cdavis21
a rough few days for me.
Dec 22, 2011
I just got home from my second trip to the emergency room in two days. my, my, my....it has been quite an interesting (and painful!) few days.
i was feeling fine. jeremy & i decided to go try to finish up some christmas shopping. i even got dressed up! (first time after surgery I put on all my makeup and wore real clothes.) Actually- NSV here- I could squeeze into my 22's again! I had to buy a pair of 24's a few weeks ago because my 22's just weren't buttoning. They are a little tight but they buttoned, so WOOHOO!!
anyway. we are walking in the mall and i just got a sudden onset of really sharp pain in my side/back area. (technical term is flank, i have learned.) it was hard to breathe. i had to sit down. after a few minutes i got up again, but we ended up leaving the mall. i didn't think i was going to be able to make it back to the car because my breath was so short and the pain was so bad. it never went away. we came home and i tried to lay down and i couldn't even lay on it or do anything. so i called my surgeon, and after about a 30 minute wait, he advised me to go to the emergency room.
so my mom takes me to the emergency room, where my pain elevated. i have literally never felt pain like i did wednesday night in my entire life. it was the worst thing i've been through. it was just sharp, stabbing, extreme pain with every. single. breath. after about 2 hours of waiting and lots of tears, we got called back. the doctor ordered a shot for pain (hallelujah!) and ordered a CT scan to check for kidney stones. Results: He deemed my pain a UTI and sent me home with some percocet and an antibiotic. I did not believe that was all that was going on, because I'd never heard of a UTI causing someone so much agony.
So, I went home, took 2 more percocet, and tried to sleep. I took 4 more before the morning and slept with a heating pad all night, but still did not get very good rest. First thing this morning, I went to my family doctor. She agreed with me that she did not think it was only a UTI but she was worried that it was a blood clot in my lungs. I immediately started crying thinking I was going to die. She told me if it would have killed me it would have done it at the mall, so that helped, but not really. After about 4 nurses, the doctor, and a machine all trying to find my blood pressure (no one could hear it, so the doctor said it must be really really low), with an extremely high heart rate, she called an ambulance to come take me back to the emergency room. I had a chest x-ray there and another one in the ER. It was my first ride in an ambulance. They did another CT scan, this time checking for blood clots. They said we'd get the results in 30 minutes. So naturally about 3 hours later (and a forgotten order for my pain medicine) the ER doctor comes in with the results- No blood clots!! I've never been more relieved. She said I had a "raging" kidney infection and that the shortness of breath was coming from the diaphragm pushing on the infected kidney when I breathe. And that there is swelling on the inside of my incisions probably causing discomfort too (perfectly normal post-op.) They gave me some morphine through my IV and sent me on my way.
I've felt a lot better since coming home. I've had very bad gas pains but I was able to relieve it finally (haha) and that felt GREAT! But it's definitely been an interesting few days. I have gotten blood drawn so many times I think I ran out! I have little holes all over my hands and arms. Here's to hoping my antibiotics kick in fast and this pain goes away.
And on a brighter note, I've lost 4 more pounds since Tuesday!
2 comments
i was feeling fine. jeremy & i decided to go try to finish up some christmas shopping. i even got dressed up! (first time after surgery I put on all my makeup and wore real clothes.) Actually- NSV here- I could squeeze into my 22's again! I had to buy a pair of 24's a few weeks ago because my 22's just weren't buttoning. They are a little tight but they buttoned, so WOOHOO!!
anyway. we are walking in the mall and i just got a sudden onset of really sharp pain in my side/back area. (technical term is flank, i have learned.) it was hard to breathe. i had to sit down. after a few minutes i got up again, but we ended up leaving the mall. i didn't think i was going to be able to make it back to the car because my breath was so short and the pain was so bad. it never went away. we came home and i tried to lay down and i couldn't even lay on it or do anything. so i called my surgeon, and after about a 30 minute wait, he advised me to go to the emergency room.
so my mom takes me to the emergency room, where my pain elevated. i have literally never felt pain like i did wednesday night in my entire life. it was the worst thing i've been through. it was just sharp, stabbing, extreme pain with every. single. breath. after about 2 hours of waiting and lots of tears, we got called back. the doctor ordered a shot for pain (hallelujah!) and ordered a CT scan to check for kidney stones. Results: He deemed my pain a UTI and sent me home with some percocet and an antibiotic. I did not believe that was all that was going on, because I'd never heard of a UTI causing someone so much agony.
So, I went home, took 2 more percocet, and tried to sleep. I took 4 more before the morning and slept with a heating pad all night, but still did not get very good rest. First thing this morning, I went to my family doctor. She agreed with me that she did not think it was only a UTI but she was worried that it was a blood clot in my lungs. I immediately started crying thinking I was going to die. She told me if it would have killed me it would have done it at the mall, so that helped, but not really. After about 4 nurses, the doctor, and a machine all trying to find my blood pressure (no one could hear it, so the doctor said it must be really really low), with an extremely high heart rate, she called an ambulance to come take me back to the emergency room. I had a chest x-ray there and another one in the ER. It was my first ride in an ambulance. They did another CT scan, this time checking for blood clots. They said we'd get the results in 30 minutes. So naturally about 3 hours later (and a forgotten order for my pain medicine) the ER doctor comes in with the results- No blood clots!! I've never been more relieved. She said I had a "raging" kidney infection and that the shortness of breath was coming from the diaphragm pushing on the infected kidney when I breathe. And that there is swelling on the inside of my incisions probably causing discomfort too (perfectly normal post-op.) They gave me some morphine through my IV and sent me on my way.
I've felt a lot better since coming home. I've had very bad gas pains but I was able to relieve it finally (haha) and that felt GREAT! But it's definitely been an interesting few days. I have gotten blood drawn so many times I think I ran out! I have little holes all over my hands and arms. Here's to hoping my antibiotics kick in fast and this pain goes away.
And on a brighter note, I've lost 4 more pounds since Tuesday!
My first blog.
Dec 19, 2011
Well, I am officially one week post-op! It's very exciting, I never thought I'd actually get here. Seems like it took forever. I'm working on getting my OH profile all set-up and becoming an active member here. I've been a lurker for a few weeks now, but I think that being more involved will be really good for me because I don't have a super strong support system in the real world, hehe. I think it will be great to get advice, encouragement, and tips from people that are further ahead in their journey than I. And I hope that I can keep up my active-ness once school starts back and I'm not basically couch/bed bound.
The first week has been a bit of a rollercoaster. It was mostly good, I did have a bit of a breakdown yesterday. I just went in the bathroom and cried. I am mourning food. I am mourning not being able to take care of Rylie. While it's not so bad not having to change diapers all day (hehe) I have not gotten to spend any good quality time with her either and that sucks. I just remind myself that half of the reason I even went through with the surgery is to be able to do MORE with her and I am so looking forward to that. She won't even remember these 2 weeks I didn't get to. I have been really wanting some pizza-even dreamed about it one night!-And after an evening of trying to go out shopping (a bit of a fail) I came back to my mom's and she had ordered pizza. I broke down in tears. I feel so silly and stupid admitting that. But it is, indeed, true. I know these are only a few weeks of restrictions but it's tough. I feel like if I could handle it easily I wouldn't have needed surgery to begin with! I have cheated a little though but nothing major and I'm not beating myself up over it. This morning I weighed 279.
I have a problem with wanting everything NOW. I hate waiting so I'm really really anxious to just be skinny NOW that I've had surgery. I know it's unrealistic. I just get impatient at times :)
Well that's all for now. Looking forward to blogging more!
2 comments
The first week has been a bit of a rollercoaster. It was mostly good, I did have a bit of a breakdown yesterday. I just went in the bathroom and cried. I am mourning food. I am mourning not being able to take care of Rylie. While it's not so bad not having to change diapers all day (hehe) I have not gotten to spend any good quality time with her either and that sucks. I just remind myself that half of the reason I even went through with the surgery is to be able to do MORE with her and I am so looking forward to that. She won't even remember these 2 weeks I didn't get to. I have been really wanting some pizza-even dreamed about it one night!-And after an evening of trying to go out shopping (a bit of a fail) I came back to my mom's and she had ordered pizza. I broke down in tears. I feel so silly and stupid admitting that. But it is, indeed, true. I know these are only a few weeks of restrictions but it's tough. I feel like if I could handle it easily I wouldn't have needed surgery to begin with! I have cheated a little though but nothing major and I'm not beating myself up over it. This morning I weighed 279.
I have a problem with wanting everything NOW. I hate waiting so I'm really really anxious to just be skinny NOW that I've had surgery. I know it's unrealistic. I just get impatient at times :)
Well that's all for now. Looking forward to blogging more!
