A week and a half ago, I had a dull pain in my abdomen; mostly in the middle just below my sternum, but also a bit radiating down my right side. I wasn't sick and I wasn't in a lot of pain, I was mostly uncomfortable (although it was recently pointed out that my "dull" pain is probably on par with anyone else's "sharp" pain), so I still went to wheelchair basketball, but ended up sitting out the last game and leaving early because while I was okay during the games, I felt horrible whenever we stopped. It went on like that through the night so I called the advice nurse in the morning; after talking to her for a bit, something I said made her stop her questions and tell me to go to the ER.
Despite being upset, I wasn't worried and drove myself to the ER and signed in, waited for triage. My lack of concern, but appearance of tears seems to have confused the nurses... what do you do with someone who burst into tears while checking, then laughed with the triage nurse as they remember anything that may or may not be relevant? But let me explain. I've been sent to the ER with abdominal pain twice before; once turned out to be a bad bladder infection, the other was kidney stones. I figured something like that and I would be sent home with various prescriptions.
I was sent to pee in a cup and told to go to a new waiting area because they didn't have a bed for me. Eventually, I was put into a small examination room, where the ER doctor did a quick exam then went to find the ER's ultrasound.... which happens to probably be the original ultrasound. I'm pretty sure they kicked it at some point just to get it to turn on correctly. Some concerned noises later, the doctor says there's something wrong with my gallbladder aaaaaaaaand suddenly there's a bed for me! And a nurse, and someone to take my blood for tests, and an IV, and my first experience with fentanyl.
But I digress. My blood was taken pretty easily, the IV was a whole other story. The nurse finally got it in my arm, but it hurt so she tried my hand; the vein blew, so she went over to the other hand and questioned if I was dehydrated (definite possibility), but this one was a success. While she had been working on that, she kicked out a transport guy saying she'd let them know when I was ready and then reassured me the rest of the time that she wanted to get my IV and the pain meds started before they took me for my next ultrasound because she didn't want me to be in pain all that time. As she gave me the fentanyl, she told me I was going to see unicorns. A few minutes later, I proclaimed the need to paint the walls so they could move. The nurse chuckled and just said "unicorns".
Fancy new ultrasound (not one that had to be kickstarted) officially confused everyone, my blood tests revealed high white blood cell counts and low potassium, then I was kidnapped by the tech guy for a CT. Not long after I was given more fentanyl, the now very frazzled ER doctor came in and had a bit of a rant about the ultrasounds looking like they were from two different people and the CT confirmed that I had Uncomplicated Acute Appendicitis... the nurse eventually told me that just meant it hadn't ruptured, but needed to come out.
I gotta text my parents...
She was in and out after that, getting the treatment set up for high blood cell counts and low potassium, and confirming that I'd gotten a hold of my parents. My dad had texted back asking when they could come down and I told him I was still in the ER waiting to go to the OR. It was now about 330pm and I had been there since 1030am... and I finally had to pee after all the fluids they'd pushed. I asked her to take me before she finished switching tubes on me and she thanked me for that. The bathroom was right outside my room, so I told her it was probably easier for me to walk if she would help me. She announced she had to get something first, then came back with a bright yellow bracelet that proclaimed me a "fall risk" because she was worried about me being a wheelchair user and on fentanyl. As I came back, my mom was there to take all my stuff because I was then headed to the OR and the nurse said it would all be safer if she just took it. She piled everything on Saber and ran it out to my dad in the waiting room, then met up with us as they started to take me away. I also got to see my dad briefly as we crossed the hallway he was in.
My OR nurse quizzed me on my name, birthday, and my allergies. He told me they would just superglue me back together instead of stitches because of my latex allergy, then proclaimed me a winner because none of my food allergies compromised anything else (fun fact: those allergic to shellfish don't get iodine). Fast forward to getting knocked out, then waking up in a new room. The recovery nurse then quizzed me on my name, birthday, and why I was there.... you know that moment when you wake up from anesthesia, still can't quite keep your eyes open, but your natural instinct for sarcasm is trying to get back online? Yeah, I stared at her with all kinds of sarcasm in my head (gasp! where am I? What have you done?!), but unable to figure out how to use it. I answered her questions nicely, and was rewarded with the information that they told my parents I was okay, my doctor telling me everything went great, and then a ride to my room.
settled in my room after surgery
I spent the next half hour meeting my new nurses and trying to convince them to make sure my parents knew I had been moved (they didn't), and to convince them that I couldn't walk on my own (even before I got there!). I asked the nurse helping me up to use the restroom if she would be helping me walk and she took a few minutes to try to bolster my confidence to walk on my own.... my brain was still foggy so it took another few minutes to explain that my mom had taken my wheelchair, making it less obvious that I couldn't walk, and that my previous nurse had promised I could use a walker. I played this game through each subsequent shift change; no, I can't lift that leg or walk on my own, but it's not a side effect!
After getting back in bed and hooked up to everything again, my parents walked in and said no one told them I had been moved, they finally went to ask and were given my room number. It was now after 9pm, so they just checked on me, gave me back my phone, and told me to let them know when they released me. I wasn't tired, so I started texting my sister-in-law and a friend that had also wanted to check in. My friend offered to come sit with me, so I checked with my nurse.. she seemed hesitant when I asked if someone could come in, so I told her my sister wanted to sit with me for a bit.... then she was pretty sure it was okay and confirmed with the charge nurse, so I told my friend to tell them she was my sister if they asked; she countered with asking me if I also used an alias. She had offered to stop at my house, so I asked her to bring me clothes in case they released me while she was there, but then I was told the charge nurse proclaimed I was staying overnight (even if the doctor wasn't, she was requiring me to eat something and further observation before releasing me), so I also asked her to bring my charger for my phone. I had just enough juice left to call my dad to tell him she was stopping by and to confirm to her that they knew and what room I was in, and to tell my dad that I was staying. So she ended up leaving her charger with me as well, just in case ;)
When she came in, I was watching the end of the Giants game. She was a little surprised at that so I told her about the special TV; it had maybe 7 channels that came through, three of them were some fundraiser, another three were in spanish, and then there was the Giants game. She spent her time distracting me, playing Tetris with the nurses when I had to get up to go to the restroom (again!), and watching as I was hooked up again, then vitals taken so I could get more morphine. She then told me she was going home when that kicked in.
proof she was there... and going home!
In the morning, I texted my sister-in-law again for a bit, got more morphine, and eventually "breakfast". I got through enough of the breakfast that they didn't make me eat anymore, so call that a bonus. When I asked to go to the restroom again, I also asked if I could walk a bit because my leg was getting rather angry; they did let me and were surprised that I made it about 20 feet down the hallway before turning back. Then, just as I was getting a bit impatient to go home and playing on my phone, I got a Facebook notification that a friend that was in Rio as Paralympic support for our friend on the women's sitting volleyball team started a live feed of their first game (their games wouldn't be aired until the semi finals so he decided to do it himself!) and that was the perfect amount of time to when they finally let me get dressed.. near the beginning of the last set they had finally told me I could call my ride, but they wouldn't unhook me until my dad got there so the rest of the game kept my attention. It was also then that I realized the silver lining to all this meant I'd be able to watch the Paralympics all week!
In the end, I was in the hospital for almost exactly 25 hours; I went through 8 sets of nurses (2 ER, 1 OR, recovery, and 3 shifts in my room.. although the last one I only met for an hour or so), two doctors, 2 doses of fentanyl, at least 3 of morphine, 2 ultrasounds and a CT, and had my IV flushed about 80 times. I have three new scars (or two new scars and a messed up belly button), still healing bruises from all the needle sticks, and the IV hand still feels like it's bruised on the inside from the stick to about an inch past my wrist. And through all of that, my only real problem was explaining my leg to each new nurse.. although the pep talks were nice (Of course you can walk! You can do it!).
I definitely prefer being given prescriptions and sent home, but as far as being stuck in the hospital, this was a pretty good experience. The way people talk and from my own experiences, I figure there's a 50/50 chance... and I am SO glad that my longest stay so far was a good one. And I hope I don't have to challenge the stay length any time soon.
aaaand finally back home!
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