<p>If he can get his doctor to schedule him as the first patient in the morning, if he can get a ride to the student health office perhaps they can observe him until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. By that time he should have been able to drink and eat enough to recover from the dehydration caused by the “prep” and also be alert enough to stay by himself. If any biopsy or polyp removal is done, they may not let him be alone in case he has any serious bleeding.</p>
<p>Hire a visiting nurse.</p>
<p>I usually get my results orally right after the procedure–complete with picture! and a written confirmation a few days later.</p>
<p>Dmd’s suggestion is a good one!</p>
<p>Lots of good ideas there. Thank you everyone. Your collective creativity is very helpful. (Now if we could only apply it to the current economic situation…)</p>
<p>No way would my son do this procedure when awake. He is not the sort who would be able to cooperate. I think most people aren’t. (Katie Couric is a rare exception.) He needs the test to determine whether some fairly severe gastrointestinal symptoms he has been having in recent months might be due to inflammatory bowel disease. He’s being treated for something else now, but the doctors are mostly guessing at what the problem is. There’s little point in treating someone for the wrong problem. Thus, the test is important. But I suspect that the symptoms he has been having would make the procedure more painful than it would be on an average middle-aged person who’s simply being screened for polyps.</p>
<p>The medical transportation service idea seems like a good one. Certainly, before my son’s appointment with the gastroenterologist, I will suggest that he bring up that idea at the doctor’s office. He would probably prefer it to imposing on a near-stranger during a time when his closest friends are out of town. It would be different if a close friend were readily available, but his closest friends are older graduate students who are doing summer internships elsewhere. </p>
<p>Another option has occurred to me in the course of the evening. We actually do have a relative in California, living a 2 1/2 hour drive away from my son. But she has medical problems of her own, which greatly limit her ability to drive. However, I have been wondering whether it might be possible for her to come to my son’s community by train, using taxis for local transportation at both ends of the train trip – although it would probably require at least one night’s stay in a motel (at my expense, of course). She has time (she is currently out of work on disability because of her medical issues), and she would want to help if she can. But it might not be possible because of her health. I have left messages for her, and we’ll see whether this option is workable. The nice thing about this, if it could work, is that she is also a single person living on her own, just like my son, and I’m sure that occasions would arise when my son could help her out in similar ways. That sort of cooperation is how stuff gets done in this world.</p>
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<p>At most facilities that I know of, it’s considered OK to take a cab as long as your human escort goes with you in the cab. For people who don’t have cars, this may be the only option. But you can’t take a cab alone. Taking a bus, even with a human escort, would be difficult even if permitted. Sometimes people are let go while they’re still really goofy.</p>
<p>It just occurred to me that all of you nice people are helping me with not one problem, but two.</p>
<p>Last month, I was the driver for my husband when he had a cardiac catheterization – a situation that will happen again because he’s being monitored periodically after a stent procedure last year. He was discharged quite soon after the test, and the drugs apparently removed the normal inhibitions on his behavior. He spent the whole hour’s ride home not just criticizing my driving, but grabbing my arm and the steering wheel on repeated occasions to try to get me to change lanes or make turns when I didn’t plan to make those maneuvers. Several times, he threatened me with violence if I did not pull over and let him drive, and on one occasion he attempted to get out of the car while we were traveling on a multilane highway, presumably with the intention of hitchhiking home.</p>
<p>Yes, I’m a poor driver by his standards (he is an excellent driver), but he would never have acted like this without the drugs. The guy is normally quite sane, but he’s also normally quite sober. I never want to deal with a situation like this again.</p>
<p>Some of the ideas you people have been suggesting – especially the one about using a medical-related transportation service recommended by the doctor – might work for my husband’s next heart test, too. I had thought of asking a male colleague from his office to be his driver the next time because a man would be more capable of fighting him off than I am, but paying for some sort of professional service would be more dignified, I think. No way am I ever driving that man home again when he’s under the influence of drugs, but I would like to find a good alternative.</p>
<p>Incidentally, my husband remembers nothing at all of his unsafe behavior in the car. The drugs are like that sometimes.</p>
<p>Yes, the drugs are meant to help with no memories…usually just with the procedure, though. You’ve gotten many great suggestions but the one to hire a private duty nurse is a good one…might be your last resort as it is a stranger but I did this type of work and you can usually meet the person ahead of time. Pricey but might do in the situation. Good luck to you and your son.</p>
<p>Most hospitals have Patient Advocates. Maybe it would be possible for you to contact a Patient Advocate at the facility where the procedure will be done to get some info/advice on the best way to handle your S’s situation.</p>
<p>I’m a mommy in the Los Angeles area, and my days are free, if that would be helpful. I recently took my kid for a gastro procedure…he really does need a driver!</p>
<p>@Marian–reguarding your husband, similar things have happened to me. I was knocked out for a colonoscopy about a year and a half ago. Both my parents were present, which is rare because of my father’s schedule, but basically when I woke up, I started screaming at my dad, and telling him all the things I’d been mad at him for for several years–it was the first time my mother heard about a few of the things too-- and a few minutes later I had very little memory of what I’d said to him exactly, (I was pretty sure because I’d been wanting to say the same thing to him for a while) but basically all of my judgement was gone and there was no filter between what I thought and what I did. It’s a lack of control which I could see as terrifying, especaily if you were in what you percieves as a vunerable position at the moment. (Maybe he wouldn’t think anything of your driving normally, but then, the thought popped in and he acted on it)
I didn’t harm anybody, but I can see where it would be possible for your husband to have in that situation.
The solution to that might be as simple as having him sit in the back seat if possible, or escorting him home in a cab. (Probably with you in the front and him in the back) Or have someone (probably a larger male) accompany you.</p>
<p>As for your son, I’ll echo what everyone else is saying, call the school, see if they have any procedure for such a situation.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son, I went through the same thing last year.
Is the potential diagnosis IBS or IBD? (My brother has the former, I have the latter)</p>
<p>Call the Student Health Center for his school, and see what or who they might suggest. Surely any school has dealt with issues of this sort before, and there might be a staff person, or volunteer who could accompany him. </p>
<p>Had my first procedure of that sort recently, and was rather amazed at how out of it I was for a good number of hours afterwards. I’d planned to go home, rest a bit and carry on with normal tasks for a day off. No way! A driver and someone to be with him for at least part of the day is recommended.</p>
<p>Marian:</p>
<p>I am in agreement with Pat’s mom, what city is he in? If it were mine, I would volunteer to help another long time poster’s kid in need. Also, if you mention the specific city some of us may know other options which apply to that city.</p>
<p>My DD recently needed proof of her degree for a visa and had a short time limit, she had to find some one in summer to take a form to her university, after 4 years there, jobs, sports, Greek, etc, it was very difficult to find some one she knew well enough to ask who was actually in town and trustworthy.</p>
<p>What about contacting Hospice, not that it applies to him, but they ought to be up on all sorts of medical service options in that community.</p>
<p>Thank you very much to everyone for all the ideas and suggestions.</p>
<p>As for the personal offers of help, they are much appreciated, but I do not think we will need to take you up on them. My son does not know that I go on this forum, and he would be very embarrassed that I had discussed his situation here. I think that he would be more comfortable with the options that involve seeking help through university channels or paying for someone from a health care agency to help him – and fortunately, he (or I) can afford the latter. But thank you very, very much anyway. </p>
<p>After reading all of your comments, I now have some very sound ideas to suggest to my son. And, if all else fails, there is still the option that I mentioned in my very first post – that of having a family member fly across the country and help him out when the test is scheduled. </p>
<p>The situation I raised in this thread may not happen for several weeks, but it’s great to have plenty of information in advance. Thanks to all of you!</p>
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<p>Oh my! I might suggest that if you need to do this in the future, you bring along another person – and that person and your husband stay in the BACK seat while you drive in the front.</p>
<p>If it makes you feel any better - I drove my H after a colonoscopy and he had a reaction to the Versed (sp?) which made him loopy. He refused my help in getting re-dressed, and then fell to the floor with a thud when trying to put his pants on. He beamed like a little boy when his pressures, heart rate, were “good” – as though he’d gotten an A on a test. He walked like a drunk man in the parking lot, even though I was holding him. The funniest part was that he repeatedly told the nurses that the doctor had prescribed that I (wife) do … well, let’s just say certain marital acts … to make him feel better – he would NEVER talk like that. The nurses were amused and he was just so mortified when he found out that he had said such things. Like your H, he remembers none of this. My heart goes out to you if you have to do this periodically with your H!</p>
<p>There are tons of home health agencies that provide sitters, LPN’s, RN’s. My guess is that a home health agency would be very helpful in providing someone who would pick up your son, take him to the facility, pick him up, and stay for a few hours after. The fee would not be horrible, and probably not much more that a medical transportation service. They would be professional, help with being sure they got the doctors message afterward when your son/the patient is still groggy, etc. And personal information would not be “outed” to a friend or co-worker.</p>
<p>I agree with you, sunnyflorida (although I suspect there are more such services in sunny Florida than in the rest of the country because of the large number of elderly people living alone in Florida). I think that sort of service would be a good choice if it’s readily available, and money in the range that we’re talking about (probably three figures) is not a significant issue.</p>
<p>In addition to the reasons you mention, there’s also the call back/come back list – the list of things that might happen after a procedure (but usually don’t) that warrant a phone call to the doctor or a return trip to the medical facility. A person who’s still under the influence of drugs isn’t ready to cope with this list on their own. If something unusual occurs, they might not think to check the list to see whether it warrants further contact with the medical system. That’s another reason why you want a companion to stick around for a while until the patient is sober. I think that most of us would not hesitate to ask a family member or a paid health care aide to stick around after a procedure for this sort of purpose, but we might hesitate with an acquaintance who has already wasted several hours on our behalf.</p>
<p>Marian, what school does your Son go to[ did I miss this somewhere?] If he is at USC please call me. My son is on campus this summer and it would be no problem for him to drive your son to and from the DR’s office. Honest. He has his own car and is the “go to guy” for friends who need a lift around LA.</p>
<p>Here is another suggestion for Marian and anyone else to just file under the “hmmm, that might come in handy someday”
I came across a website called Care.com recently. I was actually helping a friend find child care. They have a listing service to offer and/or request different types of c are from child care, elder care, pet sitting, house sitting and what they called 'Care Gigs" which seem to be an assortment of things that you might need help with. Since this is something where you could screen people and offer to pay them for their time, it might really help with this type of issue. My son was looking at a special needs job where a preteen with Aspergers loved rollercoasters and the family wanted someone to take him to Knotts or Six Flags every week or so.
I’m in the San Diego area and I know they had listings here.</p>
<p>I meant to say please PM me.</p>
<p>You wouldn’t have to tell your S that you have virtual friends that could help out. Just tell him you have a friend…</p>
<p>Thank you very much, menloparkmom, but I think we can find solutions that don’t involve direct help from CC members. I appreciate your offer and the others, though. You are very generous. But I would feel more comfortable flying to California myself (if we have to resort to that) than accepting any of the offers – and so would my son. That’s just the way our family does things. It is no reflection whatsoever on the wonderful people at CC. But this is a situation that we would prefer to keep private except for professionals and any people my son chooses to share it with. I have been violating his privacy with this thread, but I felt it was necessary because I needed information. I don’t want to go so far as to make personal contacts with people who are not part of my son’s life. Your willingness to help is much appreciated, though.</p>
<p>I have a personal contact in California who is a whiz at research and who knows my son. If my son finds it necessary to make use of a home health care agency or some other professional service but cannot find one on his own or with the help of his doctor or the university health center, she should be able to help him locate one. He would not be uncomfortable sharing his situation with her. </p>
<p>Thank you again to everyone for all your ideas and suggestions. I expect to be talking to my son tomorrow, before he makes an appointment with the gastroenterologist (where he is likely to be referred for the test I’ve been discussing and other tests as well). I now have several excellent ideas to suggest to him, thanks to all of you.</p>
<p>I may be offline now for a couple of days. If anyone posts anything after this, you may not get an acknowledgment from me. I apologize for that in advance.</p>