Have any medical knowledge? PLEASE help if you can. (Page 2)

Oh big hugs to you and your mom!!!  

She's a bit out of my practice area (pediatrics) but I would agree with it being likely infectious with a CNS component.  I don't know much about typhoid and dengue (though my BFF diagnosed dengue in residency- in Rochester NY!).  Did they test for influenza, and is that prevalence now where you are?  Influenza can present with encephalitis, and with a diffuse viral pneumonia.  Not much to do besides supportive care (unless you count tamiflu, which is marginally helpful, and I'm guessing not available there).

I hope she is feeling better soon!

Agree with the bold above.

Thoughts your way, hope your mom gets better :-)

Goodness I wish I were a doctor or had some kind of medical experience, alas I have none.  BUt I do have the power of positive thinking and prayer and I send both to you and your family.

Keep well keep safe Yanti.xxxxx

I absolutely wish that I could help with either medical knowledge or a magic wand that I could swoosh around in a fancy way to make you all healthy - but alas, I have no such wand (but it would be SO cool if I did!) and I'm not one that has any medical knowledge whatsoever (though I'm pretty sure I could play a doctor on tv... I'm pretty good with multi-syllabic words) so, in lieu of anything concretely helpful... thoughts, good vibes and hugs being sent to you and your Mutti!

I deeply appreciate all your kind words, thoughts, and prayers. We need them.

Come to Jakarta to find that no one in the hospital has been taking care of my mom the last three days. They're not regularly checking her temperature and vital signs; they're not trying to control her fever; they're not paying attention to her pain; nearly 90% of the tests, procedures, care and medication they claimed to have given her never actually happened.

Spend the afternoon there taking care of my mom MYSELF--I found her with her limbs tied to the bed with strips of a ripped-up bedsheet, and with a fever between 104 and 105, she's bundled up in socks, gowns, sheets and blankets. No one has noticed that her IV is pouring solution into her skin, creating a big painful bruised bubble. Finally I just start ordering tests, ordering doctors, ordering medications, ordering routine care. Every decision takes hours to implement.

When her fever was spiking again tonight, and she was extremely agitated, in severe pain and her limb muscles all deeply cramping, and she was continually yelling and grimacing as loud as a sick old lady can ... which I personally consider an emergency situation (as an elderly person with dementia is going to rip her IV lines, catheter, oxygen mask etc. off), it took over two and a half hours for a physician to see her and administer medication. And no, the nurses were not going to do a single thing in the meanwhile--if it isn't on a doctor's order, they will not do anything. Not check the lines, not check her vitals, not try to calm or restrain her--not a damned thing.

Also, the physician was going to give her pills (wow--you really think she can swallow?), and the painkiller was going to be an NSAID ... which is highly contraindicated when the #1 suspects are among the tropical hemorrhagic fevers.

So I will try to get her med-evac'ed to Singapore first thing in the morning. Unfortunately my father and I disagree about this, and I'm not sure how I'll be able to get around that.

I really wish I had better news. I'm disheartened and struggling, especially as I am fairly ill myself right now, but all the more reason to go to Singapore and seek treatment for myself as well.

Again ... thank you so much for your help, your thoughts, your advice, and simply for letting me rant.

Oh, Yanti, my thoughts are with your mom and you.  I would not tolerate that level of care for my mom either - you're doing the right thing getting her out of there.  Her hands tied down would have been the last straw for me as well.  Wish I could be a physical help, but for now I will just say prayers for you guys.

{hugs}

Yanti, You gotta stay strong and level-headed in the face of utter chaos.  You are your mothers  advocate and you will do what needs to be done to get her through this. 

All the good kharma, vibes and prayers I can muster heading your way. 

Stay strong Yanti - you're an angel for your mom, but please also look after yourself at the same time.

Great idea to get to Singapore so you can both be treated.  Would Perth or Darwin also be an option?

My thoughts are with you.

N xx

ETA: That hospital's ICU is full, and there's no alternative, so we are taking her home and will care for her there, and we are scrounging up the medications we need on our own. We have IV lines, sets, and poles at home, and thank God I know how to use them. See Dad ... not all that money you spent on my scientific and medical training went to waste. When she's a little more stable we can take her to our usual ER/clinic for continuing blood work.

It's a crappy option, but it's the best one we've got.

I don't know what to say Yanti.  I am lost for words. 

The incompetence of some people is mind-blowing.

More prayers and thoughts are heading your way.  Hang in there, and don't forget about you.

Yanti, my dear, all I have to say is that I am awed by your mental and physical fortitude, your plenitude, nay, excess, of moral courage, and your downright astounding ability of cussednessly getting the job done;  not to mention your brilliant mind and to-die-for body.  

I salute you.   Oo Rah!

Courage, and play your cards.

Oh sweetheart I am so sorry to hear you were having to continually deal with incompetent doctors.  I am sure she is much happier to be home with you, even though it is not the ideal option for you right now, but hopefully things will improve and you will be able to get her somewhere you feel comfortable with.  

My heart and thoughts are still with you all, and I know you are thinking of your mom, but please remember to also take care of yourself!  

Verga and Vergette prayers are with you, your family, and the doctors.

Don't ever wonder why you are my heroine again

All I can do is express my tremendous gratitude for your prayers and kind words.

I will say that I've encountered some pretty horrendous medical professionals and situations here, and even the best private medical care here is mediocre, but this is truly anomalous (obviously, or we would have never taken her to this facility in the first place).

I'll post more when I can. Funny, too, in the few hours between when this decision was made and now (we'll be bringing her home as soon as the troops--literally, I guess, they are freshly former Special Forces --get here to help us, in an hour or so) my mother has markedly improved. She may be deaf and have Alzheimer's but she's very sensitive to people's body language and such, and I have a feeling she suffered from the intense tension in the air and the incessant harsh words between the physicians and ourselves.

I am sure on a subconscious level she's picked up the vibe that she's going home.

Sweety, you are going to laugh at me, but this has been some of your finest hours; some of your finest days.  Hang in  there, no one ever said life is easy; if they did, then they lied.  Your true character is showing.