Medical Update: Careless mistakes hurt

Its 7: 44 pm

      Just thought I would share my 2nd YouTube video with my readers. This is the dove that has built a nest on our trellis. Hope you enjoy!

Medical update:
 
   One of the doctors on Lori's oncology team made a terrible mistake on Monday in ordering a pain management drug called Fentanyl. Its a small patch of a incredibly strong narcotic. Its so controlled,you can only get it via the hospital.
  The plan was to have Lori take Fentanyl for pain and only take her Norco for sudden breakout pain. This is a transdermal system medication,it gets absorbed via the skin.

We were told that the first patch wouldn't really kick in until the 3rd day and that was when we would stop taking the Norco unless really needed.
Lori was okay Monday night but she said she could feel the patch yesterday and it was making her feel a bit weird. We chalked that up as normal as we weren't told about any possible side effects.
 I got this morning,did a bunch of errands and helped Lori as she was experiencing a small series of what we called "spittles". Not true vomiting but nasty nonetheless.
We were excepting our wheelchair delivery today between 9:30-11 am but since I was scheduled for work at 10 am,no one would be here to help take delivery,Lori said to leave the doors unlocked and she would just have the driver come in and drop off the chair. Now I know my neighborhood is safe but I'm wasn't so crazy about that idea. We called Cheryl (Autumn's mom) to see if she could sit until the chair was dropped off. She agreed and that was the plan.
   It was 10:40 am and I'm helping a guy buy a lawnmower when one of co-workers says I have a phone call...I know this has to be Lori so I answer it. She fell when she heard the doorbell ring and was yelling for the driver to come in. Worse,she couldn't stand up,she was too weak....so I looked at my supervisor who said "Go! But be careful!". I gathered my things and jumped in the car for the 4 mile drive home.
   I got home and saw Cheryl's car in the driveway,parked my car and sprinted upstairs. Lori was sitting on the floor and started crying when she me. I did a quick patdown to make sure she hadn't broken anything which she hadn't.
   But she did suffer a nasty toe injury,her big toe on her right foot got caught and the nail bent backwards and tore.
   After I calmed her down,I said I was putting her in bed....she was pretty amazed that I could lift her so easy...guess it was a Bruce Banner/David Dunn moment.

   As we sat there,Lori says "They never should have given me Fentanyl. On the packaging,it clearly says "Don't take if you have a obstructed bowel or narrowing of the bowel or intestines".
Wow...what a total shock to hear this!
  I put her in bed and saw that she had bruising and also had caught the nail on right big toe and it had come off the nailbed. I cleaned this up the best I could and later on (talk about a twist of fate) called Oakwood for an appointment with Dr. Fallat,who we had seen before. At first they had no openings but they found us a slot for 3:45 pm on Thursday.
  Lori called the maker of Fentanyl and told them what happened,the rep said that there was no way Lori should have been allowed to take their drug. She took Lori's story and said they would have to report the incident to the FDA.
I in turn,called the U of M to let them know what had happened and for someone to explain how could they order Fentenyl for someone in Lori's condition. I also called patient relations to express our uneasiness with what happened.
  Cheryl was very kind and volunteered to get some needed items for us while we made our phone calls.
We took off the patch,while it takes only 12 hours for the drug to start acting,it can take 8-11 days for it to be worked from your system. Lori was vomiting quite a bit by now so we did hydration...this was turning out to remind us of the time before she went to the hospital for 13 days. I had to swap buckets and used bleach to clean them everytime. The smell of the bile was the worst so far...
Lori couldn't get comfortable,she lay down,5 minutes later she would be sick...she would sit up and still throw up.It was a minor miracle I got 20 minutes to wolf down a Subway tuna,let alone try and cook anything.
  Finally I decided to call the hospital again because of the smell of the bile. I talked to the doctor and we revisited what had happened. First I was told that Fentanyl was a normal drug given but after I explained in more detail of our visit and what happened on Monday,she changed her mind and agreed that the Fentanyl was a far too aggressive a treatment in relation where Lori is at.
  We pulled way back on our fluid intake based on the doctor's advice and the vomiting has almost vanished,Lori is enjoying a diet of ice chips today.
  I paid off our bill today and checked in with our two angels,Mel and Terry,who were happy to see me but deeply saddened by Lori's future.They both are coming over very soon to say "hello" and spend some time with her.
  I got a call back from the patient relations person and we chatted. We agreed that they will pick up the cost in relation to Lori's foot injury today,which I think is very fair. The real challenge is coming up....I have to get her down the stairs and back up,we have a order in for a medical recliner from a local hospice.
  So we are off to have that toenail removed,I'll post a update later tonight.