Another night in the ER

On Friday, I got to go to senior lunch with my youth ministers and friends! I was feeling pretty good. That night, my friend came over and we were watching tv and all of the sudden my lower back and abdomen started hurting so much. My thighs also hurt. It was the same pain that I had before surgery. The same exact pain. I took some pain medicine and it did nothing. Somehow I made it through the night and woke up Saturday with the same pain. On Saturday all I could do was lay down. As the day went on, the pain got worse. Through out the day, I took 3 different pain medicines, but none were even touching the pain. I cried most of the day because I was hurting so much. I also was nauseous and didn't eat all day.

About 9pm we finally decided to go to the hospital. My mom stayed home with my brother so it was just me and my dad. When I arrived at the ER, I was put in a wheelchair and taken to triage. My blood pressure and heart rate were high, and I had fever. After that we were sent into the waiting room. To our surprise, the waiting room wasn't extremely full. We waited for a while and then were taken into another triage room off the waiting room to start an IV and take blood. It was the same 2 nurses that have been there every other time we have come. They remembered us and we started talking about my history and Lyme. We got to talk for a while because I was so dehydrated so they couldn't find my veins. The nurse tried one spot on my arm and literally dug around for it for 3 minutes. She gave up on that spot and got it in my wrist. Somehow we got to talking about how doctors here say Lyme doesn't exist and about all the trouble we've had. The nurses mouth dropped to the floor. She said, "how stupid can they be? Of course you can get Lyme here! What idiots!". She was so shocked and angry about all the problems we have had. It was so nice to have another nurse agree with us about how stupid it is that doctors say it doesn't exist here. It's common sense people! We have deer and ticks. That's all you need. She got so upset and mad that this is happening.

Anyway, they finally got my IV in and took blood. They don't hook you up to anything yet since you go back to the waiting room, they just get the line in so they don't have to do that once you get called back. The nurse told us that I might have a kidney stone because of the fever and my history. She said kidney stones after surgery are very common. We were sent back to the waiting room. Usually if you need a CT scan, you are taken from the waiting room up to CT then either back to the waiting room or your room if it's ready. This time I got to go to my room first which was so much better! We were only in the waiting room for about an hour which isn't bad!

They took me to my room and it was the same room I was in when I was admitted to the hospital. It's weird how I always get put in the same rooms. I got changed into my adorable hospital gown while we waited for the doctor. He came in and pressed on a few places on my stomach, which hurt a lot. We gave him my history and he did not try to tell me that I don't have Lyme. This hospital is great! I'm still wondering why we never went to that hospital before my gall bladder problems. For a year and a half we went to Children's Hospital and another smaller hospital, and honestly it was torture. Everytime we went, I would be scared to death because I knew I would get yelled at and told that everything is in my head. But this hospital is different. I love it so much!

So the doctor said he suspected it was another cyst, just from looking at my history. He got some IV fluids started and gave me pain and nausea medicine. We waited for a while and then transport came to take me to CT. I was so dehydrated that my body took in a whole bag of IV fluids in 30-45 minutes. I was done with my fluids by the time I went to CT. So they rolled my bed up to the CT room and injected the dye into my IV and did the scans. It only took about 20 minutes. Have you ever had the IV dye before? I love what they always start by telling you. "The dye will make you feel warm and it will feel like you're peeing on the table, but don't worry, you aren't." Haha thanks for warning me. It's a very odd feeling!

He put the dye in, and then I felt so sick. I really thought I was going to pass out. I guess I had a reaction to the dye because I've never had that happen before and I've had 3 or 4 CT scans in the past 2 months. When my dad came back in the room, he said I was so pale.

Once I was done with that, I was rolled back to my room to wait for the results. I received more pain and nausea medicine because the pain had already come back. It's sneaky like that. One minute you think you've escaped the pain for a while and then it hits as hard as ever. Sometime while I was there, the nurse gave me a dose of Dilauded and it didn't help at all, so I had to immediately get another dose. That's how persistent the pain is.

I was not allowed to eat or drink while I was there in case I had to have surgery. Pain medicine makes your mouth so very dry, especially IV pain medicine. I asked if I could have ice cubes, but I could not, so I was given this sponge on a stick. The nurse puts water on it, and then you can rub it around in your mouth and suck on it...it was the best thing ever! Not really, but I was desperate. Here's a picture of it.

Finally, the doctors gathered in my room with the results of the CT scan. The scans showed that I have internal bleeding again in my abdomen and pelvis. Looking at my history, they said that I most likely had a cyst that ruptured, and that's what is causing the internal bleeding. No wonder I hurt so much!! I was already scheduled to see my gynecologist on Monday, so they felt comfortable sending me home.

When I was done with that little sponge on a stick, my dad asked if I wanted to keep it and I said, "well of course!" and he thought I was serious. He put it in my purse and I freaked out and said, "I was just kidding! Why would I want to keep that?!". It was pretty funny! Guess you had to be there...

As soon as I got up to change out of my hospital gown, I was hit with nausea. IV pain medicine makes you so sick, especially if you've had 5 doses. You're fine until you lift your head or move, and then the nausea strikes. It's terrible! I made it to the bathroom and changed and then had to wait for transport to bring a wheelchair since I was a little drugged and couldn't really walk. The nurse gave me 3 barf bags to take with me. I guess I really did look so sick.

We got home at 3am I think and I was so excited to be able to go to sleep in my own bed. I went upstairs and then got sick. I had nothing in my stomach since I hadn't really eaten all day, so I was dry heaving. This happened every hour all night. Finally, around 8am I stopped getting sick and feel asleep, and I slept until noon. It was a hard weekend.

I don't know if you can tell but I'm holding that awesome sponge on a stick. Haha