Yesterday was awful, last night was terrible. Al got worse as the day wore on. By last night he was screaming he was on fire. Tears never stopped and I could not seem to bring the pain down.
I ended up calling Hospice around 11pm. At 1am a nurse showed up. She could see his pain and she called the doctor on call. I had never dealt with this doctor and I swear if I ever see her face to face I will have my way with her through words.
She ordered the nurse to give Al double one of his strong pain medications. In less than half an hour Al went nuts. He was screaming and crying. He swore his body was going to burn up. He began to hit himself wildly.
I couldn’t take it. I made her call that doctor back. The doctor then ordered twice the amount of that pain medication. I said absolutely not, hell no, no way. Find another doctor. Well there was no other doctor.
She reported that I would not do as requested so the doctor ordered him to take an extra pill that he usually takes. It is a calming pill. It seemed to work and he fell asleep. He slept for half an hour then was wide a wake, like wired.
The nurse called another nurse and she went home leaving me to wait here with Al for another hour. By now it was after 4am. The new nurse couldn’t seem to do anything with Al. His heart was racing at 282 beats per minute.
It was obvious to me that Al’s burning body was due to the heart going wacky from internal tremors inside the chest wall lining. When the nurse could do no more she called that same doctor back.
The doctor ordered him into the Hospice House. The ambulance came and got him and left at 6am.
I went to sleep with tears streaming and slept for four hours. Now it is time to start final preparations for Thanksgiving dinner. All I can say today is I miss Al so much. I am dead tired, but I am thankful he is still alive on Thanksgiving Day. He may not be here physically with me but he is in my thoughts constantly.
Terry, is it possible he is having an allergic reaction to the pain meds? Or some other medication? Will you be with your son/family today?
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he is off of most of his medications now a days. It is the MSA. it just keeps progressing and taking Al’s body and heart with it
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It’s awful. It makes me angry. I’m so sorry, Terry.
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it makes me mad too, angry, frustrated, and wishing I could turn the clocks back
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😦
So sad for Al – & for you too. I too am thankful that he is still alive. I hope they have been able to help his pain now that he’s at the hospice house. Hang in there Terry.
{Hugs} to you & Al
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Last night Al finally showed some signs of improvement, which I am thankful for
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YAY! 🙂
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More power to you — lots of which you already have — for going on with Thanksgiving, and finding a way to be grateful in the midst of such turmoil and sadness. My thoughts are with you.
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thank you Mona. He was greatly missed by me yesterday. I was able to talk to the nurse last night. Late evening he was beginning to calm down a little from the pain
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thanksgiving is not the same for all, hope your days improve, perhaps time is catching up on us
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He was really missed by me yesterday. Although Thanksgiving went on as planned there was a void
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My dear friend,, wishing today goes well for you and of course Al. 😉
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Thanksgiving went by as planned but I was exhausted with only four hours of sleep and as soon as everyone left I crashed
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Much love and thoughts of comfort heading your way Terry. Praying for Al and you today.
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thank you Brian. He was as of late last night finally finding some comfort from pain
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I think you should see if he is allergic to that medication Terry that is not a reaction anyone should have after being administered. With all that I hope you can have a good day with your family, just the hubs and I today no family as this day is very hard for me; thanksgiving is the last holiday spent with my daughter before she was killed.
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From what i understood he was becoming toxic to that medication, so they changed him to another one in the same family, but i think, in my opinion, the side effects are worse
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That sounds so horrible. But you hug in there & got him some help, even though you had to fight for it. Hopefully he is better now. My God give you the strength for today.
Janeice
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thank you Janeice, I heard that as of late last night he was finally finding some relief from pain
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What you go through is awful and I wished you don’t have to see Al like that! I can only pray more for you and Al!
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It is very hard watching my brother turn into someone I don’t know. The anguish of his pain, the tears, the contractions of his body over whelm me with my own emotional pain. He was a bit better last night. They changed one rotten drug to another rotten drug in the same family of medications with terrible side effects
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This is awful, and that Doctor just seemed to want to “give him pills, he’ll shut up”
My thoughts are with you today Terry.
{{{HUGS}}}
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the whole idea with Hospice is comfort, bit I think there is some truth in what you say. It was the night before a holiday and I had already called them twice for the same thing, one of them being after midnight. I think you are exactly right but I will not allow them to kill him legally with drugs
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No, it’s not fair on him
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You are in my prayers Terry, I know that you are exhausted and I wish I could lend you some strength. God bless you!
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Hi Loopy. Thank you for the prayers. We need them. I want God to do whatever he knows is right but to please not let Al suffer in the process of going home to heaven
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Amen and amen, Terry!
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Oh Terry how my heart goes out to you and Al. This is torture.
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Al really suffered the worst that entire night. My emotions were a wreck. I heard late last night that he found a little bit of less pain, which is good
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*hugs* are you able to visit him tomorrow? I hope you were not alone today.
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I don’t drive out of town. I get paranoid, but I do call up there. He is a little over an hour a way. I had two of my kids here on Thanksgiving
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I just read this, after I sent you a message,,, i’m so sorry , bless him and you,,,, saying some extra Prayers for you both today♡
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thank you so much Jeannie
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I am so sorry, Terry, for the night Al had. I am sorry for the way it hurts you to see him going through these things, and to have so few options available to you to help him during the most difficult of times. I am glad you found something to rejoice about, and I pray that joy sustains you. I pray for Al’s comfort and peace, as well as yours. Be blessed!
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thank you so much Stephanie. When there is a terminal illness I look much harder for the small things in life that are miracles and joy
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I am so sorry to hear this Terry…
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thank you Michelle
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I too suffer the pain of MSA Al is lucky to have such a caring caregiver as you keep it up he appreciates it I’m sure… stay strong for him its so needed care givers are all angels in my books……
steven MSA since 2008
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Steven, I hate it that you have MSA also, no one deserves it. If there is anything I can do to help you, please let me know. Hugs my dear friend
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While I know you miss Al terribly the doctors have to find out what exactly is causing the problem and how to help him….. he need to be close at hand for them to see exactly what’s going on…. take care…. I will say a prayer of course… Diane
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thank you so much Diane!
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Pingback: Hit like if you LIKE! | Ms.Probs says
So sorry to read about the hard times Al and you have to go through together. So upset that he has suffer so much for being alive. Life isn’t fair. Hope he are doing better now – he are a true fighter. A big hug to you both and you are both in my thoughts. I wish I could ease things for you both.
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just getting to chat with you helps………hugs
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Terry, you are welcome to chat when ever you feel for it. *smile
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Thanks Vivi
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Pingback: The Lump in my Throat | terry1954
Please put me on your mailing list. My mother at 80 has just been diagnosed. I know we don’t have a lot of time left. This thing called MSA sucks. Taking our loved ones away in such a harsh manner.
Mary Ellen McCarthy
memc1030@aol.com
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