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Wife diagnosed with Acute Pancreatitis

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Just got home Sue had quite a good day had some of her breakfast a little bit of lunch and most of the sandwich I took in.
She had a short walk with physio this morning and one with me before dinner. NG tube was removed tonight and pain is under control as good as it can be.
Left Sue watching Catherine Tate show , hopefully she doesn't laugh to much as don't want to split her stitches :rofl:
 
So good to hear that update. Long may her good progress continue. It certainly sounds like she has turned a corner with it now.
 
Great to hear @Billy Bob

Every good wish to you both. 🙂
 
Great to hear the good news about Sue's progress @Billy Bob
 
That is great news! I imagine you will be relieved they are going to keep her another night though. I know you will be keen to get her home but also it's quite a big responsibility when she has had such major surgery and been so ill. Fingers crossed she has a good night and doesn't have too long sitting around waiting for discharge medication tomorrow.
Really looking forward to tomorrow's update..... if you have time of course!
 
rebrascora said:
That is great news! I imagine you will be relieved they are going to keep her another night though. I know you will be keen to get her home but also it's quite a big responsibility when she has had such major surgery and been so ill. Fingers crossed she has a good night and doesn't have too long sitting around waiting for discharge medication tomorrow.
Really looking forward to tomorrow's update..... if you have time of course!
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Exactly another day there is better to be safe than rush home only to end up having to go back in
 
Hi @Billy Bob, I have been following Sue's story - my brother had major surgery for bowel cancer early this year followed by one more major and two relatively minor surgical sessions within a few weeks. His story mirrors Sue's. Two steps forwards, one step backwards in the early days but things really started to get better when he went home. That was mostly because he could organise things to suit him. He knew what was needed but at home he could fit things in around how he felt rather than hospital schedules. He also has had tremendous support from the stoma team in his area which is well organised to look after patients at home. And lest I forget, the support from his wife, but then you will know all about that!

So, good luck with Sue coming home. Keep focussing on progress (however small), make sure you tap into all the resources you can, and, above all keep positive.
 
Docb said:
Hi @Billy Bob, I have been following Sue's story - my brother had major surgery for bowel cancer early this year followed by one more major and two relatively minor surgical sessions within a few weeks. His story mirrors Sue's. Two steps forwards, one step backwards in the early days but things really started to get better when he went home. That was mostly because he could organise things to suit him. He knew what was needed but at home he could fit things in around how he felt rather than hospital schedules. He also has had tremendous support from the stoma team in his area which is well organised to look after patients at home. And lest I forget, the support from his wife, but then you will know all about that!

So, good luck with Sue coming home. Keep focussing on progress (however small), make sure you tap into all the resources you can, and, above all keep positive.
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Thank you @Docb I hope your brother is doing well
Yes got Sue home this afternoon and like you said she is so different in her home surroundings much more upbeat and now realises that she has turned the corner and can now hopefully enjoy life once more without looking back.
I managed to get Sue to eat almost a whole cheese toasty for lunch and a little cheesy mash with a skinned saveloy for dinner she didn't eat it all but that's ok baby steps and Sue will get her appetite back.
They have sent Sue home with a weeks worth of Tramadol but so far she hasn't needed to take anything apart from paracetamol , the refashioned stoma is working well.
Tomorrow I'll start making Doctor appointments and for the stoma team .
 
Absolutely delighted to read that report Billy Bob. It has put a smile on my face! Very best wishes to you both and hope the positive reports continue.... if and when you have time!
 
Great to hear @Billy Bob. The stoma working well is a huge positive.

Getting his stoma to work was the reason for all the surgery after my brothers first big operation. He is now doing OK, limited in what he can do physically, but his brain is still working well and the best thing I can do to support him is to help him as best I can from a distance in a campaign to get a local developer to do the right thing on a development adjacent to his house. I'm learning all about SuDS.......

Work on what's possible is the key in my opinion. No point in fretting about the impossible, it will still be impossible no matter how much fretting is done.
 
@Docb I’m glad to hear your brother is doing better
Sue’s op was in her surgeons opinion was vital to her not getting anymore blockages and planned it so as we didn’t have to tempt fate with a bad blockage and having to have emergency surgery.
Sue has had a good couple of days since being home progressing slowly and her appetite is improving.
On a sad note though Sue’s mother passed away suddenly last night although we have both taken it fairly well it is still very painful but I am keeping Sue upbeat as it is what her mother would want
 
I am so very sorry to hear such sad news. You have had more than your share of grief in recent times. I am sending you both more virtual (((HUGS))) along with heart felt condolences.
Really good to hear that Sue is continuing to make steady progress though and she will no doubt be benefiting from your home cooking.
 
rebrascora said:
I am so very sorry to hear such sad news. You have had more than your share of grief in recent times. I am sending you both more virtual (((HUGS))) along with heart felt condolences.
Really good to hear that Sue is continuing to make steady progress though and she will no doubt be benefiting from your home cooking.
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Thank you
Sue disliked the hospital food so much that she barely ate until I started bringing some in I have noticed the difference in her energy levels since eating home cooked food.
 
Sorry to hear about Sue's mother. I hope that there are plenty of other family members about who can do all the things that need to be done and allow Sue to grieve in peace and quiet.

On the positive side, it is really good to hear that Sue is recovering well and that she had a surgical team who decided to act early rather than leaving things until they became an emergency. If only more of the NHS thought that way.
 
Sue's sisters are attending to everything and her mum had prepaid for the funeral , they all know what Sue is going through and have told her she doesn't need to do anything.
Sue and I have just been chatting and Sue has said even though her mum has passed she feels quite at ease with no more surgery planned and just wants to push forward slowly and enjoy our lives , we are no longer in limbo and are both feeling positive .
I plan to take Sue out in the morning for a couple of hours to the cafe and farm shop now I've fixed the puncture on her wheelchair
 
Long update over the weekend Sue was getting temperatures early Sunday morning , off her food and zoned out which I think that was the tramadol ?
I took Sue to the wound clinic to have the 31 staples removed had her temperature under control by then , stopped her tramadol as her pain seemed under control.
Sue's temperature spiked a couple of times during the night so I called the GP Monday morning and also emailed her surgeons secretary GP said to take Sue to A and E and the surgeons secretary said the same and to mention that her surgical team need to be informed that she is in A and E .
Arrived at Guilford A and E at 1:30 pm finally got triaged about 5:00pm bloods taken then had a CT scan then wait for surgeons to see Sue, 6:00pm surgeon called Sue through to a cubicle where they examined her and said her infection levels were hi and a small collection had formed where her gall bladder was removed , they prescribed IV antibiotics 3 different ones and said they would get Sue admitted to a ward but to stay in the cubicle.
At 8:30pm I received a phone call from the nurse in charge of A and E asking where Sue was as she had been looking for Sue for 2 hours I told her where we were and she was angry with us ? I said the surgeon told us to stay in the cubicle she then apologised took us from the cubicle and hooked Sue up to the 1st IV antibiotic and said we couldn't go back into the cubicle but had to sit in the waiting area. It got to 1:00am Tuesday by the time the 3rd antibiotic had finished and the nurse said she had found Sue a bed, I asked which ward and she replied Guilford ward to which I replied isn't that the Covid ward she answered yes but it's perfectly safe ? Sue and I discussed it and decided no we were not happy to go there and decided to go back home for what was left of the night and return in the morning.
Tuesday morning the surgeon called and asked why we left and went home so I told her and that we were just about to leave home to return to A and E. We arrived about 11:00am and we told reception that the surgeon wanted to be informed immediately when Sue arrived , 3 hours later we had not been seen by anyone so I approached reception and they said oh you need to be triaged again to which I replied well we haven't been but others who have arrived have been triaged within 20 minutes. Any way Sue then did get triaged and took bloods , about 5pm the surgeon came and said they had a bed for Sue on a proper ward.
Got on the ward one that Sue was discharged from last week and the ward sister was really angry with A and E as she said Sue should have been isolated and not left in the waiting area as Sue has been previously been VRE positive.
So took bloods again this morning after having more antibiotics overnight , results came back from yesterdays and todays bloods and showed a marked improvement .
We are now back home Sue being discharged with oral antibiotics and a follow up appointment for next Friday.
Also the Surgeon said she would not have admitted herself into the Covid ward let alone someone with an infection so said we done the right thing going home.
Well that's my long update and rant over with , we're keeping positive that everything keeps going the right way.
 
Really sorry to hear you have had such a run around. A&E is turning into a cattle mart. It is just chaos and no calm or privacy for people who need it and the endless hours of waiting is really shocking. You have to be pretty desperate to go there these days. The system is unfortunately falling apart.
That said, it sounds like you did the right thing and well done for making that decision to take her home. Good to hear that she is responding to the antibiotics and I hope that the pooling at the site of her gall bladder resolves without needing a drain put in. Keeping fingers crossed for her and sending very best wishes.
 
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