Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
572651 tn?1530999357

A lesson to learn from my Dad

My father was supposed to be in Washington DC this weekend with the Honor flight organization, as a WWII vet.  Instead, he has been in the hospital since Friday.  

His story is one worth repeating so we remember that it is important to report changes in our health to our doctors, no matter how small it may seem to us.

You may remember I had taken him for an MRI in early-May.  He had been having memory and vision problems.  Those tests showed nothing wrong.


My mother had been thinking that he was showing the signs of Alzheimers or dementia.  My father was worried about how physically exhausted he was feeling and concerned that it was a continuation of his heart problem.  And of course they both figured whatever it was had to be associated with the fact that he is 88 years old.

He saw a variety of doctors this past month or so and no one had an answer for what was wrong.  That was until he reached the tipping point last week.


It turns out He had been ignoring a silent symptom he had - black, tarry stool - he thought it was just a change of diet or routine that caused this change.  It was nothing dramatic so he didn't think it was significant until he got a rx renewal and was reading the side effects and noticed the black stool warning.  That got him to call the doctor.  His doctor was not available because of the long weekend so another doctor in the practice saw him and immediately recognized the problem and sent him to the ER.

By last week his body was in a crisis state from losing significant blood.  He was hospitalized on Friday, and has had several transfusions, multiple tests which don't pinpoint where he is bleeding from, and the doctors think the culprit was his drugs.  He was on Plavix from a heart stent procedure last year and a potassium drug that also has bleeding as a side effect.  

BTW - I've said this many times - don't know if I've mentioned it here - I think Plavix is poison and my husband is also on it.  My husband and my dad both have serious bruising with being on Plavix.

I'm trying hard to check my anger that not one of these doctors thought to do a simple red blood cell count - the problem would have been obvious if they had.  Everyone was busy looking for zebras when it was a horse all along. He problem was his RBC was dangerously low.  

It appears dad will be fine and will come home in a  day or two.  His story will end well, this time. But  I wanted to share this with all of you ----

We often question what should we report to the doctor and what should we just accept as part of our disease/aging/etc.  Too often we wait until the problem is serious - we don't want to be bothered or appear to be a nuisance patient who overly worries about small things.  

Serious medical problems aren't always dramatic - don't wait until you are flat on your back and can't function to contact your medical team if you notice something has changed that you can't explain.  

Read those sheets that come with your meds.  Even if you have read them before.  Refresh your memory as to the side effects os you can be vigilant.  

Dad is kicking himself that he should have handled all of this differently.  Fortunately he has the chance to live and learn.  I hope none of us make this same mistake.  

be well, be attuned-
Lulu

10 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
147426 tn?1317265632
Oh, Lulu, I am relieved that they caught the problem in time, but dismayed that in the face of new fatigue no one did a simple CBC.  More and more docs are told NOT to send tests like a CBC, which are often considered "screening tests".  Phooey!  New fatigue and signs of early dementia can and ARE a result of low iron stores.  That was one of the first tests they ran on my father when we went in for the very same thing.

BTW 2 years ago my Dad was hopsitalized for the EXACT same thing - age 84.  In his case he was self-medicating (a problem with my dad who believes that EVERY symptom has a corresponding medication) with massive doses of aspirin.  I had been on him for decades over this and he ignored me.  When he got home form the hospital he informed me that the aspirin made his platelets slippery and they could clot.  I could have throttled him.  And he has Von Willembrand's, too.

Your lesson is a good one.  No one should have new problems written off as "aging" or "common" or "stress-related" without a good look-see.  The doctors who practice medicine this way are playing the odds.  They let a lot of people die.

To all the NSAIDS - the non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs used for arthritis and general pain ALL inhibit clotting to one degree or another.  These include Inbuprofen, Naprosyn, Celebrex, and a host of others.  These should not be combined with pain-control doses of aspirin or OTC meds for the same thing.

When blood is leaked into the gut from high up, like the stomach, the digestive juices turn the stool into a black, sticky (tarry) mess.  When the bleeding is lower it may be dark red.  Bleeding from the stomach or stool is NEVER normal and almost always is very serious.  The only time I can think of when it might not be serious is the blood swallowed from a nosebleed which is now under control.

I agree that Plavix is dished out to the masses far too often.  I'm angered at the mass media blitz telling everyone they would be safer on it.  A hemorrhagic stroke is just as deadly as a stroke from a clot.  Bleeding out from the anticoagulation of a medication is a preventable error of medicine.

I'm glad both of our fathers are okay!

Thanks for the warning.

Quix
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
So glad your Dad is okay!
Helpful - 0
667078 tn?1316000935
It is important to consult your Doctors about OTC medications and make sure you do not exceed how many you can take a day or time limits. Many are great for the short term but taken over a longer period can cause harm.

Alex
Helpful - 0
611606 tn?1315517767
Sweetie I was so happy to read and hear from you that he is doing better.

Thanks for the important reminder to double check all info about the Meds we take... Since I am not perfect, I sometimes forget my own self..

Hope you have had a good week and got to have more time in the pool...

Love you {{{{{~!~}}}}} DJ
Helpful - 0
1040373 tn?1273687488
My grandpa passed away 7 years ago. He was on Celebrex which caused a bleeding ulcer that he never sought treatment for until his neighbor stopped over one day and found him passed out. Apparently he had been vomiting and passing blood but never told anyone. I think a lot of adults (especially the elderly) ignore their own health problems because they hate to be a bother to anyone around them. I wish I had known then what meds he was on and what warning signs to look for.

I'm glad your dad contacted his doctor and will soon be fine.
Helpful - 0
751951 tn?1406632863
We will pray Dad gets to make that D.C. trip soon, too.  He deserves it.
Helpful - 0
559187 tn?1330782856
I used to just toss out those brochures they give with my meds until something adverse happened to me to, nothing as serious as happened to your dad of course.  Now, I keep a file and put all new brochures and a copy of the brochure for current med in it.  Also, and even more importantly like you suggested, I READ these brochures before I do anything else.  

Thankfully you dad will be fine, this time, and hopefully everyone his doctor's especially will learn from this.  Both he and they were lucky this time.

Wishing you all the best.

Julie
Helpful - 0
1253197 tn?1331209110
What a stressful time for all your family and your Dad sounds a sensible man who just relied on his doctors. Thank goodness he is OK as you must have all been so worried and as you so rightly say read the small print on all meds.

Love Sarah
Helpful - 0
1216899 tn?1288570325
I'm glad to hear his issue will have a decent outcome Lulu. Sorry to hear he had to go through all that though. A nice lesson to be had for us all, so if there is something to be said is good, I suppose that would be it.

Thank you for the reminder
Johnny
Helpful - 0
1318483 tn?1318347182
Wow, Lulu!  I am so glad your dad is going to be okay.  How very scary!  Your reminder is a good one to remember and I for one am glad you posted this.  I am one of the people that tend to wait.

Thanks again,
Addi
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Multiple Sclerosis Community

Top Neurology Answerers
987762 tn?1671273328
Australia
5265383 tn?1669040108
ON
1756321 tn?1547095325
Queensland, Australia
1780921 tn?1499301793
Queen Creek, AZ
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease