Unhappy with treatment my mom got from Wilgeheuwel hospital

Medical conditions associated with gastrointestinal perforation include the following:

***Peptic ulcer disease (PUD)
Gallbladder disease
Crohn’s disease
Forceful vomiting
Ulcerative colitis *
***Blockage of the bowel
Diverticulitis *
Cancer

Symptoms

Gastrointestinal perforation can be hard to notice in the early stages. You may start noticing the most obvious signs gradually. You may experience these symptoms:

Severe belly pain
Nausea
Vomiting
Fever/Chills

There are signs you should look out for after noticing your first symptom. Call your doctor if you notice these signs:

Severe tummy ache/pain
Nausea
Vomiting
Fever or increase in body temperature/Chills
****** stool
A change in bowel habits

If hospital emergency/casualty doctors, medical centre doctors, notice above symptoms, do tests mentioned below (if perforation arrange surgery asap), if not perforation then make an appointment with gastroenterologist for the patient.


Complications

The most common complication of gastrointestinal perforations is infection. An infection in the gastrointestinal tract is called peritonitis or an abdominal abscess. The infection could also spread to other parts of the body through the bloodstream causing sepsis. This can cause whole-body infection, which is a serious condition and may lead to death if not managed in time. Gastrointestinal perforation is a serious condition that may require emergency surgery. Early detection and treatment are crucial for reducing its effects on the gastrointestinal system. Late-stage diagnosis could lead to death.

Colon perforation tests:

X-ray. A chest or abdominal x-ray is done to establish the presence of gas in the stomach cavity. A perforation is responsible for letting air into the stomach cavity.

CT scan. Abdominal CT scans may help your doctor check where the gastrointestinal perforation is.

Endoscopy or colonoscopy.
Procedures like upper endoscopy may also help to locate the gastrointestinal perforation.

https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/diseases-conditions/appendicitis

Your pain may be worse when you walk, cough, or make sudden movements. Later symptoms include:

Chills and shaking
Hard stools
Diarrhea
Fever
Nausea and vomiting

If the appendix is not removed, it can leak bacteria and infect your entire belly, which can be very life threatening.

Usually, the first symptom is pain around your belly button. The pain might be mild at first, but then it gets sharp and severe before not too long. The pain may then move into your right lower abdomen. You may also have diarrhea, fever, nausea, and a reduced appetite.

Sometimes, people think that they might be having food poisoning.

Your doctor will make a diagnosis based on your symptoms. You may also have blood tests and a CT scan or ultrasound.

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You can get appendicitis if your appendix becomes blocked. That blockage could be from feces, a foreign object, or, in rare cases, a tumor. When your appendix is blocked up, bacteria that normally live inside it start multiplying like crazy, and cause an infection. If you've got appendicitis you'll usually have pain that's centered around the area of your belly button.

At first the pain may be minor, but it can get very severe and will usually drift downward to the bottom right part of your abdomen. You may also have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, and a low fever. Your pain may let up for a time.
This relief can be misleading, though. Just when you think you're getting better, your appendix may have actually burst.
If that's the case, the pain will get start to get more and more intense.

To diagnose appendicitis, your doctor will ask about your symptoms and press on your abdomen, which will feel very tender. You may need imaging tests, such as a CT scan or ultrasound of your abdomen, so the doctor can see if the problem is with your appendix. If you have appendicitis, the number one way to treat it is with surgery to remove your appendix. In fact, appendicitis is the number one cause of emergency abdominal surgery in the U.S. You may be treated for an infection first, before your surgery. It's important to treat the appendicitis quickly because you can develop a collection of pus called an abscess in your abdomen once your appendix bursts.

...

Outlook (Prognosis)
Most people recover quickly after surgery if the appendix is removed before it ruptures.

If your appendix ruptures before surgery, recovery may take longer. You are also more likely to develop problems, such as:

An abscess

Blockage of the intestine
Infection inside the abdomen (peritonitis)

Infection of the wound after surgery

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8095-appendicitis

McBurney’s sign , Blumberg’s sign , Dunphy’s sign , Dunphy’s sign , Rovsing’s sign , Psoas sign.

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https://www.healthline.com/health/ruptured-appendix

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How do I know if my appendix burst?

Symptoms associated with a ruptured appendix include severe abdominal pain, fever, chills, and weakness. Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix.

Swollen belly. -
Your abdomen may look distended or feel bloated. This is usually an advanced symptom and may indicate your appendix has ruptured.

1x doctor on 03 June,
1x doctor on 06 June,
2x doctor on 12 June
None of them could diagnose what's wrong with my mom.

Told to pay R 150 000 to R 200 000 upfront since perf ration defected after 11pm on 12 June, (no medical aid, so patient sent to public hospital while not properly stabilized), only got operation like 8 hours later, patient died during surgery (had to resuscitate 2x).

Looking at above about appendix, surgical fees are around R 33 000, I would've paid cash for it, surgery could've been done at Wilgeheuwel hospital before 12 June 2024, or latest on 12 June.
I'm at a loss for words, my mom could've been alive today, sadly due to misdiagnosis it's not the case.

Bowel perforation

Symptoms of a bowel perforation include:

sudden and severe abdominal pain
nausea and vomiting
fever
chills
swelling and bloating of the abdomen

...

You may have the following tests and procedures:

a CT scan to try to find the hole.
an upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy or a colonoscopy to also help find the hole.
an x-ray to look for air in the abdominal cavity.
or an ultrasound to look for air in the peritoneal cavity
, which are both signs of a hole or tear in the intestine.
a complete blood count (CBC) to see if you have an infection.
blood tests to look for bacteria.

.....

Treatment

Most bowel perforations are treated with surgery to repair the hole. The surgeon will also remove the fluids and waste that has leaked into the abdomen.

Sometimes people with a bowel perforation are not healthy enough to have surgery. In these cases, the healthcare team may carefully watch the hole to see if it heals on its own. They may place a tube in the abdomen to drain fluids to help with healing.

The healthcare team will give you antibiotics
to treat or lower the risk of infection.

What's the difference between fecal impaction and constipation?

Constipation is when it's difficult to ****. Constant and untreated constipation causes fecal impaction, when there's a buildup of **** that you're unable to naturally pass.

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What are the symptoms of fecal impaction?
The symptoms of fecal impaction include:

Constipation.
Discomfort and abdominal pain.
Inability to eat.
Frequent urination.

Severe symptoms of fecal impaction include:

Nausea.
Dehydration.
Worsening psychosis or confusion.
Diarrhea. (It may seem odd, but you may pass watery stool around hardened **** that you can’t pass.)
Bleeding.

If you experience any severe symptoms, contact your healthcare provider immediately.

Diagnosis and Tests

How is fecal impaction diagnosed?
Healthcare providers diagnose fecal impaction by a physical examination and a digital ****** examination. They look for a large amount of **** in your ******. If your provider suspects your fecal impaction could be located in your colon, an abdominal X-ray can confirm its location.

Management and Treatment

How is fecal impaction treated?
Healthcare providers remove the blockage caused by fecal impaction in three steps:

Removing the **** (disimpaction).

Using fluids to remove waste from your colon (colon evacuation).
Suggesting you go to the bathroom at a regular time (bowel regimen).
Several treatment options are available for disimpaction depending on its severity and location. Your healthcare provider will monitor any treatments to confirm successful blockage removal.

These treatments include:

Enema: During this procedure, you inject fluid into your ****** to loosen the impacted ****. This can be done in your healthcare provider’s office or at home.
Physical assisted removal: A medical professional uses a gloved finger to manually remove **** from your ****** (digital disimpaction) or perform an abdominal massage to target the stuck stool.
Laxatives: You can drink a polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution or use an over-the counter (OTC) laxative to cleanse your colon.
Surgery: If you have severe fecal impaction, your healthcare provider will perform surgery, especially to target symptoms of bleeding due to a tear in your bowel (bowel perforation).
How soon after treatment for fecal impaction will I feel better?
After the blockage is removed, you should feel less to no discomfort or pain in your lower abdominal region. Taking preventative measures reduces the likelihood that your fecal impaction will return.

What are the complications of untreated fecal impaction?

Untreated fecal impaction could have serious, life-threatening complications, including:

A hole in your colon (bowel perforation).
Bleeding (hemorrhage).
Uncontrollable bowel movements (fecal incontinence).
Sores (ulcers).

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23085-fecal-impaction

Activate nature's reset button (emergency heart technique)

https://youtube.com/shorts/bOlz_hsTGBo?feature=shared

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15522-gastroparesis

Gastroparesis means paralysis of the stomach. It’s a functional disorder affecting your stomach nerves and muscles. It makes your stomach muscle contractions weaker and slower than they need to be to digest your food and pass it on to your intestines. This leads to food sitting too long in your stomach.

Gastroparesis
interferes with the muscle activity (peristalsis) that moves food through your stomach and into your small intestine. When your stomach muscles and nerves can’t activate correctly, your stomach can’t process food or empty itself as it should. This holds up your whole digestive process.

Bezoar and gastric outlet obstruction

A bezoar is a compacted, hardened mass of food stuck in your stomach. It forms out of pieces that were left behind when your stomach emptied. A bezoar may become too big to pass through the outlet at the bottom of your stomach. It can also block it and make it hard for any other food to pass through. Healthcare providers treat bezoars with medication to dissolve it, or if necessary, surgery to remove it.

Gastroparesis

Food that doesn't digest that hardens and stays in the stomach. This food can harden into a solid mass called a bezoar. Bezoars can cause nausea and vomiting. They may be life-threatening if they keep food from passing into the small intestine.

https://badgut.org/information-centre/ostomies/bowel-blockage-or-obstruction/

Urgent care is required if you are vomiting, have severe/constant pain, or if there has been no output from your stoma for 12 hours. In these circumstances, you should go to your closest emergency department for assessment and treatment.

You will be monitored for any signs of ongoing problems. Sometimes, depending on the severity of the obstruction or if it fails to resolve with the conservative medical management, you may require surgery to correct the problem.

UTI Complications

The main danger associated with untreated UTIs is that the infection may spread from the bladder to one or both kidneys. When bacteria attack the kidneys, they can cause damage that will permanently reduce kidney function. In people who already have kidney problems, this can raise the risk of kidney failure. There's also a small chance that the infection may enter the bloodstream and spread to other organs.

Symptoms:
Pain on either side of the lower back.
Fever and chills.
Nausea and vomiting.

When you have UTI/bladder infection, to reduce chance of kidney infection, take AUGMENTIN BD 875mg. *** Wish the doctors and surgeons in SA would take note of it ***

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm ( AAA )

An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a bulge in the part of your aorta that travels through your belly (abdomen). It forms in an area where your aorta's wall is weak.
Aneurysms can form anywhere along your aorta, but they *usually form in your belly*.
Abdominal aortic aneurysms represent about 75% of all aortic aneurysms.
AAAs most often affect people males.
*But when they form in females, they have a higher risk of rupturing at smaller sizes*.

What are the complications of AAA?

The most common complication is an aneurysm rupture, which causes 150,000 to 200,000 deaths each year around the world.
*AAA rupture leads to potentially fatal internal bleeding*.
Your risk goes up the larger an aneurysm grows.

...

What are the symptoms of an abdominal aortic aneurysm?

Most people with an AAA don’t have symptoms until the aneurysm is close to rupturing.
At that point, you may have:

Steady, deep pain in your lower back or belly.
Pain in your leg, groin or pelvic area.
A pulsing sensation in your belly that feels like a heartbeat.

...

A ruptured AAA is a medical emergency.
Symptoms begin suddenly and can include:

Severe pain in your belly, lower back or legs.
Shortness of breath.
Fast heartbeat.
Low blood pressure.
Dizziness or fainting.
Nausea or vomiting.
Clammy, sweaty skin.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/7153-abdominal-aortic-aneurysm

If you have an abdominal aortic aneurysm that's getting bigger, symptoms might include:

Deep, constant pain in the belly area or side of the belly.
Back pain.
A throbbing or pulsing feeling near the belly button.

...

Symptoms of a growing or unruptured AAA:

Pulsating sensation in the abdomen:
This can feel like a heartbeat in the stomach area.
Persistent or deep pain:
Pain may be located in the lower back, abdomen, groin, legs, or pelvic area.
Pain may be:
described as aching, gnawing, throbbing, or ripping and may last for hours or days.

Other possible symptoms:
Feeling full after eating small amounts of food, difficulty or painful swallowing, and swelling of the arms, neck, or face if the aneurysm presses on the superior vena cava.

...

Symptoms of a ruptured AAA:

Sudden, severe, and persistent pain: The pain may be in the abdomen, back, or legs and can be described as ripping or tearing.
Rapid heartbeat: The heart may be beating faster than normal.
Low blood pressure: Blood pressure may drop significantly.
Dizziness or fainting: Loss of consciousness or feeling faint can occur.
Shortness of breath: Difficulty breathing may be present.
Nausea and vomiting: These symptoms can also occur.
Pale, clammy, or sweaty skin: These are signs of shock.

...

Symptoms that an aortic aneurysm has ruptured can include:

Sudden, very bad and long-lasting belly or back pain, which may feel like ripping or tearing.
Low blood pressure.
Fast pulse.

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Aortic aneurysms also increase the risk of developing blood clots in the area. If a blood clot breaks loose, it can block a blood vessel elsewhere in the body. Symptoms of a blocked blood vessel may include pain or reduced blood flow to the legs, toes, kidneys or belly area.

https://www.health.com/stages-of-appendicitis-***

Appendicitis

Stage 1:

Slight fever
*** Mild pain around the belly button *********
Nausea
Abdominal pain that moves to the lower right side
Pain that gets worse with movement or coughing

Stage 2

*** Constipation ***********
*** Higher fever ***
Increased belly pain
***Nausea ***
*** Vomiting ***
Sharp pain in the lower right abdomen

Stage 3: Gangrenous

*** Fast heart rate ***
*** High fever ***
*** Nausea ***
*** Vomiting ***
*** Severe abdominal pain ***

Stage 4: Perforated

Symptoms of a ruptured appendix include:

*** Confusion ***
*** Fast heartbeat ***
*** High fever ***
Involuntary muscle tightening (especially with peritonitis)
*** Low blood pressure ***
*** Severe belly pain ***
Weakness
Temporary relief of pain after rupture

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https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8098-hiatal-hernia

More rarely, a hiatal hernia may cause complications if it gets stuck or compressed in the hiatus. This usually only happens with the less common types of hiatal hernias.

Complications could include:

Gastrointestinal obstruction.
Your stomach or another organ could get stuck and compressed or twisted in the hiatus, creating a blockage in your gastrointestinal tract.

Gastritis.
Trapped acid in the herniated part of your stomach could cause inflammation, stomach ulcers and bleeding inside.

Ischemia. ***
Your hernia could become so tightly compressed that it cuts off its own blood supply. This leads to inflammation and pain in the organ and, eventually, tissue death.

https://www.health.com/stages-of-appendicitis-***

(***)

Complications

Stage 4 requires emergency surgery.

Recovery time depends on your infection's severity. You may need intensive care to manage complications like:

Fistulas (abnormal connections between the intestines and other organs)

Infections or blood clots in the veins around the liver
Intestinal blockage

Sepsis (a dangerous spread of infection throughout the body)

*** Swelling of the kidneys due to blocked urine flow ***

Why do healthcare providers perform CRP tests?
Healthcare providers typically order a C-reactive protein (CRP) test to help diagnose or rule out certain conditions, including:

*Severe bacterial infections, such as sepsis*
Fungal infections.
Osteomyelitis (infection of your bone).
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Some forms of arthritis.
Autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus).
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

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When would I need a C-reactive protein (CRP) test?
Your healthcare provider may order a CRP test if you have symptoms of a serious bacterial infection, including:

*Fever*
*Chills*
Rapid breathing (tachypnea).
Rapid heart rate (tachycardia).
*Nausea and vomiting*

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/21871-white-blood-cells

What causes a low white blood cell count?
Causes of low white blood cell count include:

Bone marrow failure (aplastic anemia).
Bone marrow attacked by cancer cells (leukemia).
Drug exposure (chemotherapy).
Vitamin deficiency (B12).
HIV/AIDS.

A blood test with fewer than 4,000 cells per microliter of blood diagnoses low white blood cells.

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What causes a high white blood cell count?
Causes of high white blood cell count include:

Autoimmune disorders (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis).
Viral infections (mononucleosis).
Bacterial infections (sepsis).
Physical injury or stress.
Leukemia or Hodgkins disease.
Allergies.

A blood test with more than 11,000 cells per microliter of blood diagnoses high white blood cells.

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A white blood cell (WBC) count measures the leukocytes in your blood to detect infection, inflammation, or immune system disorders.

If you experience any symptoms like fever and chills, frequent infection, persistent cough or difficulty breathing, contact your healthcare provider to test if your white blood cell count is abnormal.