Nancy
Well-known member
We've been on a little bit of a journey these past couple of days. Joe had an appointment scheduled for this Monday in the afternoon with a new specialist in CHF and pulmonary hypertension, because his CHF was destabilizing. He had been in the ER twice and even hospitalized once in the past month. Well, over the weekend, he slipped into Class 4 CHF, SOB at rest, and he was very fatigued and sleepy much of the time. His legs, and abdomen were swollen, his arms also. He was a very sick man, and I was afraid he would slip into a coma. So first thing on Monday, I called the new specialist to see if I could bring him in early, and I mentioned that he was in serious trouble, and would probably have to be admitted. They did take him in early, did an exam, and admitted him directly into the hospital (Albany Medical Center).
He's in a very high-tech ICU type unit, and they are going over every aspect of his conditions. He will be having a right heart cath on Thursday, and had a CT scan today, plus a pulmonary function test. They'll probably also be doing an echo. We're hoping to get to the bottom of his pulmonary hypertension and get his CHF under better control.
I don't have any answers yet, because the testing is not completed, but he is feeling much better, due to IV Lasix several times per day. He was alert, funny, and sassy, actually felt good enough to be sarcastic, which is his "old" self. He still has a lot of fluid on board, in his ankles and stomach area, but it seems to be "draining" pretty well.
I'll know more in the next couple of days.
Happy New Year everyone!
He's in a very high-tech ICU type unit, and they are going over every aspect of his conditions. He will be having a right heart cath on Thursday, and had a CT scan today, plus a pulmonary function test. They'll probably also be doing an echo. We're hoping to get to the bottom of his pulmonary hypertension and get his CHF under better control.
I don't have any answers yet, because the testing is not completed, but he is feeling much better, due to IV Lasix several times per day. He was alert, funny, and sassy, actually felt good enough to be sarcastic, which is his "old" self. He still has a lot of fluid on board, in his ankles and stomach area, but it seems to be "draining" pretty well.
I'll know more in the next couple of days.
Happy New Year everyone!
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