So, a lot has happened since my last post! Unfortunately most of it is actually pretty bad. I did make it through week 5 of the C25K training before the bad stuff happened! Very excited about that! So, I will just kind of lay out timeline for everyone starting on July 10th. Warning, this is kind of long!
July 10 -
I woke up with a slight bit of pain in my chest when I coughed. I had this annoying dry cough for going on 3 weeks now, so I really didn't think much about it other than I would be calling my Dr again on Monday to see what else we could do. We had planned on taking the day to go looking at e-readers and taking the girls to Build-A-Bear to use their yard sale money. We went to Best Buy first and by the time we got there, my pain had gotten a little worse. It was getting a little difficult for me to walk around a lot and the girls were being little heathens so we left after about 30 minutes of looking. We then went to the mall and got the girls to Build-A-Bear. By then I was hurting more when I just tried to take a deep breath. I was concerned that I was having an issue with my band, so I called the surgeons exchange and was given no real decent info other than if it gets worse, go to the ER. Ugh! By the time we got home, the pain was unbearable and we decided to take the girls to my mom's and head up to the ER. We went to the ER at the hospital where I had my band done at just in case it was a band issue. When we got there, I was given blood work, a CT scan, and an EKG (because of the chest pains). They also had me do a Urine test, but I haven't a clue why. They NEVER came and took it to the lab. Also, for half the time I was in the ER, I didn't even have an arm band. I mean, they had no clue who I was with nothing to check it against. Anyway, the CT scan was normal so they said that they thought I had a condition called Pleurisy. They gave me a shot of pain meds and sent me home with an prescription for pain pills and told me to drink lots of fluids. O.k., great. I can do that. Well, while we were waiting at the pharmacy, I took a few drinks of Apple Juice and suddenly got a horrible pain located at the base of my sternum and it shot down to my left lower abdomen. It was horrible. I couldn't get it to stop. I was worried about a UTI and was just going to call the Dr the next day if the pain didn't go away.
07/11 - The pain didn't go away. In fact, it was worse! So bad that I couldn't move or be touched without screaming out in pain. My mom was here taking care of me and started calling all three of my Dr's. (OB - just in case it was something related, Primary care, and lap-band surgeon) ALL of them said to head back to the ER. I was terrified. It is about a 30 minute car ride and the pain pills were not helping me AT ALL! So, we get back into the car and make the long, horrible drive to the ER again! They did another CT scan, this time of my whole abdomen and chest, drew more blood, and called the Lap-Band interns (or as I call them ducklings) in to see me just in case. They, again, did no urine test. The interns decided to take fluid out of my band to see if that would help at all with my pain. It did slightly with the pain in my chest, but did nothing for the pain in my abdomen. After a long wait, the Dr came in and told me "Well, the CT scan doesn't show anything so we aren't sure what is wrong. We are going to send you home with a medication that helps with Ulcers just in case you have one. Follow up with your surgeon and primary care tomorrow." I asked point blank if the pain could be from a cyst on my left side. He told me, "Well, you have a cyst, but it's on the other side." That was fine. I have known about a cyst on the right side for awhile now, but it's never caused problems. As the Dr. kept talking he confused me by referring to a cyst on the left side too. So, I then asked, "Do I have a cyst on the left and right side?". He said yes, the one on the right was smaller than the one on the left. I was SO confused! I asked to see the CT scan report so I could give it to my OB when I saw him. When I got the CT report I was even more confused and mad. The CT report mentioned NOTHING about a cyst on the left side! So, home we went. All the while, I am in unbearable pain. I cried the entire ride home I hurt so bad.
07/12 - The huz stayed home with me. I couldn't move at all without yelling out in pain. I called ALL of my Dr's looking for appointments that day so I could get an answer for my pain. No one could see me until Wednesday. I was SO angry. I actually told my primary care's office (after I got a lecture about going to the ER I went to rather than the one they are associated with) that I felt like I was going to die before someone cared enough to figure out what was wrong with me. So, I spent another day wallowing in pain. The only saving grace I had was that the pain meds would put me to sleep even if they didn't numb the pain. I had three Dr's appointments the next day beginning with my Lap-Band surgeon. And later in the day they called to tell me that I couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight. And, oh by the way, no pain meds either!
07/13 - I was in so much pain, I was reduced to riding in a wheel chair to the Dr's office. I cried on the way to his office in the car, on the wheel chair ride from the car to his office, and while in his office waiting to see him. When I finally saw him, he elected to admit me into the hospital right away. He wanted to do an upper GI to see of there were any ulcers, tears, or erosion in my stomach that would be causing this. NOT what I wanted to do, but I needed answers. And, honestly, after 3 1/2 days of constant pain I was worn out and couldn't really fight anymore. So, we do the GI scope and find NO answers. I was told that the next option would be surgery to put a camera into my abdominal cavity to see what was actually going on. If the band was infected it would have to be removed. So, I go down for surgery and find out that because of the infection my blood sugar is well over 400!!!!!! So, then we start with the insulin on top of the pain meds and anti nausea meds I was taking. After surgery, I wake up to find out the band was removed and I had two drains as well as two open incisions that had to be packed every day! I was told that I had a "female infection" that also affected the band so it had to come out. I was on three IV antibiotics and two different pain meds as well as anti nausea meds.
7-13 through 7-16 - I endured 4 days of hell in the hospital. VERY not impressed with them. I had no answers and no real care at all. My mom came up on Friday and helped give me a sponge bath because no one at the hospital had offered. Thursday I was left in the bathroom for 30 minutes with no help at all and I only saw my nurse 3 times her entire shift! Any time I asked what the labs were for, I got the answer of "We just need to get some labs". Finally on Saturday I had enough and got my mom to come up to talk to the Dr's. I really felt like either I needed to be transferred to another hospital or be released! It was THAT bad. I also felt like maybe I was just too foggy from the pain meds and making a lot of it up or not remembering I did have answers. Well, it wasn't me and I didn't have answers. Mom didn't really get any either, but I was released. I think it was more because they wanted to get me out of their hair!
SO, fast forward a week and I am still feeling bad. My OB is VERY concerned about the care I received and basically offered to completely take over my case even though it really wasn't his issue. He did an exam and ultrasound and really didn't think that I had any "female infection" at all, but couldn't tell unless he saw pictures from my surgery. He was trying to get them, but the hospital wasn't playing nice with him at all. I had called several times and finally got a release from the hospital so he and I can both see my records. I just wanted answers!
Today I got a few. I saw the surgeon and he sad that he still thought it was some type of female infection that started the whole thing. He also said that it could take up to another month for me to feel completely normal again. That was not news I wanted to hear. He was very concerned about how I felt and that today is my last day of antibiotics. He told me that the cultures they took from my surgery grew gram positive virulent cocci. It is just a type of bacteria that you can get. He is confident that the antibiotics he gave me are treating it, but wants to make sure that I was on them long enough.
So, for now I still have a sharp pain in my back whenever I move the wrong way or take too deep of a breath. He said that he thought it was muscle or nerve related and it would take time to go away. I got the staples removed so I can try to lift the girls now. Not sure how that is going to go. And I am still out of breath when I do very little activity. However, I am here and progressing. It was very scary not knowing what was wrong with me. I truly thought that I might die. It was to the point where I was going to start writing letters to my girls just in case. It seems overly dramatic now, but I can tell you that nothing I have ever gone through has scared me like this. It still kind of bugs me today when I think about it. Hopefully time will help.
