It was just eleven months ago when I awoke in the middle of the night in pain. I thought I had a bad case of gas to tried to go to the bathroom then tried to walk it off. Nothing was helping. I returned to bed and then the pain seemed to move a bit and then got worse. I guess subconsciously I knew it was bad because I got up and packed a small bag to take with me to the hospital... then went back to bed. At 2:30am I finally woke my husband saying "I'm really sick and need to go to the hospital" and like a shot he was out of bed and dressed and we were racing to the hospital.
To make a long story short they didn't know what was wrong with me. They thought it might be appendix as that's the area where I said the pain was... but then later I said it was higher. That Doctor thought I was crazy I'm sure. Three Doctors later and about 22 hours later, a new surgeon asked if he could do a laparoscopic exploratory surgery as he just didn't know what was wrong. He warned that if he found trouble, he'd have to "open me up" but by then I was so sick I was willing to agree to anything. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as he got in there he found trouble. Apparently there was an adhesion from my hysterectomy over twenty years ago. Part of my small intestine had wrapped itself around the adhesion and "died" as a result. The surgeon had to remove three feet of my small intestine.
I was in the hospital for a week, nicely doped up on morphine and lots of antibiotics etc. I was told I also had a lung infection (perhaps because the lungs were being "squished" by the build-up of "stuff" in my abdomen. I had noticed in the couple of months pre-surgery that my stomach was getting bigger, yet my weight didn't seem to be changing. I couldn't figure out why I was getting so big. Well, I was backed up inside! There are little "bubbles" in your lungs and mine were collapsing or lots were already collapsed I gather as a result of this bloating?
Upon my return home I wasn't really recovering the way I thought I should be but not having been through this before didn't know just what if anything was wrong until my follow-up appointment with the surgeon. He discovered that while in hospital I'd contracted "C-Diff" and if you know what that is, it's nasty.
So I was put on really strong medication and thankfully it cleared things up for me. I was told that I contracted the C-Diff because of the multitude of strong antibiotics I was on while in hospital Who knows. What I've read is that you catch it from things in the hospital not being sanitary. I was tested several times over the next few months to be sure I was okay.
Well, come November, four months later, I ended up in ER and this time was told the intestine was in spasm, given some medication and send home.
In February I left on a cruise and the first night at sea, ended up in the Ship's Hospital where I stayed three days. I apparently had a blockage so was kept on antibiotics because my white blood cell count was high, and so I am one of the few who lost weight while on a cruise ship - over 5 pounds. Honestly, it was terrifying. We were at sea the first three days of the cruise. If they had to air-lift me off the ship, the cost "starts" at $100,000.00. There were no ports on this cruise where there were good hospitals. I was so relived when I was allowed to return to my cabin and enjoy the remainder of the cruise, in spite of living on jello, soup and water throughout the entire cruise.
It took me a long time to recover but all through this past year I've had cramps, gas, diarrhea, etc. etc. It's been a nasty year of little energy and feeling like c*ap.
Finally my Doctor decided to send me back to the surgeon. He put me on a new medication for two weeks and at the end of the two weeks I reported feeling better than ever, able to eat almost anything finally, and no more diarrhea which meant I could go out of the house!
Wham ! The next afternoon I had pain. By early evening it wasn't letting up and off to ER we went. They did a CT Scan and came to me to say I had to be admitted and would require surgery. NO! Please NO.
Well, I spent a week in hospital and was allowed to go home so my intestines could rest before they do more surgery. It appears that where they rejoined the intestine the joint is too tight and causing blockages. After great thought, the surgeon feels it's important to give me back some quality of life and the only way to do that is to operate - again.
Another summer with a long slow recovery. I just hope it's worth it and "does the trick".
Last time I found someones blog and I was so thankful that they described what they went through, the feelings, the level of recovery etc. It helped me so much so this time around, it's my turn to share. If you are interested in following my journey, check back later.
My surgery date is June 21st, 2013.
