Any nurses/doctors who can help me?

[Passthebubbly]

At the end of my tether.

My mum is getting frailer by the day. She has lost so much weight is now just above 6 stone.

Blood results show crp of 162 and platelets of 736. These are more than doubled from blood tests a week before. In the past 18 months she has had a stroke, heart attack and is now bleeding from the vagina. She is 64 years old and has been on dialysis for 13 years. She has previously had renal cancer also so now she is convinced she has some
Form on cancer again. I too am concerned about how frail she has become in a short period of time.

Their are tests on order but are weeks away and day by day she is getting worse. The doctors take bloods at most dialysis sessions and phoned her after the last ones and said if you feel unwell call an ambulance. She is so unstable and frail and lives alone with no support package. She has been admitted with far less severe results before so the state of her now I can’t believe they have not admitted her to hospital as yet.

Do the results above look concerning to anyone with more medical knowledge than me?

Thanks

Anyone?

No medical knowledge I'm sorry but experience has taught me to follow my instincts.

Can you get her admitted via a&e? Stressful but it may expedite her tests. And keep ringing, be a pest if that's what it takes to get her seen soon.

Gentle hugs

I wonder if she's not told you something; sorry, but I've heard a version of this story a lot: Adult kids getting very upset about the apparent lack of care their unwell parents get, when it turns out the parents declined many opportunities for care & treatment.

Dialysis is what... 3x/week? They monitor the recipient's health numbers each time, don't they? She is in their system. Do you go to the dialysis sessions with her (she doesn't sound well enough to go on her own).

Not sure about the results, but has social services been involved?
Maybe contact her GP and ask about an assessment for a care package?

You can always ring 999 and get a paramedic to assess her if you are that concerned. I had to do that with my mum a few times towards the end of her time with bowel cancer. Quite often she would end up being admitted via a and e.

CRP level is high which indicates infection/disease. If she is unwell and bleeding I would take her to A&E at least they will investigate further and can refer as necessary. Hope she's ok OP

So yes your mums CRP and platelet levels are elevated which given your mums renal history is usually a possible indicator of renal cell carcinoma. This is just one possibility of many and I’m sure purely speculating. The weight loss is also worrying. What was her treatment for her previous renal cancer? And whomever has taken the bloods should be following up with you. In the meantime, given her clinical state, you should definitely take your mum in to see her GP ASAP and if that’s not a possibility I would take her to the hospital for investigation.

Thank you everyone. Don’t even know where to start, I went to dialysis with her this week and spoke with the doctor who said the tests have been ordered and we just have to wait for the results. Her bloods have come down slightly but not much. They have sent blood to be analysed and taken swabs.
However they do not feel she needs admitted unless things get worse.

In answer to some of the questions..

She had a care package arranged after her stroke but she refused the carers and dispensed of social work help.

I live 1 hour away from her and am self employed with 2 kids so no do not always take her to dialysis. On the days I can’t she is picked up by hospital transport.

Her previous kidney was removed when she had cancer. Neither kidneys worked at that stage. She has since had a transplant 5 years ago which failed in 16 months ago.

I am trying everything but she won’t let me take her to a&e or call an ambulance. I strongly feel she needs to be in hospital but what else can I do.

With her last cancer we were not told, it had been on her notes for 4 months before her consultant realised nothing had been done and she had not been informed. Just worry that this is cancer

Forgot to say they did start her on a course of antibiotics through her dialysis on Thursday so praying that helps

How stressful for you! Unfortunately as frustrating as it may be, your mum has every right to decide what’s best in regards to her own medical treatment and you cannot force her (assuming she’s mental competent). At least she’s being seen regularly by doctors while she’s at dialysis and they have a duty of care to treat her appropriately. It sounds like you’re doing your best to be supportive and perhaps for the moments that’s all you can do

It’s so frustrating as she plays it down to the doctor then texts me constantly saying how ill she is and nobody is doing anything about it. She tells the doctor “I feel better than yesterday” then gets home and texts me “I have never felt so ill” she is a bit like Catherine Tate nan!

Perhaps she’s lonely and all she’s got to talk about is her medical issues (a very common scenario in my experience!). Not your fault even remotely of course, you’ve got your own stuff going on but does she belong to any community groups or have any friends? Difficult when she’s ill I know, but just a thought

I have no doubt she is lonely. I am with her as much as I can be but it’s never enough. She has fallen out with most of her friends and would not attend any groups. I offered to get her a mobility scooter to give her more independence but apparently they are for fat lazy stupid people

Hi there. Its so worrying isnt it. People on dialysis can have chronically elevated CRP
Also she would receive anti coag on dialysis so platlets could be skewed. Signs of infection would include shivering, high temps, vomiting etc it sounds as if no acute medical issue but rather fraility . Dialysis is very tough going so try find out what exactly has changed for her, its a pity she dismissed the care package. try talk to her doctor yourself or her primary nurse .

It sounds like you are doing everything you can for her and you really sound like a wonderful devoted daughter. Unfortunately until she’s willing to accept help, there isn’t much more you can do.