Tummy tuck complications

Apr 18, 2009

Turns out it was NOT a virus... it was MRSA. I had to go back in on 3/22 for emergency surgery. Met Dr Wilson my surgeon at his office and he could not aspirate anything on the right side. He said he needed to open me back up immediately and clean everything out. He called in an OR team on a Sunday and I had 1.5 hours to prepare. After surgery I was feeling good, sitting up talking. However once we learned on Monday it was MRSA I spent the next 4 days in isolation. They started me on IV Vancomycin. First dose is extremely painful and felt like my whole body was shutting down. It blew my vein. They had to move the IV. At the same time the anesthesia they used was wearing off and I had severe body aches. They told me it was from using an anesthesia like they use on trauma patients. By Tues night I felt like I was dying. I was totally lethargic and could not move any part of my body... too exhausted to talk. Every time I stood up to go to the bathroom on Wed, blood ran down my legs from the drains. I walked hunched over and in a tremendous amount of pain.
I got out of the hospital on Wed at 2pm. I made a miraculous recovery between Tues night and Wed morning. Even Dr Wilson said if he was a betting man he would not have guessed I would have been going home at that time. I begged to go back to work. By Thurs I was back at work for part of the day. I would later learn this was a big mistake. I tried to do too much too fast.
By the next Sunday I awoke with severe chest pain and back pain and shortness of breath. I walked around like this for 24 hours before I got medical treatment. After spending 2 hours at one hospital ER waiting for help and listening to people complain of waiting for 5 hours and not being seen, I left and went to my hospital. The doctor diagnosed me with atelectasis and gave me  a breathing treatment and sent me home. The xray showed ALOT of air in my chest.
When I went to my surgeon the next day for my drain removal and told him of my ER visit, he didnt play around. He called a pulmonary specialist and consulted him. They decided I needed an immediate lab test called  a "D- dimer" test. The next day I received a call at work telling me the test was abnormal and I needed to leave work IMMEDIATELY for a STAT CT ...that was a life changing moment.
Turns out I had multiple blood clots in my right lung and they immediately put me in the Trauma center of the ER. That night I realized how close to death I was. If one clot moved to my heart I would die immediately. Apparently God has other plans for me. I spent the next 5 days in the hospital.

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