UPDATE!!!! Pain pump stall, My Mom's health issues and finding out today about this breathing problem and hoping it is NOT her heart valve & dealing with LIFE and Autoimmune everything!!!!

Okay everyone, please PRAY for MOM and MYSELF! She sees the Cardiologist this morning, and I PRAY her shortness of breath is NOT her HEART! She has a very "leaky" valve and I think I explained before why the shortness of breath... and our Cardiologist has had it under control with medications, and her not taking in as much fluid daily... but she has not been well at all over the past 2 months or so... and now her Kidney functions are low, which they were a bit better earlier this week but she still has to see a Nephrologist next week. I am praying the shortness of breath is possibly allergy related, because she does have allergies, like many of us, developed the late in life.... but if it is her heart, it could mean open heart surgery.... AND as far as my pain pump... I am NOT out of the woods yet.... it appears that it "restarted" itself out of the stall on Sunday... which is weird, because the Rep from Medtronic that saw me last Friday, had turned off the alarms, so they would not drive me nuts, but I kept hearing it go off, until Sunday.... but they had turned the medication basically to a minimum so I could take oral pain meds until we do surgery to replace the pump.... SO, yesterday my pain doc... did put my meds back going as they were... and he told me, not to get too excited yet, because it could do this again, and for the next 48 hours or so, I am having to watch it very closely... BUT, he also made a mistake when he reset the pump to send me the meds.... I have an "optional" Bolus every 8 hours... I can give myself an extra amount of medication... well he sat it WAY LOW rather than were it should be.... it was supposed to be 1.001 and he missed the decimal and put it at .1001 which is a HUGE difference... so now my bolus is really not doing a thing for me... that is just nothing compared to what it should be... so I called yesterday and left a message... but I guess I will here back today sometimes.... so between all of that, Mom, and now it looks like this stupid other "lump" on my right thigh is also in the process of going to "abscess"... it is now turning red and appearing like it might... plus I had been running fever off and on for a few days... which I thought was the pump issue causing it, but now I thinking this stupid lump could be the problem... when it rains it comes a flood on my life it seems.... lots of other things also... so there is what I know for now.... I appreciate all of you that are praying for us.... Rhia

Lupus Patients in the Hospital and Infections on the Rise....

I certainly find this very frightening... Since I have "cellulitis" which I am still not so sure may land me in the hospital on IV antibiotics, plus I need to get my back surgery... even thinking about having Lupus, RA, Sjogren's and other autoimmune "compromised" issues... this is something we should ALL take into consideration. Now I feel we ALL need to be very proactive when we must be in the hospital, clinics, have surgery and so forth... we know that the "antibiotic resistant" bacteria's are out there and prevalent. Never would I have thought I would get cellulitis... yet I went in due to this "lump" on my top thigh... just in time before I did have to be admitted and given IV antibiotics... and even now, I've been on the two different ones now for 5 days... and this lump may have went down a tiny bit, but it is still there... so infections as even with my own personal experience as nothing to put off, and even more difficult to try and avoid...


http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Lupus/52814