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The ever changing twists and turns of life with Tippy..


cowpuc

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Great story and great outcome my friend. What a wonderful Christmas present. I will continue to pray for her and for you that this was indeed the issue causing the other problems. I have learned, as most of us have, that these Doctors are often looking for the needle in the haystack and it's a wonderful thing when you finally get one that looks outside the box for solutions that the other have missed. So glad that things are looking better my friend.

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Wow, what a story to wake up to Puc. I am SOOOooooo glad the DR. found out what was ailing Tippy. Such great news!! I'm glad she doesn't have COPD / Emphysema. (I hate having it).

 

Tippy, I wish you well honey. Get well and back on your feet soon. Best wishes for a speedy recovery sent your way! :banana:

I know Puc will be at your side to take care of you.

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So glad to hear a solution was found. Seems most Doctors do what the insurance companies want and not what's needed, keep the Dr's name and if she goes into her own practice may want to change doctors. Now you have a new learning curve of what Tip can eat and what to stay away from. I know you will take great care of your Tippy and keep an eye on her. She won't complain but you will notice (should) when she's not feeling up to par. We will be happy to see the both of you again this coming summer. God has blessed the both of you.

Billmac

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Don't ya feel good when you finally find the problem. In Tippy's case it almost reminds me of chasing a Venture electrical problem. Around here gall bladder surgeries are pretty common. While visiting my surgeon for my 3rd annual, we somehow got on the subject of boarder line needing mine removed. Well, OK my MRI showed that I had a few stones, but...because I had already been opened up they couldn't do the button hole out patient, so I decided to put it off until it got real serious. He also mentioned that they think they have removed every gall bladder in Sacramento. Every morning when they look at the surgery schedule there are always a bunch. Here's hoping that the gall bladder was causing Tippy's breathing problems. From the smile on her face I'm sure she's feeling a whole lot better. Peace to you and Tippy my friend!!

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Hey, Puc. I'm so glad you folks are back on track. Meeting you both in The Dalles at Venture West 2014 was an absolute highlight of my trip, and I consider you both good friends. I hate hearing about these types of issues with my friends, but I'm happy that things have turned around. Please tell Tippy that we are thinking about her. Prayers up for a speedy recovery.

Dale.

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Puc, glad Tippy is on the mend. Gall bladder troubles are hard to diagnose, I went 4 yrs undiagnosed because my doc at the time focused on my heart even after I went into liver failure. I was lucky that an ER doc realized it was my gall bladder was sick and made sure I got all the tests and seen by a surgeon, he saved my life!

 

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

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Life can sure toss out some curves cant it? Like most of you, my best friend Tip and I tend to look forward to the twisties and enjoy canyon carving to an extreme but, and again, probably like most of you, when it comes to the curves of life that involve ill health - we find those curves a lot less joyfully exciting.

A few months ago, just after it seemed like the Dr.'s had finally gotten a small handle on my own ailments, Tippy's body decided it wanted to give her a hard time being able to breath. It all started with some body pains and progressed into breathing difficulties. We started down the same path with her as we had being doing in my case for more months than I care to recall. Our family Dr kept us hopping with blood tests and imaging in an attempt to discover what was going on. We visited numerous Specialist with little to no actual good results in understanding her symptoms. About 2 month's ago she was having a real bad episode and I, once again, took her into the ER room. They did some lung X-rays and came back with a COPD diagnosis . Of course, this startled us and, after some major discussions with our family Dr. - I responded with the normal reactions of figuring out what I could do to help my Tippy. I did all the Air Purification stuff, purchased hepa type air cleaners and all that. Shared with others who have traveled the paths of COPD (you know who you are - THANK YOU for ALL the thoughtful sharing!!) and learned a lot about this horrible disease. Even talked with our Dr. about the possible need of selling out and moving into a less humid environment - this stuff was proving to be life changing.

In the end, nothing we did seem to help, inhalers had no effect. We finally got in to see a Pulminary expert and, after looking at the same x-rays that other Dr.s had viewed to come up with the COPD diagnosis, this one said she seen nothing to indicate COPD. As a matter of fact, she said that Tip's lungs look perfect! She did want to do further testing though because she could tell that Tip's breathing was not quit right - she ordered a CT Scan that was scheduled to be done yesterday.

While in the process of waiting for that CT to be done, Tip got really bad again (last Monday) so back to the ER we went. This visit proved to be somewhat different though as this time we happen to end up with an ER Dr. who the nurses in ER referred to as The Drill Sargent, a WONDERFUL Dr. who took her Hippocratic oath very seriously and who really didnt care what Insurance Companies or others thought about her - she was totally focused on Tip and on us not leaving "her" ER until we had answers.

We arrived in the ER around 4 p.m. and, after a BUNCH of testing (including a complete abdomin CT = this doc also noticed Tip had a CT scheduled for her lungs so she went ahead and did that too - :clap2::thumbsup:) by 3 a.m. this doctor had found something significant - Tip's Gall Bladder was ready to explode:yikes:. The doc came into the ER room at that time with an Ultra Sound machine being pushed in front of her. She pointed at me and said "come here, I got something I wanna show you". I watched as Tip's GB showed 15 stones a little bigger than pea's and one that measured (actual measurement - way cool machine) 25.8 mm in diameter!! The doctor said now watch this, she had Tip roll up on her side and pointed out that the big stone did not move from its position of half covering the area where the duct work leading out of the GB was located. She said while this is not an immediate "life threatening" emergency - we REALLY need to get that out of there and I am going to contact a surgeon and work with him to make it possible for your wife to stay here at the hospital until we can get it out :happy34:. 3 a.m. she comes back into the room and says your wife will be a whole new person after the surgeon removes that GB later TODAY!!

The surgery took an extra 1 1/2 hours, her GB was 2x the size it was suppose to be and in very very rough shape. Apparently that large stone had been causing some major issues for a long time and, if Tip were more of a "fat" eater (she eats very little meat and fried food fatty stuff - not like me, I LOVE fried foods) she would have been in major crisis months ago. As it was, she ended up needing a shunt with an external resevoir to gently move the nasty stuff out of her body. After an extended hospital stay (they said the "normal" GB removal was outpatient) I FINALLY got to bring my best friend back home late last night :amen:

She seems to be doing ok with God and I taking good care of her.

The CT on her lungs came back with no significant issues. The Dr who did the surgery told me that there is a very high probability that her GB issue was probably the cause of her pain and difficulty in breathing as something that severe could easily cause many other symptoms such as that. We would appreciate any and all prayers/thoughts/concerns/love that you - our family here on VR could send our way and hopefully, the diagnosis of COPD ends up being just another curve in life that we had to travel thru to get to the REAL issue . :thumbsup:

 

PS - to my dear brothers and sisters who are suffering with that dreadful thing called COPD - you have my deepest and most ythoughts and prayers as you continue learning to navigate thru those curves!!

PS, PS,, I remember a thread asking what we wanted for Christmas,, other than a continued wish for fulfillment of Peace On Earth and Good Will/Good Health To ALL My Friends and Family, I just got everything my little heart could possibly ask for, got my Tippy back!! :big-grin-emoticon::thumbsup:

 

Thanks gang!!

Puc

 

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Tough read but so very thankful she is doing better and that you were blessed enough to come across the right doctor! I am one that does not believe in coincidences, but believe in fate and that everything happens for a reason. That one attack she had, that led you guys to the ER where the Drill Sargent was on duty, was fate.

 

We only live today once.

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Man, I leave the site for a couple of days and all hell breaks loose!!!

 

Glad there is a happy ending!

 

Got that right brother!! FYI @bongobobny , our good friend and brother in grime @Flyinfool went under the knife this morning for ankle surgery - PRAYERS UP AND BLESSINGS DOWN for that varmint! Didnt know if you knew or not so,, :think:now you do:thumbsup:

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