Recovering

The last four or five days have been kind of dramatic, did you miss me!???

Friday I went to the doctor because of the side and back pain that I have been having, and they told me it was just because of the ovarian cysts that I have, and to start taking some birth control, that would hopefully regulate it and help the ovaries to not have to work so much. The pain had been going on for about two weeks, so they also prescribed a pelvic ultrasound that was supposed to done today because it was the soonest I could get in. OK, I would wait.

Sunday, half way through the Cardinals game, I was doubled over in pain in my bed, but I thought it was because the foods I had eaten during the game were too rich, and that I would feel better in the morning. WRONG! One slice of toast and a little cheese Monday morning, and I could not even stand up.

Pat came home from work at about noon and took me to Paradise Valley Hospital because it was the closest! We started there with SEVEN blood samples (I told the lady-Becky, sweetest ER nurse ever- I didn't even care how much blood she needed, she could have it all if it cured the pain!), a pelvic ultrasound and ultrasound of the abdomen. The ovarian cysts were very present, but I had elevated white blood cell count, so it meant that my body was fighting an infection somewhere. Off to have a CAT scan of my stomach. In which the radiologist reported a "slight case of appendicitis". The ER doctors were CRACKING up, either you have it OR YOU DON'T! There is no slight case, but the general surgeon wanted another CAT scan with contrast (this funky blue stuff that they stick in your IV and makes you really hot-hot like you just peed your pants-really weird!), so I was whisked away for some more testing! This is around seven o'clock, and at this point, all I am REALLY concerned with is that I am missing The Bachelor. Some girl-don't know her name, but she was like 5 foot nothing and 90 pounds, so I had NO IDEA HOW SHE WAS GOING TO PUSH ME, finally comes and takes me to my room around 8:30 PM.

Let's stop and reflect here, Pat had gone home to grab a few items for me because when he left, no one was sure if I was going into surgery, what the heck was going on, all we knew was that I was being admitted. This sweet girl, managed to wheel me upstairs (the largest person she had ever pushed BY HERSELF was 400 pounds, so I felt light as a feather), and as soon as she pushed me in the room, I was a pile of tears. The room was a double room, I had pictured private-those are the kind of hospitals I am used to, it was creaky, dark and old, not very inviting, and I was all alone. I didn't say anything until the CNA came in, and she was like, GET OUT OF THIS BED, it is weird, move to the other bed, and we are not putting anyone in here with you, your husband can sleep in that bed, I think her name was Mary, but I can't be for sure-SHE SAVED ME! I literally sit down in the bed, and some nurse comes in ranting and raving about how "She is going to surgery at 9:30-what the hell!" What did the other CAT scan show, what the hell is going on, where is Pat? Needless to say, I start freaking out. The nurse, Wendy, starts freaking out, trying to ask me all these pre-op questions as fast as humanly possible, she knows nothing, I know nothing, and at 9 PM, some guy shows up to take me downstairs!
We go downstairs and wait TWO HOURS for the doctor to show up, and during this two hours, they couldn't give me any pain medication because they wanted me to be able to sign a consent form and talk to the doctor when he got there. So not only was I in pain, I was coming down off my morphine high of the last three/four hours. It was a TORTUROUS two hours. The OR was EMPTY, EMPTY! I have no idea where they found these nurses that were there. There was no one there except the anesthesiologist, us and a few CRAZY nurses, they don't do surgery except in an emergency at night, so it was SPOOKY!

The doctor shows up, talks about all the horrible possibilities that I would have been HAPPY to be drugged for. They rush me off, and the next thing I know, I am waking up to the laziest, bitchiest nurse out there, who REFUSED to get Pat because she was alone. Pretty sure you could have opened the door and got him because we were the only ones down there, and just refused to get up from her chair because she weighed twelve thousand pounds. Good thing Pat got in there when he did because whenever they would give me the pain meds, I would start to lose oxygen, and she just kept yelling across the room, take a deep breath. He was like, "Yeah, could you hook her up to some oxygen, this is what happens every time she has the medicine!" Good thing Pat was doing her job, OMG, I was so happy to get out of recovery. That is truly my only complaint about my stay. Everyone else was super nice, I was VERY WELL taken care of. Pat was encouraged to order food as my guest, which he LOVED, and he had a bed, no matter how much it rattled or squeaked, IT WAS THE WEIRDEST BED! I had a few meltdowns in the middle of the night, when I was SOOOOOOOOO tired that I didn't want the IV in, the blood pressure cuff, the things on my legs, the heart rate monitor, etc attached to me, so I would try and rip them off, but only because I wanted to go home so bad. Pat was wonderful through it all, I would have killed him by 3 o'clock in the morning, but he was super patient with me.



I must have been on my very best behavior because I was not supposed to be released until last night, but I got to come home yesterday around noon. I received the prettiest flowers from Pat's work, I was quite the celebrity there yesterday (I included a picture because the flowers and vase were SOOOOOOO cool!), and people have sent me all sorts of goodies! My favorite goody is the hope that once this heals, all the pain will go away. I feel like I have been suffering with this pain forever, so if I start the birth control and the pain from my appendix goes away, maybe it will just all work out!

Kim, I don't know if you read my blog, but my thoughts and prayers have been with you this entire journey because I admire you so much more for what you are going through each and every day! XOXO