The first thing the doctor.
She will have cancer. Since taking her to the er, she’s still bleeding. She doesn’t have a doctors appointment till December 2. What can I do to help her. I’m so afraid of what’s to come. Please someone tell me which direction to go!
If your mother's blood is bright red, it could easily be hemorroids or some other issue (like a tear) in the upper anal canal that is not cancerous. If her blood is black, then it's likely older blood either coming from the stool itself or from deeper within the colon. I would not immediately jump to a horrifying diagnosis based on no empirical evidence.
My ex husband, by the way, was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in 2017 and is in full remission nowadays getting 100% clean PET scans every 6 months. Even cancer these days is not an automatic death sentence.
As the others have said, however, I'd get her back to the ER or call 911 and have the EMS team take her there by ambulance. Don't take no for an answer! THEY can call your mom's PCP from the hospital!!
GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!
and your PCP? If you were to call them about something like this after hours, they’d tell you to go the ER! Crazy isn’t it? And need to see a specialist? They contact the specialist and give a referral and then you have to wait for the specialist to CALL YOU with the appointment and you must allow at least a week for then to contact you. And very rarely can the PCP call and get you in sooner!
But go to Florida....Sarasota specifically....and it’s a world of difference! The care is much better. My hubby’s best friends parents are snowbirds and his dad had a TIA on the plane ride there about a year ago. He went to the ER, got a proper diagnosis and saw a specialist the next day. He was blown away because that just does not happen in california! It probably would have taken a week or 2 to get some answers!
as a side note, the last time I had to go to the ER, I had been on my way to urgent care because I developed head to toe hives. I was 7 weeks pregnant and benedryl wasn’t working. Just my luck, I got rear ended by an 83 year old who should not have been driving. So I went to the ER and had an ultrasound and they did not tell me anything the ultrasound showed but they gave me a radiologists report and told me to follow up with my doctor. My hubby had to google the terminology on the report to figure out what it said and basically, something was wrong but we weren’t sure what. So I get in to see my doctor a week later and he tells me my placenta has a tear and to avoid all physical activity! The ER doctor never said a word to me about it!
My daughter was in terrible pain last week. Sent to ER by her PCP. They ruled out heart stuff and really terribly stuff like gal bladder and pancreatitis. They told her to see a GI doc. That doc gave her an appointment for 2 weeks hence.
She called back her PCP who called the GI doc and she was seen the next day, and scoped the day after that.
Your PCP can make this happen quicker. Your mom needs you to be her advocate RIGHT NOW. get on the phone...now.
I'm just finding it hard to believe someone who's bleeding or hemorrhaging is being turned away or dismissed after a few hours.
But I totally agree that she needs to be seen in an ER, NOW, especially if there has been consistent, continual bleeding. And I would seriously consider Barb's suggestion of calling EMS; that heightens the level of attention at the ER, in my opinion. And it's another level of documentation if you have to take the whole issue any further.
You are not calling to ask for an appointment. You "have an emergency and your mom needs to be seen today".
If they try to put you off, call 911 and have mom taken to the ER and tell them that PCP refused you an immediate appointment.
I can't imagine that she was sent home still bleeding.
Is it a lot of blood, is it constant or just when she has a BM?
If my loved one had blood oozing out their back end I would not be taking them out of the ER. If it was only with a BM, gosh it could be an internal hemorrhoid and not much to do except a stool softener.
Can you give more information?
You must be so scared right now.
Did the ER Doc do a rectal exam to determine if it the blood could be coming from hemorrhoids? I have a friend who suffers terribly from them and her internal ones will bleed, especially if she has been constipated.
Which doctor is she seeing on December 2, her primary or the surgeon?
If it is your family doctor, I can understand with flu season and a holiday week coming up that they may be extra busy. But I would call again Monday morning and tell them you need help and support right away. You need guidance as to what to do.
If it is the surgeon's office, I would still be calling her GP to get in next week. You cannot deal with this for 2 weeks without any medical guidance.
If the bleeding does not settle down overnight, take her back to the ER. Keep note of how much blood there is. You can put a maxi pad in her panties and see how often it needs to be replaced.
Now, if it is cancer, luckily many people even aged 75+ have surgery for it and live on for several or more years. But there are other conditions that can lead to a rectal bleed that are not cancer.
Is the blood red or black?
My mom had bleeding (rectal) once that went on long enough to prompt me to take her to the ER and they admitted her to monitor her and it ended up fine but you just don't know.
Sometimes unexplained bleeding is cancer but not always.
If the bleeding is fairly large in amount, you could go back to ER or to a walkin, etc. 12/2 if quite a ways away.
When you go to the ER or DR, be her advocate and talk for her, if she is incapabale of talking for herself.
One HUGE mistake we often make as CGs is to sit quietly and have some kind of godlike worship for the doctor, Trust me, they are NOT gods. 2 of my kids are drs and BOTH missed the OBVIOUS warning signs of DH's impending heart attack. BOTH of them. Even when I asked them to 'take a look at dad' they barely glanced at him. I should have gone with my instincts and just taken him to the ER, he would not have had 2 heart attacks.
In fact, just take her to the ER today. Right now.