SUGARSTATS and the dreaded meeting....

Just got a call from the hospital administration office.... the meeting's been scheduled.... it's 1:30 on Friday...  here's a link to my original post  about the meeting...  Please keep us in your prayers for a positive meeting that will truly bring about change for care given to ortho-trauma patients, or all patients for that matter!  Despite all that was done/not done for Mom, she's looking like a million bucks, and there's no one other than God that can get all the glory for her recovery!  We're excited that she's got an appointment with a new internist on Wednesday, and she and dad have been given explicit written instructions on the major questions to ask him for his opinion on follow up, such as:

1. Mom had a d-Dimer test drawn while inpatient at HH, with a result of 2.53H. Peripheral venous US studies were done as a result that showed, “No DVT;” but he did report “some pulsatility noted in the common femoral veins.” From what we can find, that could indicate possible cardiac problems, but more likely a proximal clot. Is follow-up testing indicated to make sure she doesn’t have a clot?

2. A pulmonary consult was ordered for Mom while inpatient at HH and said she most likely had OSA (at that time, only one of her symptoms, her drop in H&H, had been treated with 1 unit PRBC’s…. her post-op chest x-rays continued to show unchanged bilateral infiltrates, she had a large hematoma on her right hip, a fever >101.5 requiring numerous doses of tylenol, and a klebsiella UTI infection that had not been treated). Once the klebsiella infection was cleared up via ABX started at the Nursing Home, spot checks showed she did not need 02 during the day. She was discharged on 2L 02 that she uses now only at night. Of course, the nasal cannula does absolutely nothing for her when she has periods of sleep apnea, can a CPAP machine/sleep studies be ordered for her?

3. Prior to her hip surgery, Mom required anti-hypertensive meds; but her blood pressure was very low in the hospital, and slowly increased to low normals in rehab. (In the attached printouts, we’ve recorded some BP’s she has had since she’s been home.) At what parameters should we become concerned, and when would you like to be notified?

..... furthermore, my parents were given explicit instructions to be able to report back with his thoughts on those issues..... Parents.... can't teach 'em anything.... we'll see how well they follow instructions!  I'll keep ya' posted!

AND.... just thought I'd share another really neat thing I've started for Mom that has helped tremendously to evaluate her blood sugars,  insulin dosages, and changes.  It's SUGARSTATS, it's completely free, online, and you can export all the information to an excel document to print off and take to the doctor with you!  Just click on the picture to take you to her shared profile and create your own account if needed!

Also, to help me with recording information to be tracked, I made Mom this form, if you need it, you're more than welcome to it,  just click on the picture to download!

Or you can download it from Google Docs HERE.