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| my trendy tops made pretty:) |
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| My favorite lace pouch cover:) |
Been a long and crazy year....
Not like I needed anymore surgeries or illnesses with my lung disease nodules and diabetes.
February 2012 I began to have flu like symptoms and because I am disabled from lung disease nodules I became dehydrated and was hospitalized for a couple days. 2 weeks later the vomiting and nausea continued with horrific pain in my left abdomen and was hospitalized yet again through the ER.
March came and went and it was decided to send me to a GI for scopes
since the X-rays were not telling the story of why this nightmare continued.
I attempted the prep for both a colonoscopy and an endoscopy and vomited
all night long instead of the normal poop fest in mid-April. The GI
everyone uses in this area only had appointments 4 weeks out and only knew you
as ticket number so and so. We came to call him the Silver Gold Digger of
Disney since most of his patients were retired to Florida. He never has
put my face to a name and relied souly on his laptop. When I came out of
the anesthesia I was told by the nurses they could perform the endo and but not
the colon since the prep did not do its job. (of course not, I told them it was
projected all of my bathroom and bedroom walls) I was sent home and told
to make a follow up appointment. Yet again, the not so kind receptionist
said we can see you in 4 weeks...
He had a wonderful practitioner who took on my case, but she was
booked solid as well. She attempted several different nausea and pain
meds to keep me comfortable but I never received answers. Prior to the
flu like symptoms I had gained 40 pounds in 2 months’ time and they blamed it
on the steroids I was taking for my lungs. So low and behold with month
after month “the flu” I dropped pound after pound. No appetite, vomiting
all the time, and constant nausea seemed to last forever and I was so weak with
no will to live.
April and May came and went... Test after test, hospital stays after
ER visits came and went. Frustrated to no end yet another failed prep for
a colonoscopy and doctors who didn’t seem to care. Who wants the flu for
a couple days, let alone months? The weight continued to drop and at this
point I was down 60 pounds. The smell of food or a scent would hit me and
I would just drop to my knees and vomit. My poor daughter would totally
freak when we were in public. It terrified her to watch her mother suffer
so. I could only let it run its course and I always carried a vomit
bag.. By this time I was running low grade fevers all the time.
Mid June, 4 months into my tormented house of horror... late night calls from the
Nurse practitioner, (thank God she would call and check on me) it was decided
to perform a barium enema and yet another CT scan. Gastroparesis was suspected
at this point since I am diabetic and my blood sugars were on a roller coaster
ride. I had a stomach emptying test done which I retained 70% of the food
I ingested. There were talks of feeding tubes or a Gastric Stimulator
implanted in my stomach. At this point it was a flip of the coin that
would decide my fate.
The next morning the GI called and said “Go to the hospital NOW,
please” No explanation, just go NOW! Totally scared out of my mind I
called my daughter at work and she came and took me in through the ER where I
was admitted. The ER doctor came in and said the surgeon will be here
soon. All I could say was what the bleep bleep bleep??? I had no
idea what was going on. The word diverticulitis was said a few times and
I had no idea what it was. All the ER staff would say was the surgeon
would explain it when he got there. Oh my God, scared half out of her
mind, she called my son who is a SGT in the Army and stationed in Wyoming.
He was granted furlough and within a couple hours, he, his wife, and my
mom were in the car and drove all the way to Florida none stop. Once I
was taken upstairs to my room, I met Dr J the surgeon for the first time.
He is a kind and intelligent man who calmly explained I was admitted
because they had found air in my intestines and I had a perforated intestine.
Later which I found out was the diverticulitis. He said the tear
was not bad enough to warrant surgery, but I was admitted to be put on IV’s and
medications so I could be monitored for a few days. After 5 days I was
sent home on all the meds I was taking before. Dr J wanted me to schedule
another colonoscopy so he had a road map as he put it. He said with the
infection, he would not even consider a Gastric Stimulator. Yep,
and yet again the receptionist at the GI said 4 weeks we can get you in.
Really? I said you try having the flu for months and let me tell you “4
weeks”. I probably have red hash marks in my chart at their office.
So end of July I saw the GI, he asked me why I was there, looked at
his laptop... and said I guess we need a colonoscopy. Really??? Who is
paying this man? And yep, you guessed it another 4 weeks of vomiting my
guts out, nausea and pain waiting for the scope. The horror continued...
the porcelain queen so wanted to be dethroned. In the meantime, I had
seen Dr J a few times and he examined my belly and left lower side and looked
at me and said, Do you feel that? He felt a mass with his hands that none
of the elaborate tests I had done had detected. He sent me directly up to
a GYOB to make sure it was not attached to my female organs. They
scheduled me for an ultrasound the next day. I had seen my Nurse practitioner
in the hallway while I was waiting for my test and explained to her what was
going on. She was shocked at what Dr J had found. My female
organs were safe.
August came and went and September 4th I was scheduled for my 3rd
colonoscopy. I was given a different prep in hopes I would keep it down.
At 3 am I was vomiting yet again... They did attempt the scope but were
not able to complete since the prep had failed again. He did manage to
make it past my Sigmoid colon before stopping the procedure. I returned
home around noon and laid down to rest. About 2 pm I woke with excruciating
pain, rectal bleeding and a high fever. I was rushed to the hospital and
admitted immediately, hooked up to IV’s and the surgeon was called. They
took me in for emergency exploratory laparoscopic surgery. When I woke,
Dr J’s new partner was there with pictures. Evidently the scope had
caused the bleeding.
But... They had found the culprit and I had this weird feeling they
HI’5d in the OR that they had found it!
It being a tumor the size of my hand on the back side of my colon and
fused to my spine. He also immediately said it was benign... thank God!
I was put on a course of 2 different antibiotics, a liquid diet and
scheduled for laparoscopic surgery on September 13, 2012. Dr J said there
was a possibility that he may have to open me up if they had complications.
I was scheduled for 9am surgery and was to report to the hospital at
8am. I was prepped for surgery with my daughter holding my hand the whole
way. I could see the fear in her eyes... They gave me the first relaxant,
she gave me a kiss, I told her I loved her and I went to sleep.
She must have paced the waiting room floor off. They checked on
her periodically and finally at 5pm, the surgeon team came out to tell her they
had moved to ICU. The report was they had attempted to remove the tumor laparoscopic
but had to open me wide open. With the tumor removed, my descending colon
and part of my sigmoid colon they tried to reconnect me. At that point Dr
J said everything had exploded. Over the 8 hours of surgery, staff had
come and gone to watch his skilled hands. He then knew he had to perform
the colostomy. He knew that was my greatest fear... but I was alive and I
did not have cancer.
My recovery in the hospital was 7 days total. I was in ICU for
1 ½ days. Most of it was a total blur. Pain, 28 staples, a
colostomy and my world had spun. I remember the teaching of how to care for myself
but the meds kept me pretty groggy and I had vivid nightmares. It was
decided to send me home and have a home health nurse and PT visit. They
taught me how to care for myself, roll out of bed, ordered me a walker and gave
me great moral support. After 6 weeks they had decided I could carry on.
It was a wild and crazy year, but I lived through it and they are in
hopes that possibly after a year I can have it reversed. I have had a few
setbacks, but I continue to heal and have faith in my surgeon team. Thank
God for the J team!
Stay tune... we go back in on Monday, Jan 21st.
