My mother has abdomnal pain on her right side what could it be?!
Question: My 82 year old mother took a fall on 1/25/08. Since then, she has recovered slowly. During this time, she had the flu- which she has since recovered. A physical therapist is coming by the house 2x a week to help with her mobility. Yesterday, she may have over done it a litte. Regardless, shortly after the PT left, my mother went to lie down and started feeling this sharp pain in her abdomin- on the right side. She complains that everytime she breaths, the pain is worse. When she sits up, the pain is there but it is not as intense as lying down. I am thinking that she may have a urinary tract infection, gallstones, or kidney stones. Tomorrow we are going to the ER to have her checked out. Any suggestions on what it may be? I am the worrying type so I am concerned. Thanks.
Answers: My 82 year old mother took a fall on 1/25/08. Since then, she has recovered slowly. During this time, she had the flu- which she has since recovered. A physical therapist is coming by the house 2x a week to help with her mobility. Yesterday, she may have over done it a litte. Regardless, shortly after the PT left, my mother went to lie down and started feeling this sharp pain in her abdomin- on the right side. She complains that everytime she breaths, the pain is worse. When she sits up, the pain is there but it is not as intense as lying down. I am thinking that she may have a urinary tract infection, gallstones, or kidney stones. Tomorrow we are going to the ER to have her checked out. Any suggestions on what it may be? I am the worrying type so I am concerned. Thanks.
Hi- God Bless You for your concern for your dear Mother. If needed, I would go ahead and call your local ER, and ask them a few questions regarding this acute attack of right sided pain. Yes, she could be experiencing gall bladder, appendix attack, or kidney stones. This is why I would suggest calling the ER to see what they have to say. Does she have some pain medication to help out with the pain? An Ice Pack on the pain site may be useful, along with an anti-inflammatory, such as Ibuprophen. A bag of frozen veggies make a great ice bag. In the meantime, here are some sites that will hopefully help you out. I would be concerned about her breathing making this worse. Does she have a heart history? Good luck and take care!
At 82 we tend to heal a lot slower. My mom GRHS took a long time to heal when she would get hurt.
You did not say when the flu was gone. Some folks had such horrible coughing fits that their stomach muscles hurt really bad, especially near the ribs..
When she took the fall, did they do an x-ray to determine if there were no broken ribs? If there was a hairline fracture that was missed, and the coughing fits arose...it could exacerbate it...
Am assuming you took her temperature...It there pain with urination? At her age I am sure she would recognize a UTI No?
Maybe it's you...see how she is doing tomorrow and monitor change. Oh...determine on a scale of 1 to 10 10 being the worst, what her pain is.