Epic Entry on my Hospital Stay
Sunday afternoon I went to The Knitting Nest, picked up a skein of yarn I needed for a specific project, got to a good stopping point in my latest project and went home. I haven't knit a stitch since then. Nor have I done any spinning, crocheting or other related activities since then. I was in the hospital.
This afternoon I got online for the first time since Sunday. My last Facebook entry was about all the good food I had eaten on Saturday.
I've tried not to get too gross, although I am going into detail.
And Saturday was a great day. I went to Kobe Japanese Steakhouse with friends to celebrate a birthday. They did a great show and I regret not having my camera. I had Chicken Udon Noodles after all sorts of appertizers. Then for dinner I went to Gattitown with my family and had pizza.
Then there were donuts Sunday morning and Enchiladas Del Mar (Enchiladas of the Sea - exactly what it sounds like) for lunch. So in hindsight, it was a weekend of pretty heavy food. But I felt fine. For a long time.
Sunday after The Knitting Nest, I went home. I was tired and decided to take nap. I had gotten up early, so this wasn't out of the ordinary.
It was when I woke up that I got sick. Sick sick. I won't go into great detail, but after a couple cycles or getting sick/cleaning up, I considered going to an after hours clinic. (Keep in mind, this is Sunday evening.) I called my parents, and we decided that they should take me to the ER. I was pretty sure I had food poisoning.
I took a bucket.
more animals
I didn't have to use it until we pulled up outside the ER.
They got me in really quickly, and got me situated next to the bathroom. This was good.
The doctor said it was probably food poisoning, but he decided to do some blood tests just be sure. They gave me anti-nausea meds, and I was much better.
The blood tests indicated that I had pancreatitis. This was the scariest part, because I know someone who has Chronic Pancreatitis, and I know how it has affected her life.
The most common cause of acute pancreatitis, which is what I had, is gallstones, so I waited for an ultrasound.
At this point I got sick again and they gave me even "better" anti-nausea medicine. So it gets pretty hazy at this point. But the ultrasound showed my gallbladder was fine. At that point they had told me I couldn't even suck on ice chips because of the pancreatitis, and I was so thirsty. I know a doctor asked me to open my mouth and I started smacking my lips like an old man with no teeth because I was so dry. He said something about me being dehydrated. Well, duh.
I also remembered they wheeled in a scale to weigh me before I went to bed. I thought that was an awful lot of trouble to go through for my weight.
The hardest at that point was trying to think every time they asked me questions. The hardest part was trying to remember the names of all my medication. I also had to make hard decisions like whether or not I wanted to keep my wallet with me.
At that point, in my mind, I went to sleep for the night, although it was already morning.
When the doctor saw me she asked me several times about drinking, just to be sure. Basically, we think it's a fluke. I don't drink much. My triglycerides count wasn't high. The doctor said the rich meal I had before I got sick wasn't enough to make me sick by itself. Although the doctor in the ER said it's possible that getting sick from food poisoning could have triggered pancreatitis, this doctor said it was rare. I don't have gallstones. She said if it came back, they may look at the medication I take on a regular basis, but at this point they doubt it.
A little while later, the nurse called and asked if I wanted some juice. I was so happy. It was the best cranberry juice I've ever had.
They cleared me not just for a liquid diet, but a "full liquid" diet with a little more to it. They brought me whole milk, iced tea, tomato soup, Jello and chocolate pudding. I think I would have preferred clear liquids. I ate all my Jello, and a little bit of soup and pudding.
The hospital line has a menu line, where you get to order meals. For dinner, I was bumped up to the "bland/low fat/low cholesterol" diet. I was told they would make changes if I ordered something I couldn't eat. I called and asked what I could eat. I was told I my choices included a hamburger with no cheese and meatloaf. This sounded awful, and I was lucky that I could order from the breakfast menu. I had lots of lime Jello, cream of wheat, applesauce and dry toast during my stay.
At some point that morning Mom went home after staying with me all night. She came back in the evening.
In the evening, my abdomen hurt, and it made it hard to breath. I have asthma anyway, and I spent all night having breathing treatments and good pain meds. When they give you Demerol in an IV, it takes all of 30 seconds to kick in. They woke me up a lot during the night, but I didn't care.
Although I was keeping stuff down, this whole time I had to get up and use the bathroom at least every hour, if not more often. Everytime I had to unplug my IV pump and take it with me. That night during one of my trips, I was thinking about how the IV pump was like Wall-E
. It seemed very clever at the time, but I think it was the Demerol.
The other thing they had me hooked up to was monitoring my heart and some other stuff. There were five electrodes on my abdomen with different colored wires hooked up to this little box. The first night the nurse came in to double check it. She said my "lettuce" was loose. Apparently, they use a hamburger as a metaphor for where to hook up the wires.
It took me a good 24 hours to realize that the box wasn't hooked up to anything else. It was wireless. Somehow, in between medications, I reasoned that it must have been hooked up to the IV pump because the pump was hooked up to me.
Tuesday they probably would have released me, but when I told the doctor I was having problems breathing, she said I'd have to stay. They were worried about blood clots, although it was unlikely. I had a Cat Scan. I had to lay flat on back, which made it even harder to breathe.
They also did an ultrasound of my legs. Now that I was awake, this was amusing. It makes all sorts of "zoom" sounds. And when they squeezed my leg, you could hear the "woosh" of the blood through my veins.
Wednesday was check out day. The doctor said they found a nodule on my thyroid. It was probably nothing, but while I was there they wanted to do a an ultrasound of that as well. As soon as they did that, I could go.
This was about 2 p.m. The ultrasound didn't come until 8 p.m.
By then my stomach was feeling off. I had to lay flat on my back while they pressed on my throat. When it was all over, I got sick again. I was worried because I thought it was happening all over again. I pulled the emergency cord in the bathroom, and the nurse was there when I came out. She brought anti-nausea medicine that dissolved under my tongue. It probably kept me from getting sick again, but I didn't feel good. There was about 45 minutes where I could barely move. A couple of hours later, I was relaxed, but not good.
After much discussion and back and forth, they gave me the "good" stuff and I went home just before midnight.
That's the end of my hospital adventure. I've been with Mom and Dad since then and now I'm ready to my home.
This afternoon I got online for the first time since Sunday. My last Facebook entry was about all the good food I had eaten on Saturday.
I've tried not to get too gross, although I am going into detail.
And Saturday was a great day. I went to Kobe Japanese Steakhouse with friends to celebrate a birthday. They did a great show and I regret not having my camera. I had Chicken Udon Noodles after all sorts of appertizers. Then for dinner I went to Gattitown with my family and had pizza.
Then there were donuts Sunday morning and Enchiladas Del Mar (Enchiladas of the Sea - exactly what it sounds like) for lunch. So in hindsight, it was a weekend of pretty heavy food. But I felt fine. For a long time.
Sunday after The Knitting Nest, I went home. I was tired and decided to take nap. I had gotten up early, so this wasn't out of the ordinary.
It was when I woke up that I got sick. Sick sick. I won't go into great detail, but after a couple cycles or getting sick/cleaning up, I considered going to an after hours clinic. (Keep in mind, this is Sunday evening.) I called my parents, and we decided that they should take me to the ER. I was pretty sure I had food poisoning.
I took a bucket.
more animals
I didn't have to use it until we pulled up outside the ER.
They got me in really quickly, and got me situated next to the bathroom. This was good.
The doctor said it was probably food poisoning, but he decided to do some blood tests just be sure. They gave me anti-nausea meds, and I was much better.
The blood tests indicated that I had pancreatitis. This was the scariest part, because I know someone who has Chronic Pancreatitis, and I know how it has affected her life.
The most common cause of acute pancreatitis, which is what I had, is gallstones, so I waited for an ultrasound.
At this point I got sick again and they gave me even "better" anti-nausea medicine. So it gets pretty hazy at this point. But the ultrasound showed my gallbladder was fine. At that point they had told me I couldn't even suck on ice chips because of the pancreatitis, and I was so thirsty. I know a doctor asked me to open my mouth and I started smacking my lips like an old man with no teeth because I was so dry. He said something about me being dehydrated. Well, duh.
I also remembered they wheeled in a scale to weigh me before I went to bed. I thought that was an awful lot of trouble to go through for my weight.
The hardest at that point was trying to think every time they asked me questions. The hardest part was trying to remember the names of all my medication. I also had to make hard decisions like whether or not I wanted to keep my wallet with me.
At that point, in my mind, I went to sleep for the night, although it was already morning.
When the doctor saw me she asked me several times about drinking, just to be sure. Basically, we think it's a fluke. I don't drink much. My triglycerides count wasn't high. The doctor said the rich meal I had before I got sick wasn't enough to make me sick by itself. Although the doctor in the ER said it's possible that getting sick from food poisoning could have triggered pancreatitis, this doctor said it was rare. I don't have gallstones. She said if it came back, they may look at the medication I take on a regular basis, but at this point they doubt it.
A little while later, the nurse called and asked if I wanted some juice. I was so happy. It was the best cranberry juice I've ever had.
They cleared me not just for a liquid diet, but a "full liquid" diet with a little more to it. They brought me whole milk, iced tea, tomato soup, Jello and chocolate pudding. I think I would have preferred clear liquids. I ate all my Jello, and a little bit of soup and pudding.
The hospital line has a menu line, where you get to order meals. For dinner, I was bumped up to the "bland/low fat/low cholesterol" diet. I was told they would make changes if I ordered something I couldn't eat. I called and asked what I could eat. I was told I my choices included a hamburger with no cheese and meatloaf. This sounded awful, and I was lucky that I could order from the breakfast menu. I had lots of lime Jello, cream of wheat, applesauce and dry toast during my stay.
At some point that morning Mom went home after staying with me all night. She came back in the evening.
In the evening, my abdomen hurt, and it made it hard to breath. I have asthma anyway, and I spent all night having breathing treatments and good pain meds. When they give you Demerol in an IV, it takes all of 30 seconds to kick in. They woke me up a lot during the night, but I didn't care.
Although I was keeping stuff down, this whole time I had to get up and use the bathroom at least every hour, if not more often. Everytime I had to unplug my IV pump and take it with me. That night during one of my trips, I was thinking about how the IV pump was like Wall-E
. It seemed very clever at the time, but I think it was the Demerol.
The other thing they had me hooked up to was monitoring my heart and some other stuff. There were five electrodes on my abdomen with different colored wires hooked up to this little box. The first night the nurse came in to double check it. She said my "lettuce" was loose. Apparently, they use a hamburger as a metaphor for where to hook up the wires.
It took me a good 24 hours to realize that the box wasn't hooked up to anything else. It was wireless. Somehow, in between medications, I reasoned that it must have been hooked up to the IV pump because the pump was hooked up to me.
Tuesday they probably would have released me, but when I told the doctor I was having problems breathing, she said I'd have to stay. They were worried about blood clots, although it was unlikely. I had a Cat Scan. I had to lay flat on back, which made it even harder to breathe.
They also did an ultrasound of my legs. Now that I was awake, this was amusing. It makes all sorts of "zoom" sounds. And when they squeezed my leg, you could hear the "woosh" of the blood through my veins.
Wednesday was check out day. The doctor said they found a nodule on my thyroid. It was probably nothing, but while I was there they wanted to do a an ultrasound of that as well. As soon as they did that, I could go.
This was about 2 p.m. The ultrasound didn't come until 8 p.m.
By then my stomach was feeling off. I had to lay flat on my back while they pressed on my throat. When it was all over, I got sick again. I was worried because I thought it was happening all over again. I pulled the emergency cord in the bathroom, and the nurse was there when I came out. She brought anti-nausea medicine that dissolved under my tongue. It probably kept me from getting sick again, but I didn't feel good. There was about 45 minutes where I could barely move. A couple of hours later, I was relaxed, but not good.
After much discussion and back and forth, they gave me the "good" stuff and I went home just before midnight.
That's the end of my hospital adventure. I've been with Mom and Dad since then and now I'm ready to my home.