Shirley - a medical emergency

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David Kilpatrick
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Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

Last Saturday Shirley was swallowing a vitamin pill and it went the wrong way. She choked a bit, coughed a lot, appeared OK but was left with a taste of the pill in her throat and over the next two or three days kept getting coughing fits and coughing up particles of the pill. She thought it would go away, then on Wednesday night she was in real trouble, unable to breathe, and had to be rushed into hospital.

We don't know yet exactly what they diagnose, but I think we know what it is - particles of the pill have got into her lungs, they have produced a lot of fluid because of the irritation. She has been on oxygen (in a small way, added) for a day now and on a saline drip for fluid balance. But on Sunday, she was supermarket shopping; on Monday, she was chatting to the vet as they clipped knotted fur off one of the cats; on Tuesday she seemed fine except for occasional bouts of coughing, much the same Wednesday.

I've been to see her twice today and she looks MUCH better for the rehydration and oxygen, but I guess that does not remove the cause of the problem. I have no idea how they treat this. We find out tomorrow whether it will just subside naturally or something else needs doing.

Be warned - this was just a vitamin pill (standard sort of thing, a LIDL one but exactly the same size as Centrum, Seven Seas and all the other makes). She's taken one every morning for about four years now, so have I. Maybe she was a bit casual in swallowing it. I would never have thought a pill could do so much harm.

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aster
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by aster »

Hi David,

I hope she gets whatever remnants there are left out of her lungs as soon as possible and fully recovers from the irritations.
I sufferred from pneumonia for very odd reasons and I know how inconvenient and devestating it can be to have foreign particles or tender tissue in one's lungs. The coughing itself is pretty annoying without more serious consequences..

Let us know of further progress.

I hope you get well soon Shirley.

Best of luck!

Yildiz
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Juanito200
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by Juanito200 »

David- I hope that she is continuing to get better. It sounds like she is fortunate that she didn't develop aspiration pneumonia. Did they treat her with antibiotics?
Hopefully she will get any pieces out on her own. I can't say that I have ever seen this exact scenario in my years working ER, but I have seen it with food (usually in the elderly). Pneumonia often follows. It sounds like she is getting good treatment, and is improving. The human body is quite amazing, and should be able to handle this small injury well. Keep us posted.
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by Javelin »

What bad luck. hopefully everything will come out naturally. Lungs are quite well equipped to deal with these kinds of things. what maybe makes it worrysome is the pill is made to dissolvle and dispense drugs. hopefully there are no complications.
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

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I wish Shirley a quick recovery.
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

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Really sorry to hear this David. May I add my best wishes for Shirley's swift and full recovery.

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bakubo
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by bakubo »

I hope Shirley recovers quickly. Best wishes to her and you.
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bossel
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by bossel »

That's really unfortunate :( - I hope she'll recover quickly without anything remaining in the lungs.
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Birma
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by Birma »

What a shock from such a little thing. Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Shirley.
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Greg Beetham
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by Greg Beetham »

Wowzer that was a narrow squeak, when I was a bit younger (and bulletproof) I lost two freinds due to choking, (I was not present in either case), one on a bit of fish (how can you possibly choke on a bit of fish? but he did), the other the autopsy said, breathed in a small amount of his own vomit while asleep.
That showed me one thing though, how exceedingly temporary we are, and how fragile life is.
I take a vitamin bomb myself now and then, I can tell when I need one, my thyroid starts to act funny (I know the signs), and a 'male' vitamin pill fixes it for a week or so, (and pee yellow all the next day).
I've often thought maybe these things should be dissolved first before attempting to swallow one, mine are probably no bigger than usual, maybe 5/8" or 3/4" long, but big enough to cause missgivings about the thing going down properly....but so far so good.
The Doc says once your over 50 you need to take a vitamin supplement on a semi-regular basis (for calcium and some trace elements etc.), but I've always been suspicious of the method of delivery...even though they seem to think it's fine. (Doctors...hmmm they bury their mistakes, don't they?).
Anyway David, good to see Shirley is going to be OK, you are/were perfectly right to be concerned.....(the residue will most likely just dissolve and be absorbed with no great harm done)...hopefully.
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David Kilpatrick
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

She's asked me crush up a pill in water and see what does not dissolve. So far, all she knows is that she has one lung half filled with fluid, has been given only minimal antibiotics - her temperature was probably due to an immune reaction against the invading particles, not due to infection. The hospital is exceptionally good and has a first-rate 'care culture' among the staff. But I'm not sure they have any special way of dealing with this problem and they are really hoping it will go away if treated like a mild case of pneumonia.

Thanks for the thoughts - to make matters even more confused, today was my final deadline for a magazine issue; the plumber arrived this morning to repair a few taps and two WCs and fit a new water filter tap; this afternoon the town was hit by two complete power blackouts within 20 minutes, taking all my systems down of course, wrecking work in progress for the printers over the road (one of their platemakers was midway through a plate when everything went off). We have no idea why two large power cuts should have happened, it's rainy but no thunder, no snow - none of the usual causes.

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Hi David...

Unread post by Mike-Photos »

Here's wishing Shirley a full and quick recovery.
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bossel
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by bossel »

David Kilpatrick wrote:...We have no idea why two large power cuts should have happened...
If you were in France, it would probably be an employee 'social movement' (grève) from the power company. :wink:
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by david antony »

Terrible thing to have happened, wishing a full recovery for Shirley.
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Re: Shirley - a medical emergency

Unread post by Elisha »

I hope she feels better soon!
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