Yes, that nice gentle soreness that means you are making progress. Sorry about the twitching; I hate that. My eyelids do that crap too from time to time.

Those on Twitter will have seen most of this.

So son had his Crohn's surgery on Tuesday, 10/8. Surgeon did an impressive job, removed part of the ascending colon, ileum, and 60cm of small intestine, but he didn't need a stoma/temporary colostomy.

I've been going to the hospital every day. Thursday, when I showed up, his gastro fellow and the gastro's attending were there and were shocked at how great he was doing. You wouldn't have even though he had had a cold, never mind major gut surgery. He showered. He had his first solid food in two months. We took walks. He spent most of the day out of bed. He refused all opiods (had 2 doses of morphine in recovery room, but was making due with Tylenol, gabapentin, and some ibuprofen).

Friday morning, when I called to see what time he wanted me to come in, he was very sick. He had almost passed out in the bathroom. I told him I was hopping in shower and would be right there. By the time I was out the surgeon was on the phone.

When you have major surgery, they have to put you on a maintenance dose of blood thinners after, to prevent clots. The surgeon said whoever wrote the order for the anticoagulant (Teppy, if you happen by, it was Lovenox) wrote it for the dosage you would get if you were treating a clot (so much higher).

He should have been getting a lower dose, once every 24 hours. He was getting a higher dose, every 12 hours.

On both Wednesday and Thursday, he got two high doses, each day (so 4 total in 48 hours, rather than 2 total lower ones)

He lost a ton of blood. His blood labs were the pits. They transfused him with 2 bags of blood on Friday and two more on Saturday. He was back to clear fluids only. They had to stop the ibuprofen (which also increases bleeding risk). To make matters worse, someone had decided to taper his steroids, which they weren't supposed to do. He's been on steroids since February, so his taper is a long term affair being managed by the gastro and an endocrinologist.

They wouldn't let him out of bed. He used a commode and jug to relieve himself. All that progress was lost.

They could have killed him.

Today, he's doing a little better (although I didn't like his color when I was there; dh and i usually don't go together, so he has at least one of us there for most of the time he's awake).

They took him off clears today. He had Ensure Plus and scrambled eggs while I was there. Dh said he had chicken noodle soup, tonight.

Tomorrow, my cousin (an RN) is coming in with me.

I'm furious, but I'm more concerned we see him through this crisis. From her ire, I don't believe his surgeon wrote order for the wrong Lovenox dosage. Her anger was palpable.

The nurse he's had over the weekend has been excellent, but my faith in the hospital is still in the abyss.

So that's where we are.

Timelies all!

{{{Cindy and son}}}

Jesus, Cindy. Thank god he's young and otherwise healthy, because that had to be a huge factor in him coming through this.

Someone needs to be disciplined for this. I'm not saying legal action (that's up to you), but I would want to find out who in the hell wrote that prescription and I would be agitating for disciplinary action.

Jeeeeesus Christ, Cindy. I'm glad he's doing better. I look forward to you setting fire on something.

Thanks everyone.

Teppy, Dana, leading up to his surgery, Chris and I have talked a lot about putting stuff "in the back room," that is things we need to or may need to think about/confront. Sometimes, I tell him I'm putting stuff in the basement under the back room.

Until the crisis is truly past, this is in that back room, but it's first in line to come out.

When the surgeon first called me, she did say, "I will be dealing with the person who made the error." I let that suffice for the moment, because she was already seething, and all I really care about is him getting better.

We have a great relationship with his gastro (who wouldn't have written the orders; post-surgery he's under the surgical team's care), and with our particular surgeon (assuming she isn't the world's best actress), so I'm trying to get my head together on what to do once he's out of the woods.

I think, when I see the surgeon tomorrow, assuming I get to, I might broach the subject. I will at least ask who wrote the bad order (orders, really, since the Prednisone was an eff up of its own) and ask that that person be completely removed from Christopher's case, then go from there.

Teppy, would you say this seems like accurate dosing information: [link]

In other words, was he probably supposed to get 40mg once a day (I know he was only supposed to get X once a day and got Y twice a day)?

He was between 55 and 56kg pre-surgery, so if that Healthline dosing is accurate, I'm guessing they gave him 60mg every twice a day, for two days in a row.

To make matters worse, he's low-weight (due to the prior hospitalizations, the Crohn's and the two months of liquid diet), so he's in that weight range, where, if the article is accurate, the drug can stay in his body longer.

They could have killed him.

Holy shit. You must have been vibrating with rage.

That's a fucking malpractice suit.

I'm so glad he's bouncing back, and the surgery went so well.

Oh, Cindy, how awful! I'm glad he's recovering now.

Holy shit. You must have been vibrating with rage.

I think that's where the momness kicks in. I was scared. I had been going to drive in (as I've been doing every day), but instead I asked dh (who is all out of paid leave) to come home and drive me in.

While we were there, I just tried to reassure Chris, listen to the surgeon, and get the nurses to listen to us. I was glad the surgeon was in the room, when the Prednisone got brought up. Chris mentioned he'd only had 5mgs that day (pill; he'd been on a stress dose of an equivalent during the surgery and maybe for the day after). I knew he should be getting at least 10mg, because he hasn't been able to make it on 5mgs yet (hence the taper plans with the gastro & endo).

If you're on steroids and you have surgery, or break your leg, or something, they have to keep the dose up during surgery, and be careful with tapers. The long-term use interrupts your natural hormone production which helps keep everything running.

When I told the nurse he should be on 10mg, she started arguing with me. She took the surgeon over to the electronic chart station and I could hear her saying it should be 5mg that day and 2.5 the next, so I sort of called across the room and said, "We're not tapering while he's in here." The surgeon knew all about that and had to set her right, so she then ordered IV hydrocortisone (an equivalent) for right then and there.

That's a fucking malpractice suit.

That part's in the basement under the back room.

ETA

This is the first day I've really raged (and only at home, and it mostly comes out as strangled noises)