Mud-club
Chat & Social => The Bar - General Chat => Topic started by: tenpolequint on May 16, 2006, 11:42:25
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Last week my father went into hospital as he was having stomach cramps and pains. The GP sent him to hospital to have his appendix out and just in case it was this giving the problem and while they were at it have a look round with an internal camera should this not be the root of the problem. He had his appendix out, it was not the trouble but they did find he was suffering from diverticulosis which is a common problem. It is a growth on the intestine which bulges outward and it had become infected and it was this inflamation that was causing the pains. They put in a catheter to drain the abscess and was scheduled to perform an operation to remove the growths in six weeks. They were just waiting for him to pass solids after the appendix op to make sure he was all right to be released. He had been given morphine for the pain relief. During the night at hospital he had gotten up to go to the toilet and in his confused state unclear mind he had fallen over the drain bag for the catheter. This ripped out severing a vein or an artery and he had to have an emergency operation to fix the internal bleeding, since they had opened him up they removed the nodules as well to save on more trauma of having to go through two operations.
In the recovery room the effects of morphine are apparent with my father drifting out of rational conversation and having paranoid delusions and hallucinations.
He told my mother the doctors were going to chop him up and use his organs, there are straw men in the fields but they are good because they keep him safe and stop all the narcotics and if you go down one corridor you will get baked alive.
My mother is now frightened as he physical is healing very well but she is worried he has gone mental. He is no longer on morphine, has been off two days but has still suffers from paranoid delusions. He has not yet been eating, after the operation he is only meant to be on fluids.
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Sounds pretty frightening to say the least! I expect the effects of the drugs are only temporary and will wear off as the substances leave his system in the next few days.
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My Dad (74) has been in and out of hospital in the last six months - most recently with heart and lung problems (he 'died' several times but they revived him).
The morphine they gave him had a similar effect - ie the hallucinations. The effects of that wear off relatively quickly - they should all be gone within a weekof finishing the morphine (depending on the dose and on how long they gave it to him ).
But the hallucinations SCARED him, he did not know what was 'real' and what was not. It knocked him about mentally in that way for quite a while, in fact I would say it still scares him, he never wants to go on morphine again.
It is possible that your dad is suffering in a similar way, but expressing it differently.
The alternative is that he has picked up or is also suffering from an undiagnosed UTI (Urinary Tract Infection). They can have very serious effects - delusions, hallucinations etc.
I was recently an observer on a two day course for doctors approved under Section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983. They are the ones that can detain you against your will.
The case studies for 'older adults' included a case which sounded perhaps more extreme, but similar, to what you are experiencing with your dad. The advice from the most senior specialist psychiatrist there (to the doctors attending) was to ALWAYS check for a UTI, because the person may need antibiotics not antipsychotics!
Anyway, my advice would be to raise your concerns with your dad's consultant - the ward should be able to give you his/her number. The consultant might not be aware of the symptoms, or that your dad's 'personality' had apparently undergone a change. After all they probably never met him before he was ill.
Anyway, hope this helps and hope your Dad is feeling better soon.
Karen
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Just dont offer him any mushrooms, with his dinner, :wink: :lol:
Hope he's feeling better soon.
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I have just got back fom seeing him tonight and as Karen said the effects do seem to be wearing off. He does occasionly wander off on conversations but is able to hold normal converstion. He is on antibiotics as well with the intestine infection. One upsetting thing for him is he has to use a colostomy bag for as long as three months. I expect he will be back at his home soon which will help ease his mental stresses being in the familiar surroundings.
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Hope he gets better and gets back home soon mate, i am sure he will feel easier at home. :)
Sounds like he has had a rough old time.
Cheers
Schuee
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yes as has been said hope he gets better soon
it does hit home when something close to you suffers
i was 90 mins from losing my father bout 15yrs ago when a stomach ulcer had burst and it was killing him, had emergency op to cure it
it didnt hit me at the time as he had a builder's merchant which i took over whilst he was recovering so i was kept busy and we were in the middle of hay harvesting too and i remember seeing him out for the first time down on the farm watching us get the hay in, it was quite emotional till he told me to stop being so f-ing silly and grow up (yes he has the same swearing affliction as gordon ramsay)
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Good to hear he seems to be getting better. It is very disturbing when they are suddenly so 'out of it'.