should I go into hospital

cam

New member
Im 35yrs old and I still not sure when I should go I hate goin in cause of the pain and waste of time and maybe get worse or another bug and I have enough anyway I been streaking blood in mucus for 2 days and today my upper chest is hurting I beem doin prettt good for my overall bad health and not this came on I exercise and do all my treatments I dont know what I should do and with Christmas here makes it worse it hurts to breathe but its tolerable and it worries me I dont want to worry my family on Christmas and doctor sorry so long im worried and upset I hate this illness so bad I hope everyone has wonderful Christmas and is well again im sorry for long post im just frustrated and to my wits end and scared with this illness one more question does anyone think doxycycline would help or a waste not on any antibiotics right now juat my inhaled ones thank everyone for ur help have a great xmas hope we get a cure for xmas
 
I am so sorry u r not feeling well. I would most certainly call your CF clinic doctor and tell them exactly what u just said and tell them your worries over this. I don't know where everyone lives that makes them so worried to call the doctor. I call the doctor over every single worry. They r supposed to help u and tell u what to do. I know with the holiday they have to have a pulmonary fellow doctor on call who can also assist u with your worry and figure out if u need to go to the hospital or just what to do. I feel for u and I wish u were not scared. My son is 25 and has CF and I live with that fear too. If I were your mom I would make u call the doctor or call them for u. Even on Christmas day they have someone to cover at our CF clinic and I'm sure it's the same at yours. I hope u feel better soon and get help.
 

cam

New member
Thank u all for responding I called them they gave me cypro and steroids til I can get to clinic and had xray buy they never called me to tell me what it looked like don't know if I should call them bout the xray like to know what it looked like blood has not stopped but has really slowed down I still feel really down so probably have to go into hospital in few days which really upsets me thanks agian for responding makes me feel like someone is there hope everyone has wonderful Christmas
 
I'm glad they started u on an antibiotic. I would call Friday and ask about your X-ray. I don't know what u believe but I try to put my trust in Jesus as sometimes the worry of everything with CF gets to be too much. The Bible says - "What time I am afraid , I will trust in Thee" and also Jesus said- " Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give u rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and u will find rest unto your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." That is the King James Version of the Bible. I will say a prayer for u tonight for your health to improve. Please do all your treatments and exercise. I hope u have a Merry Christmas!
 

LittleLab4CF

Super Moderator
The same information that a doctor performing triage uses to determine how sick you are can be done at home by you. I often read about this dilemma, go to the ER or call the doctor off hours and I too have debated whether to do one or the other.

You have a chronic condition, CF, that makes sudden pneumonia a reality. I go through entire years having more time with pneumonia than not but each pneumonia is a remarkable change in medical parlance.

I assume you don't typically have blood streaked mucus, so it by definition is remarkable which means it is a primary thing to tell your doctor. Take your vitals, temperature, pulse-ox and blood pressure before calling the doctor or deciding if you should be calling or going to the ER. Take one of your returnable Christmas gifts and exchange it for a pulse-ox or BP cuff. I assume you have a good thermometer? If you've got streaked mucus AND your oxygen is low, for you, and/or a fever and/or a racing heart or heart pound and for us, BP at any age, are all data your doctor needs in order to make a health decision for you.

The ability to measure and understand these vitals will tell you the probability of your needing more than bed rest. Assuming that you have a fever, pulse-ox shows you're hovering around 90% and you've got blood streaked mucus, any trepidation about calling your doctor should be gone and you have solid data to impart when you call.

Any doctor who doesn't understand that his or her chosen profession is 24/7 should find a teaching job. Entire industries have arisen to offload the round the clock business. We CFers have legitimate reason for calling the doctor over going into a germ filled limbo of the ER where the smartest doctor barely knows what CF is. We go to the ER when we have an untreated infection, higher than 101.9° fever that can't be controlled, dehydration due to being sick, lower than tolerable oxygen or uncontrollable pain.

Chest infections are serious and they must be kept in check. It doesn't matter if I have four pneumonias a year or one every four years, chest infections are top priority. All substantial infections are accompanied by a fever. Keep in mind an infection in the chest is killing lung cells which may not grow back, depending on your age. You have this emergency handled and the Holidays are booming business. Medicine like florists work overtime on special occasions. Something about the stress and extra exposure brings them in.

Happy New Year,

LL
 
W

windex125

Guest
I understand yr worry, esp. abt going to the hospital and possibly getting more then you need at this time. but hopefully yr. main doctor will have gotten back to you and make that decision. First getting the call back from someone that is at yr. clinic but only filling in always a issue. As for yr. streaking don't panic we get that often. I always keep extra vitamin K in the house and will start that immediately with any sight of streaking. I also know that going to a ER hospital they are really at a loss many times with our specific needs, that is why you need to be prepared to more or less doctor yourself at times. Hope you are feeling better by this time as its the 29th today. You will get though this, you know yr. body and what has to be done. Pat-CF/60
 

cam

New member
Thank you everyone for help and kind words blood has stopped but my chest still hurts and short of breath amd have absolutely no energy cant get out of bed hope everything gets better thank you again for all kind words and help
 
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