Ugh. DH is sick ( little bit of a vent)

[minkydog]

It happens every Christmas. The last 2 years he's been in the hospital at Christmas. DH started up coughing about 1 week ago. Over the holiday it got worse and worse, but he wouldn't go to the ER. He has stage 4 lung disease so any minor cold can quickly get worse and turn into major trouble. He's been coughing up green stuff for 5 days and has nearly constant chest pain, for crying out loud! I finally got him to go in today after he just about ran me out of the bed with his breathing last night(like a diesel engine, I swear.) He still was insisting that all he needed was a better inhaler.

Well, his chest xray looks like crap. I knew it would--when I listened to his chest with my stethoscope I could barely even hear lung sounds in the lower lobes. It's not pneumonia but he has a pretty bad case of bronchitis. So now he's on Avelox(abx), Tessalon(for cough), increased Prednisone to 30mg, Xopenex, Mucinex, oh yeah, and OXYGEN. Crappity crap crap. We have an O2 concentrator here at the house, but he hasn't had to use it regularly for a couple years. So we dusted that off and changed all the tubing.

DH is very fatigued. You should hear him when he came out of the shower, so short of breath he was...talking...likethis...because...hecouldn'tgetthe...wordsout. You can bet I'm keeping an ear and an eye on him. I get so mad when he WON"T go to the doctor early in his illness. This is not a new situation, he's been disabled with lung disease for 6 years! I know why he does it--he's afraid they'll put him in the hospital. so he doesn't go to the doctor until it's really late in the illness and he's way sicker. ARRRGGH.

 

[krcit]

I'm sorry. These men can be so stubborn sometimes, I hope he is feeling better very quickly.

 

[minniecarousel]

Sorry this is happening to him. You'd think he'd have learned that if he catches these things earlier, they may not deteriorate so bad.

Hang in there.

 

[minkydog]

Sorry this is happening to him. You'd think he'd have learned that if he catches these things earlier, they may not deteriorate so bad.

Hang in there.

You'd think!

 

[luvwinnie]

So sorry he is so sick! Hope he is better soon. Now you have two patients to take of!

 

[luvwinnie]

How is he feeling? ANd Minky too?

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Minkydog I feel your pain. DH is disabled as well. I think he tore his rotator cuff shoveling snow a week and a half ago. He wouldn't go to the doctor until yesterday. Still can barely move his arm. Doctor thinks it just swollen muscles, etc. Sorry but DH takes 80 mg of Oxy every 8 hours for his other pain. That should cut the swollen muscles, etc.
I still believe he tore his rotator cuff but doctor now wants to wait until Monday to see an ortho. Not sure why but DH definitely wants to wait more.

Doctor keeps saying that he wouldn't have as much movement if its torn. I have a 6 inch scar from a constant dislocated shoulder/torn rotator cuff that can prove him wrong. How come no one listens to the wives???

 

[clovergirl5]

How is he feeling today? Hopefully a little better Men can be so stubborn! And then the situation always ends up worse. Sorry you are having to deal with this.

 

[KPeveler]

my mother is the same way - she is overweight with a heart murmur and asthma, and waited a week before going to the dr - now she has pneumonia!

why are people so stubborn???

 

[minkydog]

Things are much better today. DH spent all of yesterday in bed sucking up oxygen, but he feels tremedously better today thanks to his blast of Prednisone, i'm sure. Of course, now Christian is coughing and we can't give him anything for it(cold meds make him have break-through seizures, pretty bad ones.) So I put some Vaporub on his feet and some warm socks before I packed him off to bed. One of his older teachers swears by Vicks Vaporub and I figured it can't hurt anything to try.

Minky is doing better. no more fleas. His shaved hiney is looking weird, but not as nasty as it was. He's still wearing the Cone of Shame. He looks kinda pitiful, but at least he's leaving his butt alone so it can heal. If not for bad luck, he'd have none at all.

 

[Minnie]

So I put some Vaporub on his feet and some warm socks before I packed him off to bed. One of his older teachers swears by Vicks Vaporub and I figured it can't hurt anything to try.

My DM swears by that stuff as well. She'd always rub it on the chest, feet, and yuck a swap under the nose. But come morning so much better

Hoping your family is on the mend quickly

 

[luvwinnie]

Glad to hear it. Hope Christian is better soon now!

 

[HonestAbe]

I think we men are stubborn because we dont like to be perceived as being weak (illness is usually seen like this by us) and we dont like the loss of control. Considering what women have to go through, you'd think men wouldnt complain about a Dr's visit, but even I do.

Sometimes nagging helps, but most times it doesnt. I wish I could tell you what does to help, but no matter what the wife has tried, HonestAbe is still a big old wimp when it comes to the hospital. Kidney stones will make you change that quick though!!

 

[LadyZolt]

I'm glad your DH is feeling better. My DH is an RN, and before that he was a military medic. He's one of those "oh it's nothing I'm fine I don't need to see a doc" guys, too. Remember Jim Henson -- went to the doc too late and now he's dead. So when my DH is really sick, and obviously has impaired judgment because he's saying things like "I'll be fine soon, it's just a cold, I don't need to go to the doc," then I say, "I took a vow to care for you in sickness and in health. You are sick. Your judgment isn't at its best right now and you are going to have to trust me. You can either get in the car so I can take you to the doctor or, because I can't pick you up, I will call 911 and have an ambulance come and get you."

This works. He's gotten into the car every time. I've done it several times over the years and each time it turned out that, YES -- DH needed to go to the doc and get a prescription. I have not once made him go to the doc and have the doc say, "No, he's fine. It's just a bit of a cold." LOL!!

So, for those of you with husbands like this, try it. He might not like it, but you did vow to care for him when he's sick, so that's what we should do.

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[Goofyzgurl]

I know what you mean. My dad is horrible like that too. He almost died of pnuemonia when I was a teen. Recently he had surgery that should've lasted 20 minutes, take 3 hours b/c he waited almost 20 years to have the surgery! In fact, he didn't have to have the surgery if he had just taken care of it earlier. Men! Thank goodness I've gotten thru dh with my ddad as an example.

 

[minkydog]

So when my DH is really sick, and obviously has impaired judgment because he's saying things like "I'll be fine soon, it's just a cold, I don't need to go to the doc," then I say, "I took a vow to care for you in sickness and in health. You are sick. Your judgment isn't at its best right now and you are going to have to trust me. You can either get in the car so I can take you to the doctor or, because I can't pick you up, I will call 911 and have an ambulance come and get you."

This works. He's gotten into the car every time. I've done it several times over the years and each time it turned out that, YES -- DH needed to go to the doc and get a prescription. I have not once made him go to the doc and have the doc say, "No, he's fine. It's just a bit of a cold." LOL!!

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

I think you're on to something there. You know what it reminds me of? Have you ever seen Monty Python &The Holy Grail? You know that part where the Black Knight confronts the other knight at the bridge and they have it out with swords and maces until the Black Knight has both arms cut off and his squirting blood everywhere? And the he says "'Tis but a flesh wound!" That's what it's like.

I think I will trot out the old 911 threat next time.

 

[LadyZolt]

Have you ever seen Monty Python &The Holy Grail? You know that part where the Black Knight confronts the other knight at the bridge and they have it out with swords and maces until the Black Knight has both arms cut off and his squirting blood everywhere? And the he says "'Tis but a flesh wound!" That's what it's like.

Exactly! I remember it. LOL! You're right -- that is what it's like. <sigh>

 

[Disney_Princess_Fan]

I hope that your husband will be feeling better soon. It's never any fun to feel sick. I think it's cool how you were saying you listened to his lungs with a stethoscope, are you a doctor? I wanted to be a doctor when I finished school but after doing nursing for a few months, I changed my mind, I couldn't handle some of the jobs!