Boy, have we been on a roller coaster lately - first, I got invited back to work at the MS Society two days a week, helping out with editing and event planning, then we had Jack's disappointing 4 month check up and a trip to Children's Hospital, then my dad and stepmom came for a lovely long weekend visit with trips to the zoo and the Stock Show (outside of Kauai, my favorite place on Earth, seriously). Sam finished his master's thesis, I booked our flights to Kauai, and Ryan got croup and hasn't slept through the night in four days. Now, finally...
I woke up Saturday morning at 5:45 with a throbbing ache in my lower abdomen. I thought it might have something to do with the Mirena IUD I had inserted in December (yep, two kids is my limit, for sure!), so I called my midwife, who suggested I go to the ER. After rousing my in-laws to come stay with the boys, Sam and I arrived at Lutheran at 7 am (where I delivered both boys and Sam had his elbow stitched up after a Labor Day home improvement project went awry).
The ER staff took blood and urine samples and sent me to get an ultrasound. Everything looked fine there - no problems with the IUD or my other "girl parts", so then they ordered a CT scan to look at my appendix (my blood counts were fine - no sign of an infection anywhere). I make it sound like this happened fairly quickly, but since Lutheran serves the entire west side of Denver, it was pretty busy and I didn't get the scan until noon. I had to drink a nasty concoction to "opasticize" my innards - which was the only thing I got to eat or drink ALL DAY.
Sam kept teasing me that I just wanted attention and to have a day off from Mommying, but I assured him that I would have rather scheduled a massage and a pedicure - the spa has heated towels, too.
The CT techs put an iodine-based dye through my IV to get a better look at everything. She warned me that I would feel very warm, and I did, especially in my face. A few minutes after we returned to the ER, Sam peered at me and said, oh-so-lovingly, "Your face looks weird - it's all splotchy." I rang for the nurse, who noticed my tongue was swollen, and the doctor ordered some Benadryl for my obvious allergic reaction. I had a nice long nap at that point...
The CT scan came back, and the doctor told me they couldn't see the appendix. Since my bloodwork looked okay, they weren't sure what to do next, but my pain was worsening (even with the Fentanyl), so they brought down a surgeon, who suggested they admit me. She proposed two options - I could stay overnight and they could run all the tests again tomorrow, or she could do an exploratory laproscopy to try to get a better look at my appendix. Considering I hadn't eaten anything since Friday's dinner and I knew I wouldn't be allowed to eat or drink anything until I had surgery, I opted for her to go ahead with the laproscopy.
I got moved up to the surgical unit (and into a MUCH comfier bed - imagine going from a dorm room mattress to Westin's Heavenly Bed) and put on the OR schedule. At 6:30 pm they moved me to pre-op, and a few minutes later the mask was on and I was out cold. When I woke up in post-op the surgeon told me she discovered I had very early appendicitis, which is why my blood work had not yet shown any infection. She complimented me on being so in tune with my body that I recognized pain that should not be ignored - she said a lot of people would have blown it off until it got to an emergency situation where she had to deal with sepsis, etc. I can't imagine ignoring that pain - I told Sam that it felt like the contractions I was having four hours into labor with Ryan, only contractions stop hurting after 45 seconds or so - this pain was constant and alarming.
I now have three small incisions on my abdomen that should heal pretty quickly. I'm going home this afternoon but can't lift more than 20 lbs for a week, so Sam will take Monday and Tuesday off of work to help out with the boys. Once again we got amazing care from the staff at Lutheran, and I took full advantage of the room service - for hospital food, it's actually really good (coffee needs work, though, but hey, I didn't have to cook!). Sam's parents and sister were kind enough to come stay with the boys and entertain them - Ryan knows that Mama is at the doctor but she'll be home soon.
Sorry, no pictures. I should have asked the surgeon to take pictures during the laproscopy - wouldn't that have been a hoot? I suppose I could do a Google image search for photos of an appendix, or perhaps we'll just leave it up to the imagination...
No comments:
Post a Comment