Prayers Needed.....

**prftstrngr** · 11-06-2008, 05:34 PM

My bro is in the hospital... he has pancreatitis caused from chronic drinking. He is an alcoholic who lives with my 66 yr old mom who supports him and cares for him and herself as best she can. He is only 38 years old and just cant seem to kick the addiction as many times as he has tried. This is the beginning of the end....if his pancreas stops working or they cant get the inflamation out his liver and kidneys will fail and he will die. I was there for 3 days and when I left this morning he was doing well but of course has since started to go thru the withdrawal process. I feel so bad I had to leave my mom to deal with that on her own. Even though he is in the hospital she will sit with him. Although I have a great deal of concern for him and I pray he realises this is his last change to get clean...my real concern is for my mom. She has panic attacks brought on by the stress and is also diabetic. Please keep them both in your prayers. Bad enough I will lose my baby brother before long but I dont need to lose my mom to a stress induced heart attack! Thanks

**katybug** · 11-06-2008, 05:44 PM

OMG that is so sad, you would certainly have my thoughts and prays!

What is scary is that could be my Uncle, to a T. I have a feeling I might have to go through the same thing someday. My Uncle is my mom's baby brother too.

I hope your your family he can kick it the addiction and recover!

Hugs!

~KB

**Michelle68** · 11-06-2008, 05:45 PM

Keeping your family in my thoughts and prayers.

**brenda67** · 11-06-2008, 06:21 PM

I'm sorry for all of you..My brother is a bad alcoholic too and he's 40yrs old and has been a heavy drinker for 20 yrs now..very sad watching to see how it tears a family apart when you can't help them and they don't want to help themselves ..right now my brother is split from my sil (not the first time and won't be the last) they have 2 young fella's ages 10 and 8 because of the drinking along with mixing pain killers (I just found this out a couple of months ago) making his mood swings totally unpredictable = bad temper...I know it's just a matter of time before his liver is shot..It kills me inside because I love him so much but I can't help somebody whom doesn't want to help himself..my poor little nephews are suffering for no good reason..I wish you were close enough for me to give all of you a "BIG HUG"..

**danimarie0820** · 11-06-2008, 06:36 PM

Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

It's a very hard thing to go through. My dad is also a chronic drinker since as far back as I can remember. We have had to take an emergency flight to michigan to be at his bedside because the doctor said he only had a few hours left. He made through it and this was 5 years ago. Just stay strong, pray, and be as supportive as possible. This has worked for my family so far.

**CoCo** · 11-06-2008, 07:34 PM

Pancriaties is nothing he will be over with and home in a few days. It is a bad sickness to have but he Can recover to lead a almost normal life. I will lift your bother and your mother up in prayer. I know what medicine can do , being an rn with hospice. God be with you on your journey, to try to help .

**prftstrngr** · 11-06-2008, 07:52 PM

Thanks to everyone. And I also sympathise with those of you going thru similar situations and will keep you in my prayers as well. The pancreatitis pain is under control at the moment but we havent been told much other than that. At the moment he is swearing at the nurses and trying to pull the IV out,etc....totally no control cause of the withdrawl. We dont even know if they will keep him because if he chooses to leave Im not sure they can make him stay. Which means my mom would have to deal with him. Waiting to hear from her when she gets home tonight. Thank you again for the prayers...greatly appreciated!

**Jskell911** · 11-06-2008, 08:32 PM

I am so sorry to hear this! I will keep not only your mom and brother in my thoughts, but you as well. This is not easy to sit back and watch and I am sure it is taking a large toll on you as well. Here is wishing you strength

**CoCo** · 11-06-2008, 08:39 PM

If you can ask what they are giving him med wise? I would ask for Ativan( lorazapam) upto 2 mgs per 4 hrs.It will keep him from being self destuctive. Ativan is used to keep a patient as comfortable and as quite as possible, it relaxes them without the sedation as morphine will cause. I would also be asking what pain meds he is receiving as some of the APAP mixes are not as favorable as the Older tried and true pain meds are. I will lift you up in a prayer , you have a hard row to hoe. Ask his rn as many questions as you can and no his mother does not have to take him home ,if she is unable to care for him the hospital will have to find a place for him to go . Hope this helps

Nan

**nodmicks** · 11-06-2008, 09:07 PM

I'm so sorry! Prayers headed your way!

**Neeley** · 11-06-2008, 09:12 PM

You will all most certainly be in my prayers. I can seriously sympathize with your brother and some of what he is going through. I spent a week in the hospital with pancreatitis and it was horrible. Mine was caused by undiagnosed diabetes and elevated triglycerides. It was by far more painful than anything I had ever been through in my life. My family was told to get my affairs in order as they did not expect me to make it through. I spent a solid week on morphine, unable to have anything by mouth since I had to let my pancreas have as much of a "rest" as possible.

Although I was not going through addiction withdrawals, I still became a bit ugly with my nurses. They took blood from me every four hours. I know they had to, but it got to the point I refused to have another needle stuck in me. The IVs in my hands (yes, I had two going at once at all times) kept blowing my veins out. I finally consented to have a port put in my neck. It had three places in it, one for them to draw blood and two for the IVs. That was the best decision I ever made(or that my family made for me - I was on too many pain meds to make any decisions). No more sticking me over and over, no more blown out veins.

That was 5 years ago in January. I have since fully recovered and I have not had any other problems with it. I hope your brother has the same outcome I have had. I hope everything works out for him and your family and your brother makes a full recovery. Your mom will also be in my prayers. I cannot imagine what she must be going through.

Lots if hugs, positive thoughts and prayers for you and your family.

**AmyBoz** · 11-06-2008, 09:22 PM

Sorry that your family is going through this.

**CoCo** · 11-06-2008, 09:33 PM

oh Neely.

what a burden you had to suffer. And suffer you did and welcome back to living and having a good life!

Thank the good Lord you had family that knew what you would want. Some familys can't make a clear choice just because of birth order. Ports can be a good thing.

Hugs

**prftstrngr** · 11-06-2008, 10:05 PM

Coco they took the morphine away today after 2 days as they were only using it to help with the pain from the Pancreas. For the addiction they are using Valium which is the drug of choice by addiction services here. Atavan wont likely get used as they feel the Valium is more effective. Unfortunately the hospital cannot send him to detox. He has to request that he be put there and trust me...he wont. He lives with my mom as he has no other place to go. I called the hospital tonight and gave them a little piece of my mind. They actually called my mom and asked her to come back and sit with him all night because they couldnt keep him in bed. THATS the state of our healthcare system!! I did find out though that they have since gotten a security guard to sit at his door because they feel he is a threat to himself right now so he will not be permitted to leave. He has already gotten outside once today and also fallen twice. Tonight at least...they can keep him...tomorrow we will see. As he becomes more lucid there is a fine line between holding him in there as it is his right to leave if he chooses.

Thank you all again for the support.

**CoCo** · 11-06-2008, 10:38 PM

ASK for ativan at the most max allowed by weight. I would also suggest to get him off valium Its the cheepest drug so there for they use it. That is a APAP its mixed with tylenol, so effects can range from rage to coma induced sleep. I being what I am would sugest Morphine sulfate, at 0.125 ml with the ativan. And the hospital will have to place him elsewere if your mother can not care for him. but she will need to verbaly say it to the discharge RN.

God bless and may he has his hand upon you to make to right choice.
Hospice would also be an option for him just ask for it , . It's fairly cheep per day , and he will recieve very good care.