INSOMNIACS place to talk in the wee hours

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  • Rosevalley
    Rosevalley Member Posts: 3,061
    edited October 2014

    Sas-shatzi- no my Dad died 2006. He was kind of a train wreck at 74. So it was a blessing. I do very much enjoy the coverage of this ebola illness. Not because I enjoy seeing folks suffer (no we see/ feel enough of that here in cancerland) but because learning how to contain and protect patients and staff from things like this helps us all.

    Momyof2- lucky duck you slept until 7AM! I am jealous. 

    Chevy - Join the insomniacs - I got to bed at 11:30pm up at 3AM - the cat walked across me. Then wide awake at 5am... 10 mg melatonin at 11pm  and another 10mg at 3am... what a joke. My eyes hurt I am so tired.

    Cold this morning... Fall is here! Have a good day ya'll!

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  • magdalene51
    magdalene51 Member Posts: 2,214
    edited October 2014

    Earthquake woke me at 7:30... But I did get a four hour nap yesterday. Steroids today.

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  • tangandchris
    tangandchris Member Posts: 1,855
    edited October 2014


    Mag-earthquake??

    We had bad storms last night, wind gust shook the house and blew the fence down. Woke me up and scared me!

    This morning was nuts!! Oldes dd brought home 2 kittens, munchkin kittens and she did it w/o asking...she knew I would melt when I saw them. Anyway this morning, one of them got their little heads caught in the recliner and little dd thought it was her fault. Big dd was panicking and we finally got the cat out. omg....i'm ready for a do-over!!

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2014

    oh no! Earthquakes, fences blowing down, kittens getting caught, not a good way way to start the day or the week! 

    I think I got a bug at the hospitals last week feeling icky. 

    Looked at Yahoo and look what I found:

    https://www.yahoo.com/travel/breast-cancer-road-tr...

    Knew it had to be Vinnie when I read the title. Something a little cheery to start the week.

    Have a great week! 

    image

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2014

    image

    and coffee!

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2014

    image

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2014

    image

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  • luvmygoats
    luvmygoats Member Posts: 2,942
    edited October 2014

    Local media has released the identity of the 2nd Ebola pt. 2010 graduate of TCU Harris College of Nursing. Where I graduated. Local media totally saturated so much with that news that severe storm news is only 2nd fiddle today. Stayed up till 3 am as storm blew thru. Nasty heavy misty morning. 58 degrees. It was 100 here last Tuesday.

    I saw that story on Vinnie. Knew it had to be him from the opening lines.

    Mags - Today's Earthquakes is one of the tabs I open daily. N Texas had it last year but OK has had a bunch more than we had. Per the earthquake specialist hired locally they continue here but just below level of what is reported.

    I totally agree that the more isolation equipment you put on the harder it is to get it off correctly. Local media reports using resp. isolation procedure too. I had an oddball flu pt in respiratory isolation. We had a reverse flow room - the unit I worked on was totally revamped to open as a palliative care unit and I think it was added then. It had been a step down ICU but I had not been in that part of the hospital in prob. 20 years since I wasn't working. Since we worked 7 on (yes 7 on- 7 off 10 hours shifts) I had this same pt for nearly the 7 days. She had the heat in the room cranked up too. Talk about sweaty pie that was me.

    2TA - love the smack up the head Bam Bam (I think that's who - not up on my Flintstone char.).

    I copied this from somewhere yesterday. Might have been on BCO but I think from elsewhere. Quote from St. Therese of Lisieux:

    "Today, may there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the possibilities that are born in yourself and other. May you use the gifts that you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us."

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  • M0mmyof3
    M0mmyof3 Member Posts: 9,696
    edited October 2014

    Was so busy this morning getting ready for my appt. I forgot to have my coffee!

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  • magdalene51
    magdalene51 Member Posts: 2,214
    edited October 2014

    LMG, it was a 4.3, about 6.5 mil north of our suburb. We are having a veritable monsoon here, pouring rain, wind, and just general nastiness. DH came home to get some work done (at his office it's endless meetings). I'm thinking a good day to curl up in the recliner with a bowl of soup. Chemo tomorrow, last one. DH is coming for the bell ring, I asked him if he was taking me out to dinner. He didn't think I'd feel up to it, and I might not. But he could offer, right?

    On another note, I'm wondering if this is really pneumonia that I have. I finished the Zpack, on the 4th day of Avelox with no change, not coughing up anything, and more than being out of breath after any exertion, it's more like my heart is just racing. And nothing grew in the cultures. Any thoughts? Sassy? LMG?

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  • luvmygoats
    luvmygoats Member Posts: 2,942
    edited October 2014

    Mags - Could be viral. Not sure what blood cultures show for pneumonia. Might not grow even if bacterial (actually would hope it wouldn't grow so then it's not systemic). Have you taken your pulse to see if it is racing? Mention that tomorrow at chemo - well more than mention it - chew on them a bit about it. How's your RBC (red blood cell) count? Again I've never done oncology nursing - just throwing some ideas out. Try to give some specific example - it takes this long in minutes to recover when I just get up to pee. When I shower I have to ---- . And what has changed from when you were feeling mod. well (as good as you can with chemo) a couple of weeks ago. Can't remember how it was diagnosed - simple chest Xray? Easy to repeat. Yes more radiation exposure but if you're not getting any better might be needed.

    Gosh I don't think we ever got one that big. I only felt one just a sharp jolt. DH and I joke about people incinerating aerosol cans but this was about 9:30 at night. Mid afternoon on a weekend I would prob. have thought nothing of it. If you keep your tablet/laptop open all the time this reports down to 1.5 magnitude I think.

    http://earthquaketrack.com/recent

    US Geological Survey has a good one too but only starts at 2.5 mag.

    Mommyof2 - DH has coffee on timer. No way to forget. May need to make some fresh. I have one of those Melitta cones. Make boiling water in micro, pour over grounds. Yup sounds like what I need. But AC has not been on all weekend. Little break in the elec. bill.

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  • tangandchris
    tangandchris Member Posts: 1,855
    edited October 2014


    What time was the earthquake...wondering now if that was wind or an earthquake that made my house shake!!

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  • luvmygoats
    luvmygoats Member Posts: 2,942
    edited October 2014

    Tang - I don't think around here. Up in Oklahoma. I think the last one we had was around Irving maybe several weeks ago.

    Sorry about the fence going down. I saw lots of damage on Twitter. We had only a brief hard wind and I've seen much worse.

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  • magdalene51
    magdalene51 Member Posts: 2,214
    edited October 2014

    It was 7:24am actually. DH didn't feel it at work, so you probably didn't either. It was 6.5 miles n or Edmond, OK.

    My counts have been good, even what they took at ER, all counts normal. Probably not the best day to check my pulse with the steroids. Just did, and I've been sitting in the recliner, absolutely no exertion, pulse is 108. I will take it after walk to bathroom just for comparison though. Dx was done with CT/dye. ER doc said he couldn't see it on X-ray, but saw "scattered" pockets on CT. MO said he could see it on X-ray, and they will do another at cancer clinic tomorrow for comparison. I have no wheezing, just takes an effort to breathe deeply. ER doc said my lungs sounded clear. Tis a mystery, eh?

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  • magdalene51
    magdalene51 Member Posts: 2,214
    edited October 2014

    Walk to bathroom & back, pulse is 128.

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited October 2014

    DING DING DING

    MAGS!!!!!!!!!

    I had what I thought was bronchitis. Was at docs a few times, different ab's each time.  Hard, non productive cough. Got winded going to bathroom. Sound familiar?

    Wasn't till my 3rd visit, complaint about my leg being hot, swollen, painful his light bulb went on.

    He said, go on down to the hospital, we'll call & tell them you're coming.

    Pulmonary embolism. Blood clot in lungs and legs.

    Please go to ER and get checked out.  I spent 3 unhappy days in hospital.

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  • magdalene51
    magdalene51 Member Posts: 2,214
    edited October 2014

    Spookiesmom, no swelling at all, or pain. I'll be at clinic tomorrow so will see. Omd. Sure hope it's not.

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited October 2014

    no the pain was in leg.  Thought I had bronchitis  was blood clot in lungs.

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited October 2014

    P L E A S E!!!!!!!

    If it is a clot, and it moves, could go to heart, no more Mags

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  • sas-schatzi
    sas-schatzi Member Posts: 19,603
    edited October 2014


    Mags, I'll take a shot here. Not a PE.pulmonary embolism. You don't fit the profile.

    Your symptoms difiiculty breathing after exertion, tachycardia(fast heart rate) resting 108 increasing to 128 with exertion. Not coughing anything up. (you don't define cough--constant , intermittent, paroxysmal--sudden without control).

    CT test showed scattered findings in the lungs. Counts good. Physical exam by ER doc lung sounds clear. No complaints of leg pain.

    Peripheral blood cultures were actually not indicated because you didn't have a fever. A fever would have indicated systemic symptoms and blood cultures are used to dx bacteria in the blood. Viral cultures take a long time.

    Doc likely did them because you were a chemo patient and the temperature regulating mechanism can be faulty in the young, the aged, and the immuno-comprimised.

    When I said it was cool they did cultures , I thought it was sputum---sorry, assumed because they were evaluating respiratory problem, it was sputum. That would have been logical. Love sputum cultures b/c they define what you are dealing with. If a bacteria were present and it was a valid sputum(gunk from the lungs--not spit), it would have cultured up. If a sputum culture is done after antibx's have been started a bacteria may not culture up.

    Recommendation: get the radiologist reading of the CT and the Chest xray. ER docs and in your case your Mo may do a reading. BUT that is considering a preliminary reading. The radiologist is the definitive. Mo's are Mo's unless they are also board certified in radiology

    Once you have Radiologist report then the next step can be taken.

    Changes in heart rate and breathing have to be put into context of all the other findings  and the treatments.

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  • sas-schatzi
    sas-schatzi Member Posts: 19,603
    edited October 2014


    Spookie your profile was different than Mags. You had pain and swelling in a leg.  She doesn't.  Huge difference. Based on what you are describing for you Spookie you were throwing off micro clots. Very uncomfortable. Very irritating to the lungs. Very. You were lucky  they were small clots:) are you on Coumadin? What was the origin of the clot? do you have a filter? How long ago. Post-op when it happened? bedridden? Too much computer time?

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited October 2014

    The leg didn't start till about a week after I thought DS#2 gave me his cold. Nobody did X-rays, until hospital.  Walking to car would double me over, couldn't breath. Hard non productive cough. Don't know about heart rate, have Afib anyway.

    At hospital, immediate heparin, filter installed. On COUMADIN for life, 6 years ago.  The one in lungs was good size, all medics said I was VERY lucky.

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  • sas-schatzi
    sas-schatzi Member Posts: 19,603
    edited October 2014

    Spookie were you laying around that week being sick. i.e not moving around like usual? Causes of thromophelebitis in the leg. Prolonged sitting i.e car rides, airplane ride, bedridden/couchridden for an extended period from any source, ill fitting ted hose, pelvic surgery(clot originates in the pelvis), fractures, extremity surgery. S/s' Pain in one leg, pain when walking on the leg, pain progressively worse as clot gets worse, Redness in clot area, swelling progressively worse. Warm to touch over the red area.  Progressive pain when bringing the toe/ forefoot towards the nose. Words are relative, I said microclots. A moving clot is an embolus. The key is if they are too big and they block the pulmonary artery, person's toast.. If they get by the main pulmonary artery, they lodge in one of the branches. How big the branch that's blocked determines how severe the chest symptoms are. Early recognition is key to survival.

    Things can get very complicated if there is already something going on in the chest. Early signals may be missed. In the hospital each shift of nurses are supposed to do a head to toe exam to look for any new findings.

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  • blondiex46
    blondiex46 Member Posts: 5,712
    edited October 2014


    Mags what is your OX you are saying what the pulse is...Mine is always ok it is the ox that is the problem walking around from room to room, when it gets  really bad I get a pain in my chest right in the middle.  the dr says it is that the air  is not going from the rigtht lung to the left lung the way it is supposed to.  I am on z pac have 3 more days, still coughing and bringing up flem, clear tho.  I probably need a chest exray also....

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited October 2014

    Nope, none of the above.  Colin had been sick, I thought I caught it.  Went to Dr.  Levaquin.  Made me sick.  Zpak next.  Walking to bathroom, out for mail, doubled me over.  PE came first. Then the DVT.

    All I could think of in hospital was they are filling me with rat poison.

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  • Rosevalley
    Rosevalley Member Posts: 3,061
    edited October 2014

    I hope you two get over your respiratory thing! Sounds miserable. Hugs.

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  • magdalene51
    magdalene51 Member Posts: 2,214
    edited October 2014

    Thanks, Sassy. Cough - just occasional, not paroxysmal, not painful.  The cultures they did were blood, I haven't coughed up more than a teaspoon of mucus in the nearly two weeks since it started, and it wasn't green or even yellow.

    MO will have the radiologist report. Will update tomorrow. Thanks for all the info, and concern.

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  • tangandchris
    tangandchris Member Posts: 1,855
    edited October 2014


    Opinions please....

    Dh and I were thinking of taking little dd to the State Fair this weekend. We haven't been in a few years and invited my parents to come along. My dad told me tonight he was concerned about me going because of the Ebola deal and that I needed to be extra careful because I'm probably still somewhat imuno-compromised.

    Anyway, is this an overreaction? I hadn't even thought about it, but now it has me wondering. Is this paranoia or just being smart?

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  • Holeinone
    Holeinone Member Posts: 2,478
    edited October 2014

    Hello Tang, my opinion it's paranoia. So difficult for those of us that has been assaulted with chemo to get moving again. Don't borrow trouble. The more I enjoy activities that seemed so easy & natural ( in our old life ) the better I feel.

    I would be more concerned about eating all that fair food.....lol.....

    I read your post several days ago, being overwhelmed with all of your roles. I believed by now all cancer related crap would be behind me. I was wrong. Still struggle with fatigue, anxiety ( although SO much better ). My new outlook is no time lines, be easy on myself, try to relax & enjoy life & short, wild hair....

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  • sas-schatzi
    sas-schatzi Member Posts: 19,603
    edited October 2014

    tang, I'm with GGirl, overreaction. Go and enjoy. Again with GGirl ,I about the food lol. Again with GGirl nice philosophy :)

    Spookie okay I'll leave it be After you answer this question? If there is someone lurking and they read something here that's wrong and based on that makes a wrong judgement  ....what? Eventually I could get you to understand it. But in the space of all things it doesn't matter.

    Rose what's your nursing background.?,

    Lmg, in the OR, I had a couple three gas gangrene cases. I'm betting the suiting is different now. Sheet,ugh just remember we no respirators. I agree I'd last only a little bit now. In the old days hours and hours.

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