Wish I May, Wish I Might

There are times when I wish that I was a doctor. This is one of them. Donny is confused again. He's doing this weird thing where he says one word, but means another, and he doesn't realize that he's saying the wrong word. I've upped his dose of lactulose and I'm hoping that will fix things. I wish I was a doctor so that I could figure out whether or not he needs to go to the hospital. I know his ammonia levels are probably elevated. What I don't know is how badly. I also don't know at what point he needs to be in a setting that can deal with a medical emergency. I really wish that he came with instructions.

Right now this is somewhat of an academic debate, since I don't have reliable transportation to get into town. The cars will be home in a couple of hours and so I'll give it until then to see if he improves. If he can't wait I'll start calling friends, or worst case scenario, I can call for an ambulance. I just hate the thought of tying up an ambulance unless there's no way to safely transport him to the hospital myself.

Yesterday Donny had all of his teeth pulled. (There really weren't that many, it took all of an hour.) The oral surgeon gave him percocet for the pain. Since the surgeon and his doctor have been talking to each other, I'm assuming that the doctor approved of this. So he's been getting one every 4-6 hours since we picked them up. I can't help but wonder if the increased percocet is responsible for his confusion. And I'm back to the question of whether or not that deserves a trip to ER.

I would love to be able to call the hospital and ask them whether or not I should take him in, but they're not allowed to tell me anything over the phone. They definitely are not allowed to tell me not to bring him in. There's just way too much room for a lawsuit in that, no hospital will allow it. Some insurance companies have started hotlines where you can call and talk to a nurse. Of course, when you're on the county MIA program there's nothing like that available. So I'm back to wishing that I were a doctor.