Cautionary Warning

Hi, all.

I just wanted to report on "catinthefiddle."  Cat is my aunt.  She had surgery on the 14th of October, and has had a rough go of it.  Last Tuesday she was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, and then admitted to ICU for a couple of days.  We weren't sure she was going to make it.

Cat noticed some swelling and pain in her abdomen almost right after the surgery, but passed it off as recovery.  The hospital where she lives pretty much brushed it off, and  neglected to do the proper follow up and examination on her that could have saved her a lot of pain and anguish.

We feel she is out of the woods now, and is currently out of ICU and on the floor.  They say that she was on the fringes of being septic, which many of you may know is not a good thing.  She  has a lot of work ahead of her to get moving again; you can imagine the amount of pain she is in.  I won't give you the grisly details, but it was all very scary - but she is dealing with it well.

We are still not exactly sure what happened, but the thought is that it was a blood clot that became infected.  

If you feel ANY discomfort beyond the normal healing please go IMMEDIATELY to the ER, and do not leave until they scan your chest and ABDOMEN.  Have someone be your champion and speak for you, if need be.  If we weren't as assertive as we were on Cat's behalf, I don't even want to think about what may have happened.  This is your life.  You only get one.  Get answers, and follow orders to the letter.

Keep Cat in your thoughts.
Anita. 

 So sorry to hear that Cat is having such a rough time.  You are absolutely right that if we have concerns that our pain is anything other that regular recovery we should have it checked and also that we should follow all instructions to the letter.  Please keep us posted and tell Cat that I will keep her in my prayers and send her gentle hugs. Thanks for the update - Abby

Give Cat my best wishes for a speedy recovery. Keep us informed of her progress.

Oh my Anita

I am so sorry to hear of all Cats troubles and cant even imagine how scary your family must have been.

Your warning is just another reminder to each and every one of us -wls no matter what the procedure is not without possible complications.
 
We must be aware of the issues and possibility of complications and make sure our family knows of these as well- so that should we not be able to communicate we will have advocates to do this for us in time of need.Thank god she had you guys.

Please tell Cat we are pulling for her and she is in our prayers- please keep us updated on her condition-

take care,
deb

my thoughts are with her.



Stephanie

Oh my God, so sorry to hear about Cat!!! My thoughts and prayers are with her. I hope that she soons recovers. (hugs to her)

Please remind cat we are all sending good vibes her way, and wish her a speedy recovery. It is just too bad this had to happen. Please keep us posted.

That is awful. I hope that she is feeling better each and every day! Good thing that she had a good support system and was able to get the help she needed in time.

I am sending some healing vibes her way. Keep us posted! 

Mon

Anita, I am so sorry to hear this and will keep her in my thoughts and prayers.

Please send cat my best wishes also. I am so sorry to hear of her troubles. Surgery is scary at the best of times and becomes much more so when a complication arises. What's even worse is that when you go to a hospital complaining of pain following surgery, it is  often dismissed as being normal pain and that you are not tolerating it as you should.
 
Believe me I know. Following my surgery, I spent all night complaining of severe pain in my left side and complained of feeling like I couldn't breathe. My nurses told me it was normal and to press my pain pump. At first rounds in the morning, the CCU doctor examined me and discovered that I was bleeding internally and had to be rushed back to the OR. They even called my 2 sons up from Saint John and told them to hurry and actually waited for them to arrive before they took me to surgery. Within 3 minutes o them getting there and speaking to me they had me back in surgery. I often wonder what their thinking was. Scary or what? To make it worse, I was a nurse who worked in surgery for years.

I am glad you were there to advocate for cat. Often when you are sick and in pain it is hard to be persistant in getting your point across and then you do need someone to step in and help. Glad you were there for her.