I'm Baaaack......

And boy did I miss being around! Wish I could say that I was having a nice leisurely vacation, but in all actuality, I was sitting in the hospital with an NG tube. Yuck!

So, here's the story:

Woke up a week ago (Sunday Morning) with some mild abdominal pain. Well, that's nothing new for me. It happens once or twice a month and has nothing to do with my cycle. My small intestines were sliced and diced when I was about 24 hours old and over time, scar tissue has built up. I describe it like having clogged arteries :)

Well, every once in a while, some food will decide to get stuck in there. That's my cue to take it easy, lay around, and not each much, just waiting for it to pass.

We even took the kids up to Chimney Rock for the day and to a local church to Trunk or Treat (pictures to come later). By the time we got to the church, I was feeling pretty sick and the pain was pretty bad. I couldn't hardly stand up and I was sitting down in between cars while my kids did the whole trick or treat thing. They were none too happy with me when I declared that I could not stand the pain anymore and had to go home.

Brian then left Jayce with me and took Jaina with him to go grocery shopping at 6 PM at night. That's when it got really bad. I tried throwing up, even, to see if that would make me feel better. No dice. Jayce thought it was really funny that mommy was "burping in the potty" as he called it. He certainly didn't need any excuse to flush the toilet (his favorite pastime of late) and I had a hard time keeping him out of the bathroom with me. Finally the pain got so bad that I considered calling 911, but knew that Brian would be home any minute. I felt a little relief curled up in a ball on the floor in some weird yoga-like position, but then all of a sudden I couldn't feel my hands or legs (like they were going numb) and I felt like I was going to pass out. That's when I vomited several times all over the bathroom floor and mat. I had thankfully shut the door behind me when I went in and Jayce was locked out due to a child knob on the door. However, because the door was shut, Brian and Jaina couldn't hear me call for them when they came home.

Jayce had turned "The Wizard of Oz" up full blast on the TV and kept calling "Auntie Em! Auntie Em!" at the same time I was yelling as loud as I could for Brian to come help me. I was so weak I knew I couldn't get up. Jaina finally found me and got Brian. Jayce tried to walk into the bathroom at the same time, so Brian had to stop and put him in his room for the time being. Jaina ran to the phone and called my mom. She was sooooo grown up and brave. She said, "Grandma, you need to come right now. Mommy is very sick and needs you to drive her to the hospital. Daddy has to take care of Jayce." She wasn't scared or anything, just did what I asked her to do.

My mom was there in 15 minutes. She grabbed my purse and my sweater and loaded me into my car and drove me to the closest hospital. (Regional, for my local readers). We got to the ER about 8:40. There were about 5 people in the waiting room, but only like 2 nurses and one volunteer. They informed us that they were extremely busy and short staffed (huh, really?) but that they would be with us as soon as possible. Around 10 I was led to a room and hooked up to an IV. They gave me some nausea medicine (Zofran) and some derivative of morphine to control my pain.

My first and only question to them was, "A resident isn't going to see me, right?" The assured me that the ER doc himself would take my case. (Sorry, I know every doctor has to go through residency, but they can practice on someone besides me, thank you very much).

The ER doc called for an x-ray of my abdominal area. He immediately called for a surgery consult, as do all doctors that see x-rays of my intestines. I have yet to not freak anyone out!

Get this... the general surgeon on call didn't get there until 4:30 in the morning!!! And he seemed absolutely bored that he had been called in. He took one look at my x-ray and said, "I don't know what to do with you."

Well, thanks a lot. Guess its a good thing I've lived with this my whole life so I can tell you what you need to do!

They gave me two cups of contrast to drink in order to have a CT scan of my intestines. I promptly threw up every last bit of it, so that was null and void. But they finally decided to admit me to the hospital at 5:00 AM. My mom left to get some sleep and I was transfered to a room at 6:00 AM. The ER nurse was supposed to put my NG tube in (an NG tube goes down into your stomach and pumps out food/bile/stuff that isn't making its way through my intestines). However, the ER nurse decided that the floor nurse upstairs could just do it.

Now, NG tubes aren't fun by any means, but I know deep down its the only way to remedy my situation. But I have NEVER in all my life of having NG tubes inserted, had such a bad experience with one. The nurse honestly acted like she had never done one. First of all, she didn't measure the tubing so it ended up being too long down in my stomach. It coiled and the end pointed upwards and started sucking on my stomach wall. Also, she didn't quite lube the tube up enough so she couldn't even get it past my nostril. Then she wasn't sure which position my head was supposed to be in for it to get down the curve of the back of my throat. It was honestly the worst experience of my life. If I had had the strength, I may have tried to hurt her while she was trying to position the tube. I think she knows she did me wrong because of the entire week I was there, I never did see her again.

So, Monday was kinda a blur filled with bleeding noses, bleeding throats, and a now bleeding stomach. And no doctor. He decided not to visit me until Tuesday where he promptly realized my tubing was incorrectly placed and fixed it. (That wasn't pleasant either!)

By Wednesday, a lot of the pain had diminished (or was it just the morphine around the clock? who knows? and I was able to semi-enjoy TV, books, and my visitors.

Brian brought the kids up every day, sometimes even twice. Jayce was completely thrilled with all the buttons on my IV and hospital bed and we ended up apologizing several times after he pushed the "Call" button for the nurse. He's no stranger to the hospital since his therapy is housed downstairs. Jaina was a bit bored, but did her homework after school in my room and always came to cuddle me in my bed before leaving. I could barely get a hug from Jayce because he was having too much fun making my bed go up and down. We also played with the blue gloves, drawing on them with ink pen and calling them "Oobie".

My mom was with me whenever she wasn't with the kids or at work. My friends Jessica and Patty came from MOMS Club. My friend Becca came and let me borrow her MP3 player. My friends and former neighbors Tracy and Kim came by. Julie, Dodi, Andy, and Travis from Brian's work came by. Monica, of course, was there. I absolutely loved the company, even when I felt like crap because it took my mind off of feeling like crap :)

I got beautiful flower arrangements from MOMS Club, Jaina's Daisy Troop, Monica, Brian's co-workers, and my dear internet friends from APU. I even got two special phone calls, from Laurel and Corey (My APU sisters) that totally made my day.

Friday was hard because I missed Halloween with my babies :( But Brian said that they had so much fun! My mom took Jaina over to our old neighborhood and Brian took Jayce around our new neighborhood. Jayce definitely understood what to do this year (we've been practicing) but wanted to go inside all of the houses :)

I did not get a single picture of my kids trick or treating :( I gave my mom my camera, but didn't stop to check what mode it was in. She ended up shooting in low light in program mode (no flash) with an ISO of 200 and then wondered why all the pictures were blurry.

Anyway, I was released yesterday (Saturday) and am feeling a tad bit better. Still not completely healed from my obstruction, but on my way.

Thanks for the love and support through this whole ordeal.

BTW, Brian did an EXCELLENT job of taking care of the kids this week. He stayed home Mon-Thursday all day with them. He took Jayce to therapy and both kids to school. He packed lunches and made dinner and did homework and cleaned. He really deserves a medal since he was trying to work from home at the same time!

Comments

  1. I've been keeping up with you through Kim. I am so glad you are feeling better. YOU deserve a medal for the NGT experience! I've never been on the receiving end of one, but I HAVE been on the receiving end of an ER nurse deciding to "let the floor nurse do it." LOL! It's good to see you back on line.

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  2. Sorry, I couldn't be on the list of vistors. We just live too far away :( I am sad that it took me a few days to find out that you were in the hospital. My fault since I didn't check my cel phone messages until Wednesday, since Joshua was sick. BUT know that I love you and was so, so, so, sad and sorry that you were in the hospital.
    I am proud of Jaina. I knew Brian would do great.
    You have a super mom, she always is there for you. She's the best.
    Don't worry about Haloween pictures, have the kids put their costumes back on and parade around outside with their trick or treat bags. Who will know the difference? I am trying to get my boys to do the same thing. Our night was pretty much rained out, but we still went out.

    Love to you

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  3. I am so sorry Jessie. I was reading your blog and literally taking a breathe. I could NOT imagine the pain you have and are going through. WooHooo to Brian for taking care of business. I am super proud of him as well.

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  4. I am so glad you are feeling better Jessie! Take care of yourself!! ~ Laura

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  5. Anonymous6:23 PM

    What an ordeal!!! I'm glad you are on the mend and I hope you're good as new soon!

    ReplyDelete

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