February 2001

The begining of February I was not feeling to well, and my eating had all but diminished. I started running a temperature on February 6, 2001. My doctors told me to go to the ER so I did. They did blood tests and it came back as an infection from my PICC line. The doctors put me back in the hospital. I had a new PICC line placed. I was treated with IV fluids and anti biotics and released on February 10, 2001. I was home again and feeling pretty good..or was I?? I started getting sick yet AGAIN! I was throwing up and couldn't even keep liquids down!! A small sip of anything sent jolts of pain through my body. We called my doctors again. Go back to the ER they told me. I was admitted back into the hospital on February 13, 2001. A blood test showed that my lipase was 8,000(eight thousand!!). I was told 3 years ago, when I had pancreatitis and my lipase was 1700, that if I had been 20 years older my high levels of lipase would have killed me. That was when my lipase was only 1700, now it was 8,000!!! I wonder how much older I would have to be before that would kill me?!?! My high levels of lipase was giving me severe pancreatitis. The only remedy to treat pancreatitis is NPO (nothing by mouth), which really sucks. I went 3 days with nothing to eat or drink and I showed no improvement. I was ordered to have my blood checked again. After finding out that my lipase was still in the 8,000's the doctors decided that it would be in my best interest to have surgery (yet again) to remove my galbladder. A previous test showed that I had alot of "sludge build-up" in my galbladder because my digestive system wasn't moving at all. The bile just laid in there for weeks. When you eat food your gallbladder is triggered to squirt bile into your stomach. Since I wasn't eating, all the bile produced by my body just accumulated in my gallbladder. There is no where else for the bile to go. The bile caused my pancreas duct to block off and now it was becoming inflammed. It became very painful.

February 19, 2001

I was taken into surgery for the 3rd time on February 19, 2001. The surgeons couldn't do laproscopic on me so they had to make one big 7 inch incision on me-VERY PAINFUL! The surgery was a success and immediatly I felt so much better!! Well I felt better for the first 2 days after the surgery. Then I woke up the next morning and I was nauseated again. I couldn't believe it, now whats wrong? I guess my body didn't like my gallbladder being cut out. I started throwing up bile again..ARGHHH I hated getting the over whelming feeling of nausea. I would just lay in my bed staring at the ceiling or wall trying to forget that I was nauseated. Day after day the surgical team that removed my gallbladder would check up on me at 5AM every morning. For a few days in a row they suggested a NG (nasealgastric tube) tube be placed in my stomach to help drain the bile from my stomach. I told them NO WAY. I've had a NG tube before and its not a pleasant experience. Finally on the 3rd day they mentioned about the NG tube again, and of course I said no. Then one of the surgeons said to me (in a really mean way) "Well when you change your mind about that tube give us a call and will give it to you!". He said it as he walked out of my room. I thought it was pretty mean of him to act like that. He was probably never sick in his entire life! I want to see him with an NG tube. A few hours later my mom arrived, and I was throwing up. I was backed up into the corner with this nausea..I finally chose to get the NG tube placed. I called down to the nurses station and told them that I wanted to get the NG tube. A few minutes later she entered the room with a package that included the tube and other accesories needed to put one in. My heart jumped from my chest as I tried to not think about the NG tube. When I seen the size of the tube I started to change my mind, but I had to do it to feel better. The nurse put vasoline on the end of the tube and started to put it up my nose. I pulled back about 3 times, then I let her do it. It was so painful. I'll never have another one done while I'm awake again. I had to keep drinking water while she pushed the tube down my throat. I threw up blood a few times while she was moving the tube around. I tried my best to put up with the tube. After it was placed she turned the suction on..nothing came out the tube from my stomach. She went and got a few other nurses to see if it was positioned correctly, and it was. Still, nothing came out the tube. Maybe it just took time to work. All the nurses left my room. I lay on my bed halfway on my side, trying to breath as shallow as I could to prevent the tube from moving around too much. I kept gagging about every 5 minutes. My stomach started to hurt really bad. I called down to the nurses station and told my nurse I wanted it removed. I told my mom if the nurse didn't get there within 5 minutes I was going to pull it out myself!! But she got there in just a few minutes and had no problem with taking the tube out since there was nothing in my stomach to drain. I was so relieved to have it taken out.

February 25, 2001

My physical therapists came into my room to get me out of bed.. yeahhhhh right! I felt like someone jabbed a huge knife in my side and just sliced me open. The pain was so horrible. Every little move I made, even breathing, made the right side of my belly go into spasms. When the doctor would start touching around my cut I would jerk backwards because even the slightest touch made my muscles tighten up and hurt!! I even had got a small collection of fluid at the top of my cut, but it cleared up on its own. I was still getting my TPN so that my body would have no trouble healing itself. It was a pity to see my cathiter go. I couldn't even stand at the edge of my bed without crying from the intense pain, and now they were taking away my cathiter. The world was coming to an end for me. But I got to use the good old trustworthy BED PAN! I thought they were just for old people...but I guess not. I don't know what I would have done without it. There were a few times that I almost DIDN'T make it to the bathroom. It took a long time to unplug all 3 of my IV machines, then tie my gown shut, then make sure the cords weren't dragging on the ground..and on top of that I had to be quiet so I didn't wake up my room mate. It took me 2 whole weeks before I could walk again without being half-way bent over. By that time the soreness was going away, but the staples made it very itchy and burning.

Please..don't stop reading now...