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| hospital bed - not my actual hospital bed |
Late Tuesday afternoon I started having pains in my abdomen. Figured it was my Interstitial Cystitis acting up. Tried to ignore it, but it gradually got worse and I ended up on the floor of the den in the middle of the night doing Yoga stretches to ease the pain in my lower back. By morning I hurt everywhere... felt like my bladder, kidneys, and everything below my ribcage was aching. And I was running a fever of 100.4...
Called my primary physician and got an early morning appointment. He sent me for a cat scan STAT at an Imagery Center... and was suspecting Gastritis or Pancriatitis... or worse (my brother died of pancreatic cancer).
The pain worsened throughout the day Wednesday and my cat scan was scheduled for 2:45... and was done around 4. They had me drink 2 bottles of something and also injected me with Iodine. When it was done, we were told to wait there for a radiologist to read the scan and relay it to my doctor. (I thought this was unusual... and not a good sign at the time)
At about 6 pm, we were handed the CD of the scan and told to take it immediately to the Emergency Room of Medical City Dallas hospital across the street. Apparently I had Acute Appendicitis.
This was a surprise! We never suspected that.
We sat in the Emergency Room (actually I lay on a bed in the hall) from about 6 pm until 1:00 am) before a bed could be found. Hospital was very busy. But they were very attentive (I was right across from the main desk).
Saw some strange cases go by... but that may be a post for another time. My story continues.
Eventually a doctor who introduced himself as the surgeon who would be operating on me came by and told me he wanted to do an appendectomy tonight, but there was no operating room available. But he was putting me on antibiotics and morphine in the meantime. At about 1:00 am I was taken to a room in the hospital.
At about 11:30 Thursday morning I had surgery and was kept overnight (maybe due to my age?). The surgeon had mentioned that I was the oldest patient with acute appendicitis he'd ever had. Apparently most with this diagnosis are younger...
Now it's 4:25 am Friday morning and I'm ready to go home. Everyone had been very kind and professional so I have no complaints. The guys in the ER were great; friendly, attentive, and very skilled with needles. They can only use my left arm due to breast cancer on my right side. But my poor left arm is running out of space (it has 5 injection sites in it with one being a permanent catheter).
Oh, great... they just took blood again and this time my vein collapsed (don't blame it)... so they had to dig around a bit (not fun). Now my poor left arm has 7 injection spots; 3 in the middle and 4 in the back of my hand.
I'm definitely thinking 'time to go home'. They're supposed to discharge me today. Hope they do while I still have a drop of blood in me. Wonder what they do with all that blood? My doctor took blood Wednesday morning, CT tech injected Iodine, ER took blood again, and then in the rooms they took more blood daily.
But... again, I won't complain. The pain in my abdomen is gone! Thank goodness... a little sore, but not bad. My legs have some sort of massaging apparatus on them for circulation and I have to inhale 10X every hour into this breathing device (to prevent lung collapse? - some sort of precaution)
This was one unexpected adventure! But it could have been much worse. My appendix could have burst or the diagnosis could have been pancreatic cancer. I'm good.
As awful as the whole situation was... and I wouldn't want to relive it, everyone who took care of me was kind, attentive, and efficient. Luckily I haven't been in a hospital in many many years, but have always been leary of having to go. This experience calmed my fears.
(oh, I forgot to mention that DH and my 2 sons were here with me almost the whole time - so I was well supported.)
Well, that's my update! Sorry it was so long. I did have to miss both my watercolor class Friday and my pottery class this morning, but definitely plan to make them next week!
Have a great weekend!
Goodness, Rian, not a nice few days. :( I'm glad that is over for you and hpe each day shows improvement. Nice to hear all went well. Deb
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deb. I'm glad it's over also.
DeleteI am glad it turned out well for you. It seems hospitals everywhere are just overwhelmed with not enough beds, not enough staff. I am sure they appreciated your patience.
ReplyDeleteOlga, they were overwhelmed. There were 14 of us in the ER that needed a room and there were no rooms available in the hospital. Finally they had to open and staff a hall on the ER floor. But it took a while to do this. But I didn't mind as they were very attentive.
DeleteMy toes curled in sympathy (and my stomach turned over) at your description of the injection woes. A speedy recovery to you.
ReplyDeleteI can believe this, Joanne after reading of your recent hospital visit. Luckily I have good veins... but there is a limit.
DeleteI'm glad they figured out what it was without letting you wait too long with scary results! I hope every day of recovery is better and better. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jenn. It was a long miserable day, but once they got the diagnosis, things were done pretty efficiently.
DeleteOh, my gosh!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrible "adventure," but I'm glad it was "just" your appendix and that the surgery went well. I assume you're home now, recovery, and I'm sending universal healing Light for speedy healing. Nicki and Derry send healing purrs.
You and me both, Kim. Acute Appendicitis was a complete surprise, but definitely better than some other possibilities. I'm mostly in bed with my 3 cats surrounding me yesterday and today. Tux refuses to leave me... and sometimes makes the other 2 leave.
DeleteI am so glad you're okay! That was quite an adventure. Nice to hear you felt well taken care of, even in such a busy hospital! All's well that ends well. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, DJan. It was an experience. But in some ways it was good. I have been fearful of going to the ER or the hospital... because I know they will give you drugs and I have bad reactions to drugs. But these doctors listened carefully to my list of allergies to meds and were careful not to give me anything that might cause a problem. So... neither the pain meds nor the antibiotics caused a problem. It sort of restored my faith in hospitals.
DeleteOh my goodness, that definitely made for an uncomfortable few days. Glad to hear you are feeling better and ready to go home. Take care!
ReplyDeleteEileen
It was definitely "uncomfortable"... but am doing lots better... and am home now.
DeleteWow, that was out of left field. What a frightening experience and so glad it is over and all you are missing is an extinct appendage you really don't need. Take care and heal well.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely out of left field! Never even thought of acute appendicitis... but again glad it was that and not something worse.
DeleteWell, that made for a scary time for you. Glad the diagnosis was just appendicitis and that they were able to deal with that effectively. It does seem that our imaginings often turn out to be overly dramatic and frightening and I'm glad you came through the procedure in good shape.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vic. So far, so good.
Deleteso very glad all your paint and distress turned out ok, I am sure it was not a minor thing in the scheme of things; a moment in time can change everything especially when reaching above a certain age.
ReplyDeleteI guess I have to accept that I'm 'of(or above) a certain age'... and things happen. But despite the use of the term "young lady" (which I find patronizing), I was treated very well. My friend told me she thinks they put old folks off into a corner and forget about them... but this certainly didn't happen in my case.
DeleteOh my goodness, you have had a lot going on. My first thought was appendicitis. I remember my mother talking about having acute appendicitis. So glad you have had the surgery and are getting better. The pain must have been awful.
ReplyDeleteI certainly wouldn't want to have to go through it again. Just glad it's over and wasn't anything worse.
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