I miss my Colon.
Well, here I am. I survived it. Barely.
2 days before my surgery I had a pre-admittance check up with my surgeon. Upon laying eyes on me, he immediately knew that I had let myself go too long, and had grown very ill. Too ill to perform surgery on safely. So I was admitted to the hospital a day early for IV fluids and tests and what not. Observation.
My first blood test showed that I was critically anemic, and the nurse that informed me of just how anemic I was, was surprised that I was even conscious and able to hold conversation with her.
My hemoglobin level was at 5. 12-16 is low to average for a woman my age and size. My blood pressure was very low, and I was severely dehydrated, and pretty much close to starved to death.
Skeletal, and pale. Dark circles under my eyes. I had been suffering from dizzy spells and blackouts. Racing heartbeat, and weakness. And I was vomiting on a daily basis.
I was given a blood transfusion before my surgery, another during my surgery, and another afterward. 3 units of blood. Constant IV fluids. The surgery was performed laprascopically.
I had one stricture(narrowed and scarred part of the intestine partially or completely obstructed) at my old surgery site, where I had had a bowel resection back in '01. I had a second stricture and some inflamed colon a bit farther down the pipes. And just beyond that I had a fistula, which had perforated through the wall of my colon and was eating through another part of my colon that layed adjacent to it.
Needless to say, they removed quite a bit of my tubing in there.
I currently have a temporary ileostomy, while I wait for my colon to heal.
I had a PICC line IV in my right arm, and because people with Crohn's are hyper-coagulative.. or something like that, I developed some blood clots, and was at risk for stroke. So they removed my PICC, which is the scariest, deeply embedded IV. The catheter runs from your elbow where it is inserted, all the way up your vein in your arm, and tops out just above your heart. Anyway, they yanked that out, and I had regular superficial IVs placed in my left arm. However, because I was so anemic and dehydrated, and I've always had trouble with IVs anyway, they had to keep replacing my IVs almost daily. And I had to have my blood checked twice a day, because I'm on blood thinners to combat the clotting. By the end of my 10 day stay in the hospital, I counted 25 holes in my left arm from all the needles and tubing.
I was given morphine for my pain. And I was throwing up violently. Took them a week to figure out it was the morphine that was making me throw up. I wasn't even allowed to take water by mouth. I grew even skinnier. Finally they gave me oxycodone in pill form, instead of a shot of morphine, and I was allowed to eat something.
Eventually they got my hemoglobin level up to 10, which is still considered anemic, but not critical.
I was released from the hospital on the 26th. I'm still taking blood thinners, which I will have to be on for three months.
Due to my blood clotting problem, I won't be able to get rid of this god-awful ileostomy for 4-6 months.
It's too risky to have the surgery to reverse the ileostomy until then.
I've been staying at my mom's house.
This has been a miserable experience.
My disability hasn't been approved yet. I'm very poor.
Dan joined the Army. He left for boot camp on the 24th.
I'm sad and lonely.
But I'm alive.
2 days before my surgery I had a pre-admittance check up with my surgeon. Upon laying eyes on me, he immediately knew that I had let myself go too long, and had grown very ill. Too ill to perform surgery on safely. So I was admitted to the hospital a day early for IV fluids and tests and what not. Observation.
My first blood test showed that I was critically anemic, and the nurse that informed me of just how anemic I was, was surprised that I was even conscious and able to hold conversation with her.
My hemoglobin level was at 5. 12-16 is low to average for a woman my age and size. My blood pressure was very low, and I was severely dehydrated, and pretty much close to starved to death.
Skeletal, and pale. Dark circles under my eyes. I had been suffering from dizzy spells and blackouts. Racing heartbeat, and weakness. And I was vomiting on a daily basis.
I was given a blood transfusion before my surgery, another during my surgery, and another afterward. 3 units of blood. Constant IV fluids. The surgery was performed laprascopically.
I had one stricture(narrowed and scarred part of the intestine partially or completely obstructed) at my old surgery site, where I had had a bowel resection back in '01. I had a second stricture and some inflamed colon a bit farther down the pipes. And just beyond that I had a fistula, which had perforated through the wall of my colon and was eating through another part of my colon that layed adjacent to it.
Needless to say, they removed quite a bit of my tubing in there.
I currently have a temporary ileostomy, while I wait for my colon to heal.
I had a PICC line IV in my right arm, and because people with Crohn's are hyper-coagulative.. or something like that, I developed some blood clots, and was at risk for stroke. So they removed my PICC, which is the scariest, deeply embedded IV. The catheter runs from your elbow where it is inserted, all the way up your vein in your arm, and tops out just above your heart. Anyway, they yanked that out, and I had regular superficial IVs placed in my left arm. However, because I was so anemic and dehydrated, and I've always had trouble with IVs anyway, they had to keep replacing my IVs almost daily. And I had to have my blood checked twice a day, because I'm on blood thinners to combat the clotting. By the end of my 10 day stay in the hospital, I counted 25 holes in my left arm from all the needles and tubing.
I was given morphine for my pain. And I was throwing up violently. Took them a week to figure out it was the morphine that was making me throw up. I wasn't even allowed to take water by mouth. I grew even skinnier. Finally they gave me oxycodone in pill form, instead of a shot of morphine, and I was allowed to eat something.
Eventually they got my hemoglobin level up to 10, which is still considered anemic, but not critical.
I was released from the hospital on the 26th. I'm still taking blood thinners, which I will have to be on for three months.
Due to my blood clotting problem, I won't be able to get rid of this god-awful ileostomy for 4-6 months.
It's too risky to have the surgery to reverse the ileostomy until then.
I've been staying at my mom's house.
This has been a miserable experience.
My disability hasn't been approved yet. I'm very poor.
Dan joined the Army. He left for boot camp on the 24th.
I'm sad and lonely.
But I'm alive.