Freaking out....

[eekysign]

Roomie (best friend) texts me an hour or so ago to say that her bloodwork from yesterday shows that her clotting time test (PT/INR for those of you on coumadin) is back down to the range it was in when she had her last stroke. On a scale of say, 1-5, she should be around a 2.5-3.0 or higher, and she's at 1.8.

Her doctor told her to increase her dose of medications a little, and see them in a week or so to retest.

I would like to reiterate that she HAD A STROKE BECAUSE IT WAS THIS LOW, LAST TIME. From what the ER docs told us last time, she should probably be getting the anti-clotting drug injections right now, instead of the oral medications, until they can stabilize her. But her doctor's office just says it's "not necessary".

I'm also going to be away all weekend, and I'm the go-to person in the house for medical emergencies 'cause I've got medical training. With her clotting like it is at the moment, there is nothing to stop her from stroking out again. We know from EXPERIENCE that at this level, she can stroke. But her docs don't seem to care.

And I'm stuck at work and I wanna cry and she's at work for this HUGE event, and wouldn't leave unless she had a stroke anyway, so there's just nothing to be done. And I'm scared.

 

[DammitJanet]

Damn! I know what the Pt/INR is. I would be worried too. I got put on Coumadin when I threw a clot and got a pulmonary embolism and DVT's. Scared the carp out of me!

Maybe she should hit the ER to get rechecked.

 

[Andy]

I strongly agree with her going to ER. Hopefully the ER doctor will give her the injection. This sounds too dangerous for a "wait and see" especially for one week.

 

[eekysign]

Just got a text from her - she says she's alerted her whole staff of what to do if anything goes wrong, or she seems to be acting funny. And says that if she feels weird at all, she's leaving and going to the ER. And that's she's gonna try to get a referral to a new doctor on Monday (which is hard because although we live in a major metro area, this is really the only hematology group here).

Her store has a major event tonight with a national band, and she's in charge of it. A stroke is about the only thing that WOULD get her to leave her employees without a leader, so no pre-emptive ER visit, sadly.

In fun other news, one of my coworkers and I were watching another coworker clean up after the lunchtime party; the second coworker was making sure anything we hadn't used was saved for next time. Coworker 1 turned to me and quietly signed (she's deaf) "Jew". Because Coworker 2 IS Jewish. And Coworker 1 wasn't trying to be funny, she was rolling her eyes, shaking her head, and looking disgusted.

I think my head almost exploded from 1) being totally shocked 2) being totally offended and 3) trying REALLY hard not to laugh, because the next thing I had to say was:

"My family's Jewish, too.". And then I just STARED at Coworker 1, as hard as I could. She turned about 40 colors of purple.

So funny, but tragic. I'm debating on whether to tell my boss. It'll just make life miserable for me if she finds out I "tattled", but maybe I could get him to just put a note from me in the file describing the incident? I just want to make sure that if she ever gets called out for saying something like that again, there's documentation that she's a freaking bigoted jerk. Ugh.

 

[Andy]

How is your friend getting the referral? Is it through her primary medical doctor? She might be able to call her insurance company and explain that she is in need of a 2nd opinion on the treatment of her latest test. The company may be able to give her a direct referral. She can work on transferring to that doctor if it works out for her.

Some insurance companies have 24/7 operators.

I hope her event goes well and her staff do not have to call 911.


For your co-worker, I would think a quiet talk with your human resources department to file a grievance and ask that it not be acted on until another incident occurs would work out. Your human resources can make the confidential report (no names given) available to the supervisor to watch for this behavior. If the supervisor decides to talk to her, he/she can honestly say he/she does not know who filed the grievance and that this is just a warning to be careful on how you treat fellow co-workers. It is a very good thing to do. What if others have done the same and your incident isn't the first to come to light?

 

[Hound dog]

Glad your friend alerted her co workers. Holding good thoughts she gets thru the nite with no incident.

As far as the bloodwork........did friend actually speak to the doctor, or was this relayed via office staff. Cuz believe it or not....alot of times office staff don't really bother the doctor unless you throw a hissy and demand to speak to them yourself. Had this happen many times.

Soon as she's done with work I'd see about talking her into the ER visit. Currently she's playing with fire.

As for coworker, go talk with human resources. I'd skip the boss. Looks like your tattling......Best to go thru the right channels.

Hugs

 

[susiestar]

Everyone said what came to mind, so I will just add in hugs and prayers.

I also agree with going to HR. Comments like that can be seen as creating a hostile work environment, but ONLY if they get documented.

in my opinion the human resources person is the best to go through. Many times I have seen managers agree to document this type of thing and then not do it. Some companies cut a manager's bonus if he reports this kind of thing. So reporting it and documenting it is NOT in the mgr's best interest.

Heck, if it doesn't tie in to bonuses it still can make the boss look bad in front of the higher ups.

I do hope your friend is ok.