03/04/09

Okay...so here's my story. As most everyone knows, my Dad (Marty) hasn't been feeling so well. For a few weeks now he has been having some lower left back pain. He's on pain meds for it....but nothing seems to help. He also has very weak legs, and is having a hard time walking, standing, and getting himself anywhere beside in bed. Also, when he stands up, he starts to feel dizzy and "see's white fuzzy things" and then he has to sit down really quick so he don't fall over (which has actually happened a few times now) So me, being the good lil medical assistant/respiratory therapist, says..."hmmm...i'm gonna check your blood pressure" So I do. And I've been finding that when he stands up, his blood pressure drops WAY low. Like not normal low. So because of that and that he was in so much pain, about a week ago, I decided to make him go to the ER to see what could be wrong with his back. Well, the doc said "hmmm...sounds like it could be Kidney stones" So all they did was scanned him, found no kidney stones, ran some blood tests, found that he had a low hemoglobin level which showed he is Anemic. Usually a normal hemoglobin is 13-17, his was 8.5. So, really low. What did they do for him?? Gave him some pain meds...and sent him home.Then 2 days later, we decided to follow up with his primary care doctor. He said, "well, I don't know why you are having the back pain, lets do some more scans to see what we can find. Oh and by the way, you are really anemic" He decided he needed to find out WHY he was so anemic, and sometimes that could mean he could be bleeding out somewhere, possible stress ulcers, or something of the sort. Or possibly even a lack of iron thing. So, he did some more blood tests. Did some X-rays, told us to come back in 2 weeks. Told us we need to see a GI doctor to possibly see if he is bleeding somewhere and wants him to check it out. Well, we were told we couldn't see that doctor until March 17th. Tell me....if you knew possibly that a low hemoglobin could be caused from "bleeding out"....does waiting another 2 weeks make much sense?? Again, me being concerned, didn't wanna wait that long. So I called and expressed my concerns, and got his appointment moved up to an earlier date, tomorrow.Well today, my mom called me and said that he was just shaking really bad, extremely weak, kept falling over when he would stand. So, I got to thinking. I'm scared. I'm worried. I'm nervous. I want answers.After struggling to get him out to the truck. I took him to the ER. Well, I told them EVERYTHING that is going on with him...including the continous back pain, which was not my main concern. I want them to tell me why he has a low hemoglobin. Why is he getting weaker and weaker and weaker and weaker by the day? Why is his blood pressure dropping so low? Is he dehydrated like he was before and had the shakiness like that? See...all good questions right?So after being there 3 hours, they ran some blood tests, did a scan. Talked to his primary care docor and he told them what to do for him. Give him some pain meds, AND SEND HIM HOME. It was a waste of time!!! I got NO answers.I know some of the answers. I know why he has the back pain....because he is in bed for 23 hours a day....who's back wouldn't hurt after that???I kinda figure that all this is related to the anemia. But what I don't get is...why am I the only one worried about this? Why are they taking their time to get this stuff done? I don't get it! I know it can be done quicker, because I've been on the medical side of these situations. I know how this gets done quicker...why are they toying with us?? It makes no sense.I'm frustrated!!!