The Importance of Following Up with Doctors

This post contains some images that might make some squeamish. Proceed at your own risk. 

Remember that time I shared that post about Robert passing out and having to go to the ER (The Vagus Nerve Issue). 

Well, it happened again. But this time he must have hit his head on the entertainment center on the way down because he sliced his head open. 

And got three staples. 

This time there was also a microscopic bleed on his brain.

At first, it was no big deal. The doctor sent us home and said to monitor it. If he started having problems, go back to the ER. Follow up with the neurosurgeon in a couple weeks and come back to have the staples removed in about a week. Sounded like a really good plan. 

If only it ended there…

We had been home for about an hour and a half when the hospital called. They got to looking at his labs and realized his platelet count was really low. The brain bleed was now a concern because of his ITP. So, we had to come back to the ER so they could monitor him for a while, do some more CT scans and give him a platelet transfusion. 

So, back to the hospital we went. 

All this to say this whole issue started because of his low heart rate issue. We had seen a cardiologist about it last year and they were to follow up with us when they had test results. We never did hear back and we let life get in the way. That might have been a mistake. I should have pushed more, followed up on those results, and ensured we saw the doctor. It might have prevented this whole episode this time. 

As a caregiver, sometimes we have to advocate for the person we are caring for. We sometimes have to follow up with doctors and make sure appointments are made and results are provided. A caregiver’s life is hard and stressful, but I would rather deal with the stress by being an advocate to help prevent events like the last 24 hours from happening versus the stress we have endured the last 24 hours. 

And, I have already contacted the cardiologist and scheduled an appointment for next month to find out all those results.