[MarMar27]

My grandmother has divertucolosis she recently had a colonoscopy and now she is in the Er she has a fever they did a scan on her because she been having bad headaches and they told her she has an infection somewhere and high elevated levels of white blood cells, what can this possibly mean , that her infection is bad?

[simoneaugie]

A high WBC (white blood cell count) is generally indicative that her body is fighting something. Trust the doctors to figure out what to do for her. Go visit her and offer comfort. Ask if there is anything you can do for her while she is stuck at the hodpital.

[MarMar27]

Well I was at work when notified but she was told she has temporal arthritis and now has to see a neurologist and got referred to a doctor to see what infection she has because she was also told she has an infection somewhere but they didn't say where. Im worried.

[tickle]

Diverticulosis is a condition on the intestines in which waste material builds up in pockets called diverticula. These pockets may become infected, errupt and spill the waste material into the blood stream. I am not saying this has happened to your grandmother but the doctors are probably worried that this may be the result. Our white blood cells are our line of defense within the body which produces these to fight an infection.

I tried to offer you a website here but could not produce the URL. If you Google Diverticulosis you will see many good explanations of this condition.

[MarMar27]

Thanks. Well its actually called temporal Arteritis without the H. And they said her erythrocyte sedimentation rate was High and it can be a sign of cancer GOD forbid, she is taking cortisone now and she had to double up on her diabetes medication. What worries me is that she is on about 10 different medications and about 3 different vitamins as well. She is now having all kinds of appoinments to get to the end of this.

[tickle]

Was the diagnosis changed from diverticulosis ? Temporal arteritis (inflammation causes arteries to become narrow) is an autoimmune disease. So how did we get from diverticulosis to arteritis?

The key word here is 'diabetes'. Any complication with diabetes is serious business.

Yes, multiple medications are a problem with seniors. I always tell my clients to make sure upon a visit with their doctor, they go over current meds before any more are added because some may conflict with what they are already taken.

Keep us posted.

[J_9]

An elevated Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (SED Rate) indicates inflammation somewhere within the body. It is usually associated with autoimmune disorders such as Lupus, for example, and in no way am I referring that this may be what your grandmother is experiencing, it is STRICTLY an example.

As has been said, and elevated WBC indicates infection of some kind. Usually there will be certain cultures done to see where this is and what is causing it so that the right treatment can be prescribed.

[MarMar27]

Hmm, really well we are waiting and praying.

[J_9]

I'll keep you in my prayers.

[MarMar27]

Thank you, I appreciate it.

[tickle]

Keep us posted. Very interested in the outcome. Thinking of you

[MarMar27]

Thank you , I will do that.

[MarMar27]

Well, she ended up having a really bad infection to where she has an abscess in her colon extending to her uterus they have been draining the pus out of her colon for a couple days now, they are going to do surgery but since she is doing better thanks to God they are going to postpone it because they were going to do both surgerys at once if the antibiotics didn't help, which was removing all her reproductive organs and part of her colon.

[KISS]

For future reference: Seeds need to be virtually eliminated from the diet. Like pick them out of cucumbers or grapes from now on.

[MarMar27]

Oh yeah of course, she hasn't ate seeds in a long time, it just somehow happened.

[tickle]

Keep actually had a good point. I had a colonoscopy some time ago and doctor said no seeds IN ANY ANYTHING.

Any tiny seed is a culprit with a condition such as this. Actually, they are pushed aside in the bowels and that's how the polyps originate. The seeds end up in the protrubence outside the bowel and in several cases, rupture, a septic condition occurs and all waste goes into the blood stream. Don't have to explain the outcome.

That is why this condition is so serious... absolutely... no small seeds from anything. Very hard to do in a diet for this condition. Monitoring is always a problem.

[MarMar27]

She is doing so much better, her attitude has changed and she looks so much better, they are still draining the infection though but they are almost done doing that.

[Wondergirl]

I'm so glad to hear she's doing better! Thanks for coming back to tell us.

[MarMar27]

Thanks.