting better at them.

I wish they would hurry up and find a cure so my liitle angel doesn't have to prick her fingers up to seven times a day, or have from 2 to 6 injections into her stomach any more.

 My partner told me last year he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He refused to look into it further. No operation chemo, anything. He said when the doctor told him what it was, he walked out the door. The only people who (apparently) know are me, his ex, and a mate. I have never spoken to his ex, and dont know his mate well enough to ask him if he really was told (his wife had cancer at the time, too). I dont know him well enough because he live a fair way away. I've met him a handful of times.
Well. It's a year later. And he is fine. No signs of cancer. I thought this at the time, and am convinced of it now. I fear he has lied to me. I dont know what motivation he would have.
Anyone who knows anything medical about cancer? Is it possible to be diagnosed, and nothing happens for a YEAR?! I don't want to bring the subject up with him, because i'm scared i'll go insane, and say things I shouldn't.
What is going on...

My husband is a diabetic, whom never really takes care of himself.  Last year his foot got so infected I took him to the hospital that was on May 28,05,  they kept him til June 23,05.  The Doctors found he needed a bypass in his leg to get enough blood to his foot.  He had a sore that wouldn't heal.  The bypass was done the sore healed in a little over a week!!!!  Then my husband had a heart attack, minor????  that night he started throwing up blood, for 5 hrs. the nurse didn't call any one (the Doctor) she said it was tainted (had water in it) a dah, he was rinsining out his mouth!!  When the Doctor showed up at his usual 6:00a.m. time (as he did everyday),  I told him what was happening, in runs the nurse triing to explain how wrong I was.  We left the room and a few minutes later the Doctor came to tell me I was right,  dah!! need less to say the nurse was pissed.  I made a report to the hospital and they stood by the nurse.  She was asigned to him the next evening again and I had them remove her.  It ended up my husband had a bleeding ulcer.  It took them scoping him twice before they found the problem.  The incision sight from the by pass wouldn't heal.  The sight where they put the new vien.  We were at the Dotors office twice a week from July til September.  They ended up removing his leg from above the knee.  I take care of him, work about 4-5 hrs. 3or 4 days a week.  I get his breakfast and meds. before I go to work.  Come home and get his lunch.  I try to relax cause I'm up at 5 a.m. the days I work.  With all this I have 2 daughters, a son in-law and 2 grandchildren living with us.  My daughter and 2 grandchildren live here cause her husband walked out,(he's with my daughter's girlfriend of 22 yrs, and her 2 kids).  this daughters does work full-time and the father watches the kids during the day cause he works nights.  My daughter and son in-law that had a baby in Oct. 05,  she ( Austyn) was very sick and was in the hopital from 11/01/05 til she passed away 5/13/05.  My daughter was at the hospital every day with her.  My son in-law worked and then went to be with them, til the company he worked for let him go.  Now  my daughter is expecting again 3/04/07, she had developed blood clots in her lungs.  She just started working a new job,  she was working about 11/2 months when she found out she was pregnant.  So I see a therapist every 2 weeks,  I'm wanting to get the hell out of here.  No one understands why, the ones that live here and my one other daughter.  I love my husband, I'm not in love with him, because I'm so mad that to this day he still won't do what his Doctors tell,ask him to do.  I cann't even find a support group to go to.  I'm on meds for depression myself.  I don't want to be here anymore but the quilt is hard.  My husband is getting a leg but he won't be able to go to work because he has sores on his other foot and leg that havn't healed, he's had those since rehab back in Nov.05. the doctors told the him he wouldn't beable to be on his legs too long.  The leg he has is actually (blood circulation) worse than the one he lost.  My husband was also told he has heart disease,  his left coranay artery is 100% blocked.  They won't do a bypass now because if they have to do one eventually in the future the scare tissue would cause problems?  He found out about the blockage and diabeties 15 years give or take a few years.  He won't give up his cigars,  that's all he has!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm glad I'm around right!!!!!!!

Thanks to any one that reads this I had to write in down some place.

joanie07

 

If anyone knows of a support group please let me know.  I'm in a suburb of chicago.

Thanks again

Last October instead of getting ready for christmas my mom was preparing to have her breast removed . The disease most woman fear my mother had. Weeks to follow she discovered she would need chemo and radiation to help slow down the growth of her tumours. She was preparing to endure 4 cycles of hard core chemo over a 5 month period than 20 sessions of radiation. She was told she would lose her hair after her first chemo due to the strong dose. My mom was such a brave woman she went to her chemo and took care of herself the best she knew one. My mom was getting ready for her last chemo session when things went on a down whirl spiral. On febuary 26 2006 my mom was adimitted to the hosp. with a fever and it turned out she had a blood infection known as the deadly ecoli virus. She was in the ICU for 2 weeks and during that time she had 3 blood transfusions because her levels where low. The doctors told us she caught the ecoli virus because of her suppressed immune system and bad meat. After her blood transfusions she had rapid heart rate which resulted in a deadly stroke which left my mom paralyzed on her righ size. Now 5 months later my mom is still in the hospotial and is currently still recovering. She is my hero she has been so brave through out all of this, and it hasnt been easy. She is also cancer free as of righ now. Her prognoisis is sitll unkown we are just taking it one day at a time. She is one special mother.

Last October instead of getting ready for christmas my mom was preparing to have her breast removed . The disease most woman fear my mother had. Weeks to follow she discovered she would need chemo and radiation to help slow down the growth of her tumours. She was preparing to endure 4 cycles of hard core chemo over a 5 month period than 20 sessions of radiation. She was told she would lose her hair after her first chemo due to the strong dose. My mom was such a brave woman she went to her chemo and took care of herself the best she knew one. My mom was getting ready for her last chemo session when things went on a down whirl spiral. On febuary 26 2006 my mom was adimitted to the hosp. with a fever and it turned out she had a blood infection known as the deadly ecoli virus. She was in the ICU for 2 weeks and during that time she had 3 blood transfusions because her levels where low. The doctors told us she caught the ecoli virus because of her suppressed immune system and bad meat. After her blood transfusions she had rapid heart rate which resulted in a deadly stroke which left my mom paralyzed on her righ size. Now 5 months later my mom is still in the hospotial and is currently still recovering. She is my hero she has been so brave through out all of this, and it hasnt been easy. She is also cancer free as of righ now. Her prognoisis is sitll unkown we are just taking it one day at a time. I see my mom on a daily basis and im one of her strongest supporters. She is one special mother

I am new to the boards here.

 

I have a brother who is in his mid 30's and was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer a couple months ago.  It has seemed to take forever to get treatments started and it doesnt seem like enough is being done.  All the focus seems to be on chemo.  But what about addressing his psycological needs, nutritional needs, and sitting down and preparing for the future for his wife and children. 

 

I so want to help, to research things for him, to listen, to be there.  But he wont really let anyone help.  If anyone asks questions or makes a suggestion it can trigger arguments.

 

I understand that he is scared out of his mind.  I am I just to sit back and watch?  I dont know what to do for him or for his family.